What should you decide before opening a slide template?

Write down what you want the investment to make possible. Choose a concrete next stage, such as testing a paid product or expanding an operating service. Then list what you already know and what you still need to prove.

For a hypothetical example, imagine a small software business helping independent repair shops manage customer approvals. Its proposed purpose could be: “We help repair shops collect customer approval before starting additional work.” This is an invented teaching example, with no claimed customers or results.

Sequoia's pitching guide starts with a single sentence defining the company. Try that exercise before writing a slogan. Ask someone outside your industry to identify the customer and the service from your sentence.

Prepare a short working brief

• Customer: who uses the product, and who pays?
• Problem: what specific job is difficult today?
• Evidence: what have you observed or sold?
• Funding purpose: what work would the money support?
• Meeting objective: what next step will you request?

Check the recipient before tailoring the deck. Use the guide to finding investors for a small business to structure that search. Confirm the investor's stated interests and submission requirements directly before sending your presentation.

What slides should your pitch deck include?

I suggest starting with the twelve slides below, then combining sections where the story remains clear. Treat this as a working outline rather than a universal slide limit. Give each slide one main question to answer.

Sequoia's framework covers purpose, problem, solution, timing, market, alternatives, business model, team, financials and vision. See the original framework. The table turns those themes into practical writing tasks and adds an explicit funding request.

Write the headline of each slide before adding graphics. Make the headline state the point you want the reader to remember. Keep detailed calculations and supporting documents in an appendix, meaning additional material after the main presentation.

For your business model slide, finish this sentence: “[Buyer] pays for [offer] through [charging method].” If that sentence raises unanswered questions, resolve them before polishing the slide. Add the next decision you need to test rather than filling the gap with confident language.

How do you make the problem and solution convincing?

Describe a recognisable task, then show exactly how your proposed product changes it. Sequoia asks founders to explain customer pain and the shortcomings of current solutions. Problem guidance. Start with the customer's work, using language that customer would understand.

Write a specific problem statement

In the hypothetical repair-shop example, the problem might be tracking which additional repairs a customer has approved. Describe where the approval request is sent, who checks the reply and what happens next. Verify that sequence through customer conversations before calling it a common industry problem.

Use this draft: “[Customer] needs to [task], but the current process involves [difficulty].” Add the source of your observation below it. If you have only a hypothesis, label it as a hypothesis and prepare a question to test it.

Show the smallest useful solution

For the same fictional business, sketch a request, a customer decision and an approval record. Mark each step as working, being tested or planned. Avoid displaying a polished concept as though customers already use it.

HubSpot's solution-slide guidance includes basic product features and interface mock-ups. A mock-up is a visual representation of a proposed screen. Use one to explain the interaction, with a clear label identifying its status.

Then write your value proposition, the simple reason a customer would choose your offer. The value proposition guide can help you shape that sentence. Keep any promised benefit separate from benefits you have measured.

How should you present demand, market size and competitors?

Build an evidence list before making charts. Record what happened, when it happened, how you counted it and where the supporting document sits. Give an interview, a trial and a paid purchase different labels.

HubSpot's market-validation section recommends evidence of purchasing demand and existing sales where available. For your deck, use clearly defined measures. If a figure describes enquiries, do not rename it customers.

Check each number before including it

• State the reporting period.
• Define what the number counts.
• Identify the original record.
• Separate paid activity from free participation.
• Label targets and forecasts as future expectations.

If you have no sales, say so and describe your next test. Use the business idea validation guide to plan it. Present the test as planned work, including what result would make you change direction.

For market size, begin with the customer group you intend to serve first. Write down how you identified those businesses and which price assumption you used. Leave unsupported totals out of the deck until you can explain their source.

Sequoia includes both direct and indirect competition in its framework. Competition guidance. For the hypothetical repair product, investigate existing software and the shop's current manual process; compare only characteristics you have checked.

Choose comparison criteria from the customer's task. Ask what the buyer would gain, what they would need to change and what your offer still lacks. Put an unanswered comparison in your research list instead of awarding yourself a favourable score.

What should the team and financial slides show?

Connect each team member to the work they will own. Sequoia recommends telling the story of founders and key team members. Team guidance. Select relevant experience, then explain the responsibility it supports.

Show delivery responsibilities

In our fictional repair-shop business, one founder might own customer research while another develops the product. Add the actual responsibilities in your version. Identify advisers separately and list important roles you still need to fill.

If hiring is part of the request, connect the role to a defined task. For help describing responsibilities, use the small business team-building guide. Avoid presenting a planned hire as a current employee.

Separate results from expectations

Sequoia asks founders to include financials when they have them. Financial guidance. Use your actual records for historical results and label every forward-looking calculation as a forecast.

A forecast is an estimate based on assumptions. Show the customer and pricing assumptions behind expected revenue, then list the spending needed to deliver the plan. Test a slower-sales version and decide which spending you would delay.

Finish with the funding amount, the work it supports and the milestone you intend to reach. A milestone is a specific checkpoint, such as completing a paid product test. Use the cash flow guide when planning the timing of receipts and payments.

How should you prepare the finished presentation?

Rehearse with someone unfamiliar with your business. Ask them to explain your customer, offer, evidence and request after listening. Rewrite the parts they cannot explain clearly.

HubSpot names PowerPoint, Apple Keynote and Google Slides as common pitch-deck formats. Presentation format guidance. Start with the program you already know and check the exported file on another device.

Run a final practical check

1. Read only the slide headlines and check the story.
2. Trace every factual number to its supporting record.
3. Check that screenshots match the stated product status.
4. Practise answering questions about assumptions and missing evidence.
5. Finish by proposing a clear next meeting or document review.

Study pitch deck examples for the question each slide answers. Rebuild the content around your own evidence. When you cannot answer a question in the meeting, record it and agree when you will provide a checked response.