The send-ahead deck.

About 2 minutes to read. The highlight walks the deck at the pace a first read moves; click a slide for its notes.

Slide by slide

What goes on each slide

1. 0101Cover

   Cover

   [Company]: [what you do] for [whom]

   e.g. "Acme: fills the appointments clinics lose to no-shows"

   What goes on it

   • The name and one line a stranger could repeat
   • The round and the date

   Leave it off

   A tagline that sounds like a brand and explains nothing.

   100% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 1 of 14about 11 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 1), Uber (slide 1), Airbnb (slide 1)

2. 0202Summary

   Summary

   [Company] in one slide

   e.g. "Acme: $168k ARR, 128% net retention, raising $8M"

   What goes on it

   • What you do, the traction, and the raise, on one slide
   • A partner should be able to forward this slide alone

   Leave it off

   Repeating the cover.

3. 0303Problem

   Problem

   [Who] lose [what] every [period]

   e.g. "Clinics lose 18% of appointments to no-shows"

   What goes on it

   • Who has the problem, in one line
   • What it costs them, in money or time, with a number
   • How they cope today

   Leave it off

   A problem only you have noticed, or one sized in adjectives.

   36% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 5 of 14about 57 words on itSee it in Airbnb (slide 2), Revolut (slide 2), Replit (slide 5)

4. 0404Solution

   Solution

   [Product] [does what] so [result]

   e.g. "Acme predicts no-shows and refills the slot two days ahead"

   What goes on it

   • What you do about the problem, in one sentence
   • The result for the customer, as a number if you have one

   Leave it off

   A feature list. Features belong on the product slide.

   32% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 6 of 14about 52 words on itSee it in Airbnb (slide 3), Revolut (slide 4), ElevenLabs (slide 4)

5. 0505Traction

   Traction

   [Metric] up [x] in [period]

   e.g. "ARR up 8x in a year, to $168k"

   What goes on it

   • One chart of the metric that matters, over time
   • Retention or repeat use beside it

   Leave it off

   Cumulative charts, vanity numbers, and no dates on the axis.

   27% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 8 of 14about 34 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 5), Bolt (slide 8), Shopify (slide 20)

6. 0606Market

   Market

   [n] [customers] pay [amount]: a $[size] market

   e.g. "230,000 clinics at $4,200 a year: a $1B market in the US"

   What goes on it

   • The market bottom up: customers you can reach times what each pays
   • Where you start and where it leads

   Leave it off

   A top-down TAM from an analyst report with no route to it.

   63% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 7 of 14about 49 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 8), Uber (slide 4), Airbnb (slide 4)

7. 0707Business model

   Business model

   [Price] per [unit], paid back in [time]

   e.g. "$350 a clinic a month, paid back in under two months"

   What goes on it

   • Who pays, how much and how often
   • Margin, and payback on acquiring a customer if you know it

   Leave it off

   Five revenue streams. Show the one that matters.

   16% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 8 of 14about 48 words on itSee it in Airbnb (slide 7), Revolut (slide 5), Shopify (slide 23)

8. 0808Competition

   Competition

   Why [customers] choose us over [alternative]

   e.g. "Reminders tell patients; Acme refills the slot"

   What goes on it

   • What customers use today, including doing nothing
   • The one or two things you do that they cannot

   Leave it off

   A 2×2 where you are alone in the top right, or "no competitors".

   22% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 8 of 14about 54 words on itSee it in Uber (slide 6), Airbnb (slide 9), Revolut (slide 7)

9. 0909Team

   Team

   [Why this team] wins this market

   e.g. "Ran a 60-clinic group; built scheduling at scale"

   What goes on it

   • The founders, and the one thing each has done that matters here
   • Key hires and advisers only if they change the odds

   Leave it off

   Logos of every employer and degree.

   47% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 8 of 14about 47 words on itSee it in Coinbase (slide 12), Airbnb (slide 11), Canva (slide 10)

10. 1010The ask

    The ask

    Raising [amount] to reach [milestone] in [months]

    e.g. "Raising $2.5M to reach 150 clinics and $1.2M ARR in 20 months"

    What goes on it

    • The amount, and the runway it buys
    • The milestones it reaches, which set up the next round
    • Use of funds in three lines at most

    Leave it off

    An amount with no milestone, or "$1M to $3M".

    19% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 9 of 14about 52 words on itSee it in Bolt (slide 2), Revolut (slide 11), Docsend (slide 3)

11. 1111Contact

    Contact

    [Name], [email], [website]

    e.g. "Maya Chen · maya@acme.example · acme.example"

    What goes on it

    • A name, an email and the website
    • Nothing else: this is the slide left on screen

    Leave it off

    "Questions?" with no way to reach you.

    50% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 13 of 14about 46 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 12), Bolt (slide 13), Gusto (slide 32)

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