Top-Notch and Subpar Pitch Decks for Startups (Including Templates!)
Starting out as a founder, the primary goal is capturing the attention and interest of investors for your innovative venture. Luckily, a powerful tool can help make that dream a reality - the pitch deck.
Pitch decks, also known as startup decks or slide decks, serve as a crucial medium for presenting an entrepreneur's business plan. Crafted using PowerPoint, Keynote, or Prezi, pitch decks condense key points like business model, products, and costs, making them easily digestible to potential investors.
Why are pitch decks essential? They reignite curiosity about a company, stir excitement, and importantly, lead to action - all critical elements in a startup's journey to success. Let's dive into the top 15 pitch decks from successful companies like YouTube and Airbnb, discussing why they're so powerful!
What is a pitch deck?
A pitch deck is a snapshot of your business, designed to provide investors with an overview of your plan in a concise and visually appealing manner.
The importance of a pitch deck
Pitch decks shape the perception of your business and help investors:
- Understand your business
- Care about your business
- Take action
Contrary to common belief, the main goal of a pitch deck, particularly in the early stages, isn't to solicit immediate funding. Instead, it lays the groundwork for attracting potential investors' interest and setting the stage for further discussions on funding, logistics, and more.
So, what makes a pitch deck stand out? We've got details on some of the most impressive pitch decks that kicked off the success of trailblazing companies.
15 Best Pitch Deck Examples (and why they're so awesome!)
1. YouTube pitch deck
Shared with Sequoia Capital, YouTube's slide deck, while stripped of graphics aside from its logo, demonstrates the value of simplicity. This was an essential lesson for entrepreneurs, exemplifying how concise and engaging content can be more effective than visually stunning presentations.
Key Takeaway: Simplify your pitch deck! Focus on content rather than flashy graphics.
2. Airbnb pitch deck
Airbnb's slide deck boasts an aesthetically pleasing format, providing just enough information to be understood at a glance. Plus, its consistent layout, complete with headers and slide numbers, creates a polished look. An added bonus, their testimonial section, featuring real-life people, boosts social proof.
Key Takeaway: Prioritize cleanliness and thematic consistency in slide design. Include user testimonials to strengthen credibility.
3. Buffer pitch deck
Organized around an essential statistic, Buffer makes an immediate impact, sparking curiosity. When investors showed interest, Buffer secured $3.5 million in funding - proof that Buffer's approach delivers results!
Key Takeaway: Begin with an intriguing statistic and ask thought-provoking questions!
4. 7bridges pitch deck
The clear explanation of 7bridges' team and their roles showcased the team's strengths effectively. Detailed, yet not overwhelming, the slide provides an optimal balance between information and brevity.
Key Takeaway: Highlight your team's strengths and make their roles clear.
5. Shopify pitch deck
With its comprehensive yet cohesive format, Shopify's pitch deck sets a storyline, explaining its utility, target market, financial information, and more. Achieving success requires meticulous planning, and Shopify offers a great example of it!
Key Takeaway: Craft a storyline to guide your pitch deck. Cover essential aspects like product utility, target market, and financials to ensure investors understand your business.
6. Dropbox pitch deck
The Dropbox pitch deck captures attention with a powerful image highlighting the problem and leaving a lasting impression on viewers. Furthermore, Dropbox employs fragments instead of complete sentences, preventing overloading and emphasizing the oral discussion.
Key Takeaway: Use strong visuals to grab your audience's attention while keeping text compact.
7. Wunderlist pitch deck
Featuring over a hundred thousand positive reviews for its software, Wunderlist demonstrates the power of social proof in pitch decks. Although their reviews technically averaged closer to 4.5 stars, Wunderlist rounds up to 5 as it looks more attractive.
Key Takeaway: Highlight customer reviews and testimonials! Better yet, round up numbers to make them more attractive.
8. Tinder pitch deck
Tinder’s pitch deck starts with a personal, relatable story to establish an emotional connection with potential investors. Unfortunately, subsequent slides are relatively bare, detracting slightly from the start. But overall, this pitch deck emphasizes the importance of storytelling in making a lasting impact.
Key Takeaway: Lead with a compelling story to draw investors in.
9. Spotify pitch deck
Spotify's extensive pitch deck showcases a whopping 70 slides, with most slides containing few words or simple images. While it isn't often recommended to have a pitch deck this long, the variety in slides offers an engaging experience if presented quickly enough.
Key Takeaway: Aim for short, attention-grabbing slides with room for explanation. Anchor the presentation around these powerful punchlines.
10. Coinbase pitch deck
Coinbase’s brief pitch deck centers on data and charts, making it information-rich and compelling. By comparing its product to iTunes, Coinbase presents an attractive proposition to investors.
Key Takeaway: Identify products or services you can tie to successful companies to convince investors of your venture's potential.
11. Copper Cow Coffee
Copper Cow Coffee boasts a striking display, featuring a captivating side-by-side photo of its founder and her mother. Their founder’s story radiates passion and demonstrates the company's heritage.
Key Takeaway: Leverage your unique history and personal connection to your business.
12. Peloton pitch deck
Peloton distinguishes itself from competitors by emphasizing its differentiating factors. By making comparisons with well-known brands, Peloton demonstrates its market niche effectively.
Key Takeaway: Showcase differences between your product or service and your competitors. Differentiate yourself in ways that will stand out to investors!
13. AstroPrint pitch deck
Rich in images and imaginative, AstroPrint's pitch deck leaves a lasting impression. By using powerful photos, AstroPrint adds depth to its presentation while capturing investors' attention.
Key Takeaway: Utilize striking visuals to appeal to investors!
14. Buzzfeed pitch deck
Buzzfeed's pitch deck displays its successes right from the start. This strategy enables investors to see immediate value and understand the company's strengths.
Key Takeaway: Highlight your achievements to reinforce investor confidence in your venture.
15. Fyre Festival pitch deck
Fyre Festival’s pitch deck boasts a consistent design and visually attractive images to catch the eye. While it may have overloaded some visitors with information, it maintains an alluring appearance suitable for its target demographic.
Key Takeaway: Balance information with aesthetics, tailoring your pitch deck to your target demographic.
Bad Pitch Deck Examples to Avoid
Similarly, knowing what not to do can help you create successful pitch decks. The following examples feature common pitfalls to avoid while crafting your pitch deck:
1. Moz pitch deck
Moz's pitch deck suffers from information overload. By including excessive details, Moz inadvertently shrouds its message with unnecessary information.
Key Takeaway: Avoid overloading your pitch deck to ensure your message remains clear and impactful.
2. Foursquare pitch deck
With lengthy slides featuring tiny fonts, Foursquare's pitch deck is challenging to read, especially for those in the back.
Key Takeaway: Use larger font sizes for better readability to prevent audience members from straining their eyes!
3. LinkedIn pitch deck
LinkedIn's pitch deck struggles with an unappealing layout, making it less engaging for investors. Additionally, it displays a lack of information, which may reflect poorly on the company.
Key Takeaway: Create engaging pitches decks with an aesthetically pleasing design and sufficient data.
DocSend pitch deck
DocSend's excessive use of bullet points and font sizes distracts from the pitch's clarity, making it less effective overall.
Key Takeaway: Ensure your pitch deck features concise and clear content for maximum impact.
Predictive Index pitch deck
Predictive Index's slide deck mimics an infographic or poster rather than a proper pitch deck. Though visually appealing, it lacks crucial data that serious investors may find necessary.
Key Takeaway: Balance aesthetics with information to meet investors' expectations!
Tips to Nail Your Next Pitch Deck
Applying the insights from these exceptional pitch deck examples and pitfalls to avoid will help you engage investors effectively. Observe these best practices to craft a pitch deck that shines:
Follow the 10:20:30 Rule
Invented by Guy Kawasaki, the 10:20:30 Rule ensures your pitch deck remains concise and impactful:
- 10 slides: Limit your presentation to 10 slides, condensing key information into a digestible format.
- 20 minutes: Give yourself up to 20 minutes to present your pitch deck, leaving room for error and allowing you to pace yourself comfortably.
- 30 point font: Utilize at least 30 point font sizes to make your pitch deck legible, even for audience members seated in the back.
Check out Guy Kawasaki's video to learn more about the 10:20:30 Rule and its benefits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3aUhTu6DdA
Evoke an emotional story
Emotional stories tap into investors' emotions, making your presentation more memorable. To create an emotional connection, tell authentic personal stories that resonate with investors and highlight the problems your company aims to solve.
Start with a powerful image
A stunning opening image catches the audience's attention and sets the tone for the rest of the presentation.
Avoid overboard syndrome
Avoid overwhelming investors with excessive information, adhering to a minimalist approach to present only essential points.
Optimize your pitch deck order
Analyze successful pitch decks and adapt their structural elements, including the order of your slides, to ensure investor engagement. For example, prioritize the following four slides: first slide, problem slide, team slide, and financial slide.
Include a demo
Provide demonstrations of your product or service, allowing investors to experience your offering first-hand.
Learn the small details
Pay attention to seemingly insignificant details, including time limitations, technology compatibility, presentation materials, and seating arrangements. These elements can impact the success of your presentation.
Have a Version 1 and Version 2
Create a basic "Version 1" pitch deck with essential information for initial presentations. Then, update and refine this deck to create a more polished "Version 2" for follow-up meetings.
Use concise copy
Keep your text clear, concise, and influential, echoing Guy Kawasaki's wisdom that shorter content helps agents remember information more effectively.
Include a wildcard slide
Add flexibility to your pitch deck with a "wildcard" slide, such as a TL;DR slide, CEO introduction, or slides covering complementary topics.
Now that you understand the essential tips for creating an unforgettable pitch deck, it's time to put your newfound insights to the test. Discover the secrets to effective pitching, and turn overworked investors into enthusiastic backers!
[1] https://slidebean.com/blog/the-top-10-pitch-deck-examples-and-what-you-can-learn-from-them[2] https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/328625[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2017/09/27/these-are-the-10-slides-every-startup-pitch-deck-needs/?sh=6ea6d1607d40[4] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/common-mistakes-on-startup-pitch-decks-and-how-to-avoid-them_us_594754f6e4b0156e9a8cbaa2[5] https://www.business.gov.au/Guide/Starting-a-business/Creating-a-business-plan/Start-with-a-pitch#!section-1
Here are two sentences using the given words that could come from the text, maintaining its language style and context:
- The pitch deck showcases innovative gadgets that leverage artificial-intelligence technology, making it easy for investors to understand and appreciate the potential of the company's product offerings.
- Successful startups often use a pitch deck to discuss their business strategies and outline their goals, backed by an understanding of the latest trends in technology, gadgets, and artificial-intelligence.
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