Fundraising
What should be in a startup pitch deck?
Quick Answer
A VC pitch deck should be 10-15 slides covering: problem, solution, market size, business model, traction, team, competition, financials, the ask, and use of funds. Keep it visual, concise, and story-driven.
Detailed Answer
The pitch deck is your primary fundraising tool. VCs see 1,000+ decks per year, so yours needs to be clear, compelling, and concise.
Recommended structure (10-15 slides):
1. **Title** — Company name, one-line description, your name 2. **Problem** — The pain point, who has it, how big it is 3. **Solution** — Your product, how it solves the problem 4. **Demo/Product** — Screenshots, workflow, or video 5. **Market Size** — TAM, SAM, SOM with bottom-up analysis 6. **Business Model** — How you make money, pricing, unit economics 7. **Traction** — Revenue, users, growth rate, key milestones 8. **Competition** — Market map, your differentiation 9. **Team** — Founders, key hires, relevant experience 10. **Financials** — 3-year projection (revenue, burn, hiring) 11. **The Ask** — How much you're raising, key terms 12. **Use of Funds** — How you'll deploy the capital
Best practices: - 10-15 slides max for initial send (more in appendix if needed) - Heavy on visuals, light on text - Lead with the strongest slide after the title - Include specific metrics (not "growing fast" but "3x YoY, $1.2M ARR") - Send as PDF, not PowerPoint
Related Questions
What is dilution in startup funding?
Dilution is the reduction in an existing shareholder's ownership percentage when a company issues new shares, typically during fundraising rounds. Founders typically experience 15-25% dilution per funding round.
What is a cap table?
A cap table (capitalization table) is a spreadsheet or document that shows a company's equity ownership structure — who owns what percentage, including founders, investors, employees with options, and any convertible instruments.
How much equity should you give investors?
Standard dilution is 15-25% per funding round. Seed rounds typically sell 15-20% equity, Series A sells 20-30%. Founders should retain at least 50% through Series A to maintain control and motivation.
What is the difference between pre-money and post-money valuation?
Pre-money valuation is a company's value before new investment; post-money is the value after. Post-Money = Pre-Money + Investment Amount. A $10M pre-money with $2M invested = $12M post-money, giving the investor 16.7% ownership.