Fundraising & Investors

What slides should my pitch deck have, and in what order?

A starting point

Use the battle-tested Sequoia structure: purpose, problem, solution, why now, market size, competition, product, business model, team, and financials, in roughly that order. Ten to twelve clean slides, one idea per slide. Don't reinvent the format; investors read hundreds of decks and expect this flow.

Go deeper

Read

📄 Article
Freemium Intermediate

A Playbook for Fundraising (and building your pitch)

From Lenny's Newsletter by Lenny Rachitsky 25 min read

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.

  • 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 →
📄 Article
Free Intermediate

Take Your Fundraising Pitch from Mediocre to Memorable with Storytelling

From First Round Review by First Round Review 20 min read

Why we picked it

First Round Review turns storytelling from a buzzword into concrete pitch structure, drawing on a former Pixar CTO's approach. Perfect for founders whose facts are strong but whose narrative falls flat.

  • Zoom out to the trend and 'why now' before zooming into your product
  • Lead with the team and the change in the world, then make your solution feel inevitable
  • Use narrative to make investors lean in; numbers support the story, not replace it
Open review.firstround.com →

Use

📋 Template
Free Beginner

Writing a Business Plan (The Sequoia Pitch Deck Template)

From Sequoia Capital by Sequoia Capital 10 min read

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.

  • 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 →

People also ask

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 long should my deck be, and what goes in the appendix? 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... Beginner 2 resources →