Pitch deck template — generate a custom one in seconds
Below is the structure investors actually expect, slide by slide, with what goes on each one and why. Use it as a checklist for a deck you're building by hand, or generate a version already filled in for your company.
The eleven slides
This is the order institutional investors are used to reading a deck in. Skipping a slide isn't wrong if you have a reason; skipping it because you forgot reads as a gap in the plan, not the deck.
- 01
Cover
Company name, a one-line description of what you do, and nothing else. This slide is on screen the longest — while people are still finding their seats — so it should ask nothing of the reader.
“Skiaw — AI presentation generator that exports real PowerPoint files.”
- 02
Problem
One problem, stated as something the reader already believes, not something you're about to convince them of. Specific and personal beats big and abstract — a founder's own story here is stronger than a market statistic.
“Every AI deck tool ships slides as flattened images. Nobody can edit a word after export.”
- 03
Solution
What you built, in one sentence, followed by the one mechanism that makes it work. Not a feature list — the single idea that makes the problem go away, and why it wasn't obvious or easy before now.
“Skiaw measures slide geometry from a rendered page and writes it directly into real PowerPoint shapes.”
- 04
Product
Screenshots or a short walkthrough of the actual thing, in the state a customer would use it today. Not mockups of the roadmap — investors weight what exists far higher than what's planned.
- 05
Market size
Bottom-up, not top-down. 'X potential customers × what they'd realistically pay' is more convincing than a $50B TAM slide with no path from here to there. Show your math, not just the total.
- 06
Business model
How money actually moves: who pays, how much, how often. If you have real pricing, use it. If you don't, say what you're testing and why you believe it.
- 07
Traction
The one chart that's trending the right direction, whatever stage you're at — signups, revenue, retention, or a strong early cohort. A single honest chart beats five vanity metrics stacked to look busy.
- 08
Competition
Name the real alternatives, including 'doing nothing.' A 2x2 grid works if the two axes are the ones that actually matter to a buyer, not the ones that flatter your position.
- 09
Go-to-market
The one channel you believe in first, and evidence it's already working at small scale — not a list of five channels you haven't tried yet.
- 10
Team
Why this team, for this problem, specifically. Prior outcomes matter less than a believable reason you're the ones who solve this.
- 11
The ask
How much you're raising, and the two or three things that amount buys you before the next raise. End on a number and a plan, not a thank-you slide.
Why this order works
- It matches the order an investor's memory is trained on, so nobody has to work to follow it.
- Every slide answers one question. A slide answering two questions is usually two slides that got merged out of nerves.
- Traction comes before competition on purpose — proof you're moving is more persuasive than a strong case against alternatives.
- It ends on an ask, not a summary. The last slide on screen should be the one action you want taken.
Common mistakes
The problem slide states a fact instead of a felt problem — a market statistic instead of what actually goes wrong for someone.
Describe the moment it hurts. 'Marketing teams spend 6 hours per deck' is a fact. 'You've stayed late rebuilding a deck because the brand colours drifted' is a problem.
The market size slide is a single huge number with no path from your first customer to it.
Show the bottom-up math: how many buyers, what they pay, and which segment you're starting with. The huge number can still appear, as the ceiling, not the pitch.
Traction is five metrics that all say 'we exist' rather than one that says 'this is working.'
Pick the metric that would make a skeptical investor lean forward, and give it the whole slide.
The deck ends on a 'Thank you' slide instead of the ask.
Make the last slide the number you're raising and what it buys. Thanks can be said out loud.
See it filled in
Four versions of this same structure, generated with different brand kits, so you can see how the layout holds up once real colours and a logo are in it.
Pitch deck generated with a neutral brand kit — screenshot pending
Pitch deck generated with a bold accent-colour brand kit — screenshot pending
Pitch deck generated with a logo-forward brand kit — screenshot pending
Pitch deck generated with a dark-theme brand kit — screenshot pending
Frequently asked questions
The questions people ask before building this deck.
How many slides should a pitch deck have?
Ten to fifteen is the range most investors expect for an initial meeting. The eleven above is a solid default — add a slide only if it answers a question investors in your category always ask (e.g. a regulatory slide for healthcare, a unit-economics slide for marketplaces), not to include everything you know.
Should the pitch deck and the deck I send by email be the same file?
No, ideally. The deck you present can lean on your narration and stay light on text. The deck you send afterwards needs to stand alone, so it usually carries a bit more detail on the slides that get skimmed fastest without you in the room — market size and business model in particular.
Do I need a financials slide?
For most first meetings, a simple 3-year projection folded into the business model or ask slide is enough. A full financial model belongs in the data room, not the pitch — a dense spreadsheet on screen loses the room faster than almost anything else on this list.
What if I don't have traction yet?
Traction doesn't have to mean revenue. A strong early cohort, a waitlist growing without paid acquisition, or a handful of design partners actively using the product all count. Show the trend line, whatever the underlying number is.
Ready to generate one?
One prompt, already written for this structure. Edit it or send it as is.