Each year, thousands of companies prepare pitch-decks to raise money. A single investor might see 2500 decks
per year and spend about 4 minutes on each. So, pitch decks must be concise and focused. In contrast,
companies spend 2 weeks to 2 months creating them and tweak them repeatedly. So, pitch-decks are
abbreviated business communications much like resumes!
Some important facts to remember
The industry standard template was created by Sequoia Investments. We will use it.
Since pitches are read on phones, this means they are read at 10 cm by 15 cm in size. Text size is key.
Since pitches are assessed in about 4 minutes, organization and content flow is critical.
Typically, early-stage companies will have less data than later-stage companies.
Docsend.com (2015) reviewed the pitch-decks of about 200 companies. These companies raised $360 million
with these decks. It was found that investors look longer at the financials and team slides than any others,
including the product and problem descriptions.
Learning Outcomes
Learn to do business research and interpret business data.
Identify and critique the structure and components of successful pitch-decks.
Assess any gaps in how the content contributed to successful fund raising.
Display critical thought with respect to content and presentation.
Sample Solution