How to Create a Pitch Deck That VCs Actually Want to See

A pitch deck makes or breaks your chances of getting VC funding. Here's exactly what you need to know to create one that works:

The essentials every VC pitch deck needs:

• Problem and solution (backed by data)
• Market size breakdown (TAM, SAM, SOM)
• Financial projections and metrics
• Competitive analysis
• Team credentials and track record

Key stats that matter:

• Keep slides to 12-15 total
• Use 24pt+ font size
• Limit text to 30-40 words per slide
• Include 60% visuals, 40% text
• Focus on 18-36 month projections

What makes pitch decks fail:

• Information overload
• Unrealistic numbers
• Poor story flow
• Complex visuals
• Too much text

Here's what top VCs look for in pitch decks:

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Key Parts of Your Pitch Deck

Your pitch deck needs five crucial elements that VCs pay close attention to. Let's dive into what investors really want to see in each one.

Problem and Solution

Kick things off with a crystal-clear problem statement backed by hard data. Netlify got this spot-on by showing how slow, unsafe website building costs companies billions each year. Paint a picture of why the problem is urgent, then smoothly introduce your solution.

"A pitch deck is a story. It needs to be cohesive and compelling, and convince VCs that your company is an inevitable success", says Tommy Leep, Founding Partner at Jetstream.

Market Size and Growth

Break down your market analysis into three key views:

1. Total Addressable Market (TAM)

This is the big picture - the overall market size in dollars. It shows VCs the maximum potential of your idea.

2. Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM)

This narrows things down to the realistic portion of the market you can actually reach. It shows investors you're focused and practical.

3. Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM)

This is your slice of the pie - what you think you can capture in the next 3-5 years. It gives VCs a sense of your practical growth potential.

Money and Numbers

Get down to brass tacks with clear financial projections. Back them up with solid reasoning. Make sure to include:

• Your current revenue and how fast it's growing
• What it costs you to get new customers
• How much each customer is worth over time
• How quickly you're spending money and how long it'll last
• How much funding you need and exactly how you'll use it

Monograph nailed this by showing how architecture firms lose big bucks through messy project management, then backed it up with hard numbers on how their solution fixes it.

Competition Analysis

Don't shy away from the competition - map it out honestly. Show where you fit in and what makes you special. Cover:

• Who you're directly up against
• Other ways people might solve the problem
• What gives you an edge
• Why it's tough for others to copy you

Your Team

Here's where you brag a little. Show why your team is THE team to make this happen. Zero in on experience and wins that directly relate to your venture's success. If you're building something super technical, flaunt that expertise. If you're shaking up an industry, show off your insider knowledge and connections.

Telling Your Business Story

Your pitch deck needs to do more than present facts - it needs to captivate VCs with a compelling narrative. Here's how to craft a story that makes investors sit up and take notice.

Story Structure

Build your narrative around your company's 2-3 core strengths, weaving them naturally through your deck. Start with the problem, but make it vivid and urgent. Show how your solution changes the game.

Designer Fund's analysis of successful pitch decks reveals a clear pattern: the most effective decks follow a problem-solution-market arc, with each slide building on the previous one. This creates what they call "inevitability momentum" - where each piece of information makes your success feel more certain.

"A pitch deck is a story. It needs to be cohesive and compelling, and convince VCs that your company is an inevitable success", says Tommy Leep, Founding Partner at Jetstream.

Netlify nailed this approach. They kicked off by highlighting how slow, insecure website building costs companies billions, then showed their solution's impact through concrete metrics. This created a clear through-line from problem to solution to market opportunity.

Making it Personal

Connect your personal experience to the business problem. Show why you're the right person to solve it. The trick is making the problem real and relatable while keeping things professional.

Investors are warming up to visual storytelling over text-heavy slides. Use images and graphics that support your narrative, not just pretty up your deck. For example, when showing market size, a simple visual funnel from TAM to SAM to SOM tells the story better than a bunch of bullet points.

Here's how to structure your story elements:

Making Your Deck Look Good

Visual appeal matters when presenting to VCs, but substance trumps style. Pitch Genius found that 83% of successful pitch decks focus on clarity over flashy design.

Keep It Simple

Readability is key. Slidebean's data shows decks with 30-40 words per slide get 27% more investor engagement. Their analysis of 1,000+ winning decks reveals a clear winner: white backgrounds with dark text.

"The biggest challenge of making a memorable deck is building a storyline that echoes outside of the pitch deck", says Jasmine Foroutan, CEO of Pitch Genius. "Clean design helps amplify your message rather than competing with it."

You don't need to be a design pro to create a slick deck. Tools like Canva offer templates used by startups like Notion and Loom. Slidebean's AI can even optimize your layouts automatically.

What do VCs like to see? Here's the scoop:

Pictures and Words

Aim for a 60/40 mix of visuals and text. Pitch Genius looked at 500 Series A decks in 2023 and found a winning formula: one clear message + one strong image or graph = 2.5x better performance than text-only slides.

When it comes to showing data, keep it simple:

• Bar charts to compare things
• Line graphs for trends
• Pie charts only for parts of a whole

Don't forget: VCs often check decks on their phones. If you can't read it on a small screen, it's too complex. Stick to your brand style, but don't let it overshadow your message.

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What Not to Do

Even great ideas can flop if presented poorly. Jetstream's 2023 analysis of over 500 pitch decks revealed that 72% of rejected decks shared common, avoidable mistakes.

Too Much Information

Drowning investors in data is a surefire way to lose their interest. Take Netlify's 2023 Series A deck as an example. They used just 12 slides, each hammering home one key point. CEO Matt Biilmann spilled the beans: cutting their original 30-slide behemoth down to size TRIPLED investor engagement.

Successful decks steer clear of these pitfalls:

Honest Numbers

Here's the deal: credibility trumps big numbers every time. Tommy Leep, Founding Partner at Jetstream, puts it like this:

"A pitch deck is a story. It needs to be cohesive and compelling, and convince VCs that your company is an inevitable success."

When it comes to financials, keep it real. Airbnb's early deck? They showed a modest but believable 25% month-over-month growth, backed by cold, hard booking data. This approach built way more trust than competitors promising pie-in-the-sky 10x quarterly growth.

Using Feedback

Smart founders don't just pitch - they listen and adapt. Keep an eye out for these telltale signs:

Questions that keep popping up, slides investors breeze past, and moments when you lose their attention.

Netlify took this to heart. After soaking in feedback from early pitches, they tweaked their deck to spotlight team credentials and market traction. The result? A whopping 40% boost in their conversion rate.

Wrap-Up

Creating a pitch deck that grabs VCs' attention boils down to three key elements: storytelling, substance, and simplicity. The Founder Institute's 2023 study of successful pitch decks shows that decks that secure funding share these core traits.

Your deck must show you understand your market and have growth potential. Recent VC data indicates investors typically look for opportunities with 10-20x return potential. Your financial projections should align with these expectations while staying realistic.

Successful pitch decks nail these elements:

VCs invest in solutions to urgent problems. Focus your pitch on what the Founder Institute calls "hair-on-fire" problems - issues costing companies big time or money. Back up your claims with solid market insights and customer data.

"A pitch deck is a story. It needs to be cohesive and compelling, and convince VCs that your company is an inevitable success." - Tommy Leep, Founding Partner, Jetstream.

Keep your presentation focused on your company's 2-3 main strengths. The best decks maintain this sharp focus throughout, whether talking about market opportunity, traction, or financial projections. This approach works well in pre-seed accelerator programs, where clarity and brevity often determine if founders move on to serious investment talks.

Your deck should tell a gripping story backed by solid data. Include specific metrics about your market size, current traction, and growth trajectory. But remember - keep it simple. A clear, focused narrative supported by relevant data points will always beat a deck drowning in unnecessary details.

Tools and Help

Creating a pitch deck doesn't have to be a headache. With the right tools and resources, you can craft a presentation that'll make VCs sit up and take notice.

Let's talk design first. Slidebean and Canva are your go-to platforms for pitch deck templates. They've got layouts that'll make your startup look like a million bucks (or maybe a few million, depending on your funding goals). These tools let you focus on nailing your content instead of fussing with fonts and colors.

But what about the nitty-gritty of what makes a pitch deck work? That's where Designer Fund's Pitch Deck Resource Library comes in. They've broken down real pitch decks from companies that actually got funded. Want to see how Netlify or Monograph won over investors? This is your chance to peek behind the curtain.

Here's a quick rundown of some top tools:

Now, let's talk about finding the right investors. VC Investor List is like a matchmaking service for startups and VCs. Whether you're in tech, healthcare, or fintech, they'll help you find investors who are actually interested in what you're selling.

Andrew Dunn, the brains behind VC Investor List, puts it this way:

"A pitch deck is more than just slides - it's a strategic tool that needs to be customized for each investor conversation. Understanding your audience is crucial for success."

And if you want to really nail your story, check out Prezentium's Winning Pitch Deck Guide. They'll show you how to keep things simple while still packing a punch. It's all about finding that sweet spot between too much info and not enough - exactly what you need to grab a VC's attention and keep it.

Using Tables

Tables can make your pitch deck stand out. When used well, they help VCs quickly understand complex data. But using them effectively is a skill.

Let's look at three areas where tables work best in pitch decks:

Keep your tables easy to scan. Y Combinator suggests using no more than 3-4 columns and 5-6 rows per table. This keeps information easy to digest while still showing important insights.

Here's a good example of a market analysis table:

For financial data, focus on what VCs care about most. A clear table showing your main growth indicators might look like this:

Keep your color scheme simple - use 2-3 colors max. Black text on a white background with one highlight color for key data points works best. This keeps your tables easy to read when shown on screens during presentations.

"Tables should tell a story at a glance. If investors need more than 30 seconds to understand your table, it's too complex", says the Designer Fund's pitch deck expert team.

For competitive analysis, don't create huge feature comparison tables. Instead, focus on 3-4 key differences that really matter to your target market. This keeps the focus on what makes you special rather than getting lost in too many details.

When showing your tables, start with the main point, not just the data. Each table should back up a specific part of your story, whether it's market opportunity, financial growth, or how you're better than competitors. This way, your tables help tell your story instead of distracting from it.

FAQs

What makes a good VC pitch?

A good VC pitch is like a well-crafted story that grabs investors' attention. It's clear, believable, and strategic. The Designer Fund puts it nicely:

"A pitch deck is the hook that gets investors interested in your company's potential - it helps articulate your vision and progress and, when done well, can play a huge part of helping you raise capital."

Your pitch should show you know your stuff. Talk about the problem you're solving and why your solution is the one to beat. Use Netlify's pitch as inspiration - they nailed it by showing they knew their field inside out and had early wins to prove it. Back up your claims with solid numbers and happy customers.

What slides should be in a pitch deck?

A killer pitch deck usually covers these bases:

1. Opening: Start with a bang. Tell them who you are and what you're about in one clear sentence.

2. Problem & Solution: Paint a picture of the issue you're tackling. Use real data to show it's a big deal, then explain how you're fixing it like nobody else can.

3. Business Case: Show them the money. Break down your market size, how you'll make cash, and the nuts and bolts of your business model.

4. Execution: Prove you can get it done. Lay out your game plan, introduce your dream team, and highlight your big wins so far.

5. Ask: Get to the point. Tell them what you need, how you'll use it, and where it'll take you.

How to create a pitch deck for VC?

First things first: nail your story. Tommy Leep, Founding Partner at Jetstream, hits the nail on the head:

"If you get only one thing right, nail the narrative."

Show VCs you know your market like the back of your hand and you've got what it takes to execute. Take a page from Monograph's book - their pitch deck was a hit because it showed they understood their industry's pain points and had a solution that fit like a glove.

Keep it simple but make it look good. Tools like Canva or Slidebean can help you create a deck that's easy on the eyes without going overboard.

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