Raise money

How long should my deck be, and what goes in the appendix?

The short answer

Aim for 10-12 core slides that carry the story, and push detailed metrics, cohort data, and financial models into an appendix you pull up only when asked. The main deck earns interest; the appendix survives due diligence. If a slide isn't advancing the narrative, it belongs in the back.

Go deeper, your way

2 hand-picked resources, 2 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.

📄 Article
✓ Link checked Freemium Intermediate

Why we picked it A modern, tactical fundraising and pitch playbook aggregating advice from top operators and investors. Strong on how to build the narrative and materials that actually move investors today.

A Playbook for Fundraising (and building your pitch)

From Lenny's Newsletter by Lenny Rachitsky 25 min read

  • Spend real time (weeks) building the deck and narrative; the story is the product you're selling
  • Make the pitch conversational and use slides as backup, not a script
  • Nail the 'why now' and the narrative before obsessing over design
Open lennysnewsletter.com →
📋 Template
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it The de facto global standard for pitch deck structure, straight from Sequoia. The same outline Airbnb's founders used; if you follow one template, follow this one.

Writing a Business Plan (The Sequoia Pitch Deck Template)

From Sequoia Capital by Sequoia Capital 10 min read

  • Ten-slide structure: purpose, problem, solution, why now, market size, competition, product, model, team, financials
  • Define your company in a single declarative sentence up front
  • One idea per slide; the deck earns the meeting, it doesn't answer everything
Open sequoiacap.com →

Terms in this answer

Due Diligence

People also ask

What slides should my pitch deck have, and in what order? Use the battle-tested Sequoia structure: purpose, problem, solution, why now, market size, competition, product, business model, team, and financia... Beginner 3 resources → How do I tell a compelling story instead of just listing features? Open with a real, sharp problem and a change in the world that makes now the moment, then position your product as the inevitable answer. Investors... Intermediate 3 resources → What actually happens inside a VC partner meeting when I pitch? You're not presenting to one person; you're giving the partner in the room the ammunition to sell you to skeptical colleagues after you leave. Anti... Advanced 3 resources → What are the most common mistakes that kill a pitch deck? Burying the point, vague market-size hand-waving, no clear 'why now,' too many words per slide, and a team slide that doesn't explain why you speci... Intermediate 3 resources → How do I make a title slide that gets an investor to keep reading past slide one? Your title slide is not a logo parking lot. Put your one-line value proposition in plain language directly under the company name, so a stranger kn... Beginner 3 resources → What financial numbers actually belong on the deck versus the data room? The deck carries three to five numbers that prove momentum: current revenue or a leading usage metric, growth rate, and unit economics (or a credib... Intermediate 3 resources →

Also in D2C

The same ground, over in Scale, fund & exit, our D2C track.

Should I even bother with offline distribution, or stay D2C-only? If your CAC on paid digital channels keeps climbing, offline is no longer optional - over 800 D2C brands in India now have some offline presence, a... 3 resources → What is the Thrasio/roll-up model, and would my brand actually get acquired by one? Roll-ups like Mensa Brands and GlobalBees buy majority or full stakes in profitable digital-first brands doing roughly $1M-$20M in revenue, then ap... 4 resources →

Also in How Founders Use AI

How founders actually use AI for this, over in Fundraising.

How do founders use AI to research investors and personalize outreach? Founders now compress investor research from weeks to hours: free tools like NFX Signal and OpenVC match you to investors by stage, sector, and che... 13 resources → Why draft your deck narrative, FAQ, and data-room answers with AI? A raise is mostly a writing exercise: the deck, the investor FAQ, and the data room all answer the same twenty questions in different formats, and ... 11 resources →
eChai Partner Brands