Founder toolkit
Pitch Deck Outline
A simple 12-slide structure that covers what early-stage investors look for, in roughly the order they look for it.
There’s no perfect deck, but strong early-stage decks tend to cover the same ground. Keep each slide to one idea, and make sure the deck reads clearly without you in the room.
The 12 slides
Title: your company name, a one-line description and contact details
Problem: who has it, how painful it is and how they handle it today
Solution: what you’ve built and why it’s meaningfully better
Why now: what has changed that makes this possible or urgent
Market: who buys, how many of them there are and how you size the opportunity
Product: screenshots or a short walkthrough of how it works
Traction: revenue, usage, pilots or other proof that people want it
Business model: how you make money and what a customer is worth
Competition: the alternatives customers have and why you win
Go-to-market: how you reach customers and what it costs
Team: why you’re the right people to build this
The ask: how much you’re raising, what it funds and the milestones it reaches
Tips
If traction is your strongest story, move it up
Send a version built to be read before meetings, and present a lighter one live
Keep detailed financials and appendix material in your data room, not the deck