The ten-slide 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 short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 1 of 10about 11 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 1), Canva (slide 1), Revolut (slide 1)

2. 0202Problem

   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.

   30% of short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 4 of 10about 51 words on itSee it in Revolut (slide 2), Replit (slide 5), Shield (slide 4)

3. 0303Solution

   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.

   30% of short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 5 of 10about 49 words on itSee it in Revolut (slide 4), Shield (slide 6), Juno (slide 2)

4. 0404Market

   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.

   55% of short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 5 of 10about 44 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 8), Canva (slide 3), Revolut (slide 3)

5. 0505Product

   Product

   [How it works] in [n] steps

   e.g. "Connect, predict, refill: live in an afternoon"

   What goes on it

   • One screenshot or the flow in three steps
   • What the customer does and what the product does

   Leave it off

   Every screen you have built.

   46% of short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 5 of 10about 55 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 4), Canva (slide 6), Revolut (slide 9)

6. 0606Business 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.

   11% of short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 6 of 10about 39 words on itSee it in Revolut (slide 5), Securitize (slide 7), Albert (slide 5)

7. 0707Traction

   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.

   25% of short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 6 of 10about 26 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 5), Flux (slide 3), Grin (slide 10)

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".

   14% of short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 6 of 10about 59 words on itSee it in Revolut (slide 7), Juno (slide 8), Mistral (slide 5)

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.

   45% of short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 6 of 10about 40 words on itSee it in Coinbase (slide 12), Canva (slide 10), Shield (slide 8)

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".

    12% of short funded decks (12 slides or fewer) have oneusually about slide 7 of 10about 52 words on itSee it in Revolut (slide 11), Mysten Labs (slide 8), Securitize (slide 11)

Other templates