Take a look at these 10 startup pitch deck examples that undeniably WOWED their investors.
Presenting your pitch deck can be nerve-wracking. What’s even more daunting is creating a compelling startup pitch deck from scratch.
You have to colors, typography, layout, content, and most especially graphics in marketing as well as pitch deck designs. That’s why startup entrepreneurs delegate this task to professional graphic designers. It’s not worth risking it all on bad design.
And if you’re not a designer or need an extra hand, choose Penji for your startup pitch deck. You’ll get quality designs that get investors to say YES.
1. Facebook
Money raised: $500,000
Strong Points:
You’ll see the valuable data on the User Base Demographics section on this data. Facebook uses statistics, figures, graphs, charts, and icon illustrations to balance the text and visuals. Different types of custom illustrations are helpful when conveying an idea. Also, the impressive part is the list of member schools that have already jumped on board.
Design Tip:
If you don’t have traction as a startup yet, try to show off other achievements. For example, include other info like investors, organizations, or individuals that have backed your business concept.
2. SEOmoz
Money Raised: $18 million
Strong Points:
It may seem like SEOmoz’s startup pitch deck contains way too much text. And trust me, I would probably tone it down a bit. But SEOmoz appears to know how to make it work by relying on colors for data segregation. As a result, the history, graphs, target market, and traction slides are easy to digest.
Design Tip:
Don’t bore investors with pitch decks that dwell more on text. If you can, try to include as many illustrations as possible to make the designs less intimidating and more interesting.
3. Concord Business Plans
Money Raised: $2.5 billion for clients
Strong Points:
Overall, this pitch deck design is heavy on graphics, which makes it extremely captivating. However, two of its sections are the most vital. First is the Platform Expansion section, where they list down the additions for platform extension using icon illustrations. The second impressive design is the simple roadmap that shows how they’ve gained traction after 30 days of launching.
Design Tip:
Keep your pitch deck slides clean by smartly using graphics and illustrations. Custom images are excellent for giving eyes a breather from text consumption. Moreover, use negative space for an uncluttered look.
4. Y Combinator
Money Raised: $150,000 per startup
Strong Points:
Y Combinator is a startup accelerator company that understands startups can’t show traction in the early stages. And their pitch deck design shows how simple yet compelling it is to rely on storytelling if you can’t provide the numbers. What we like about this pitch deck is the simplicity in presenting every piece of information.
Design Tip:
Keep your startup pitch deck designs simple, with complete information for investors. Simple doesn’t mean boring. It only means investors won’t be bothered by complex details.
5. Intercom
Money Raised: $600,000
Strong Points:
Another example of a simple pitch deck that gained $600k in 2012 is Intercom. Intercom’s presentation contains eight slides with the following sections: Logo, team, problem, solution, market, landscape/competitors, progress, and funding.
On every slide, Intercom presents the information in bullet points. The copy is also pretty straightforward, which is how it should be.
Design Tip:
Make your copy concise. Be clear and brief about what you want, as investors don’t have the time to sit and read through long-form content.
6. Airbnb
Money Raised: $600,000
Strong Points:
Airbnb has a clear-cut offer — hotel and travel bookings for the wanderlusts! And this startup pitch deck was what garnered them a $20,000-funding within the first three months. Then another $600,000-funding within eight months. All because they presented the problem, their solution, and the advantages in a memorable way.
Their product explanation was backed with screenshots and a simple three-step direction on how to complete a booking. Other than that, the Business Model slide is also commendable as Airbnb presents a clear and transparent commission basis system.
Design Tip:
Make sure your startup pitch deck memorable by keeping it short and sweet. Present the issue at hand, and offer a simple solution to resolve the issue. Also, honesty is still the best policy. Therefore, make sure you maintain transparency throughout your presentation.
7. Foursquare
Money Raised: $1.35 million
Strong Points:
Going through Foursquare’s pitch deck is like having a taste of the product firsthand. This is due to the mobile phone images showing each feature users will get from using Foursquare. On top of that, they also show snippets of social proof from Twitter users.
Design Tip:
Pitching to investors means you’d want to gain credibility. Social proof can help you with that. Include all the board members with impressive track records and experience. Better yet, include testimonials from users who have nothing but praise for your product.
8. Uber
Money Raised: $200,000
Strong Points:
Uber’s first pitch deck was created with accuracy in mind. The slides contain all the necessary details investors would want to know about Uber. Everything is covered convincingly from the old concept, new concept, operating principles, sample scenarios to benefits, marketing ideas, and progress.
Design Tip:
Uber laid their cards on the table with this pitch deck. Although I could use some graphics to pair with the text, use bullet points when relying on text-heavy slides. This way, it’s easy to follow.
9. TikTok
Money Raised: $150.4 million
Strong Points:
The critical takeaway from TikTok’s pitch deck is the visually-centric content. It has every screenshot investors need to understand the platform better. Plus, the consistency in the blue box with the slide headings on the left side keeps all components cohesive.
Design Tip:
Whether you’re creating 10 or 30 slides for your startup pitch deck, make sure to achieve design cohesion. Use the same colors, typeface, or formatting to make sure every slide screams your brand identity.
10. Linkedin
Money Raised: $10 million
Strong Points:
Linkedin’s first pitch deck slide contains the headline “Linkedin is Professional People Search 2.0.” That alone explains what the entire concept is all about. However, the problem was also stated clearly, with a bulleted list of how users fail at various ways of searching for professionals. It also provides several options for listings, payments, and searching before showing how Linkedin dominates the market with pie charts. And Linkedin did it very well with clear headlines.
Design Tip:
Make sure your copy doesn’t confuse investors. Keep headlines concise and straightforward.
Dos and Don’ts for Startup Pitch Decks
While there is no rule of thumb when creating pitch decks, there are common guidelines for creating compelling presentations. Here are the dos and don’ts of startup pitch deck designs:
Do:
- Make your startup pitch decks memorable by integrating creative storytelling to show how extraordinary your concept is.
- Ensure to tailor your presentation to whoever you’re presenting to. Do due diligence and find out what every investor is interested in.
- Stay consistent in your pitch deck design by choosing similar color palettes, font sizes, styles, and formatting.
- Keep your design unique by using custom images, illustrations, and lots of white space.
- Try to keep text minimal and balance it out with graphics. If you have to use long text, use bullet points to make it easier to digest.
- Use statistics to back up your claims and data. Using statistics also adds credibility to your brand/concept. Then, visualize data with infographics and charts.
- Let investors know how your business idea can corner the market. This is one of the things that will keep them interested.
- Include a visual motif that will create cohesion.
- Hire professional graphic designers when creating your startup pitch decks.
Don’t:
- Make too many slides. Too many slides mean too much information to digest. Limit it to 15-20 slides and provide investors with detailed information via email.
- Give a long introduction. Get straight to the point to avoid boring your audience.
- Bring your team unless they have something to contribute. For example, try to make team members speak up throughout the presentation.
- Exaggerate on the market opportunity. Make sure to be honest when presenting crucial data.
- Assume that investors know what you’re talking about. Some investors may not be tech-savvy. Make sure to explain briefly every jargon or complex terms and topics in your presentation.
- Create a startup pitch deck hastily. Take time to sit down and decide on the essential data that need to be in your presentation.
- Forget to explain where the funding will be spent. Give a breakdown of the various business aspects and rough estimates on how the funding will be used.
- Use low-quality graphics. This is one of the most critical factors of pitch deck designs. Compelling pitch decks have convertible designs that carry your branding.
Need a pitch deck?
Pitching to investors is always a scary yet fulfilling undertaking. Once you get to schedule another meeting with them, that means you’ve done an excellent job on the pitch deck design as well as the presentation.
While you can master the presentation, designing takes another level of skill that only experts have. Entrust your startup pitch deck designs to Penji.
Penji offers unlimited designs so you can focus on pitching your product. Plus, you can request other design types such as logos, business cards, online ads, car wraps, merch designs, and more. Sign up here for a 15-day money-back guarantee.
