Pitch Deck Structure: What to Include in a Pitch Deck Outline

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Pitch Deck Structure: What to Include in a Pitch Deck Outline

When it comes to pitching your startup, you need to know what content to include and where. Pitch decks are a key marketing tool in the startup world.

A winning pitch deck is a well-designed and persuasive presentation that has a clear and compelling story and a clever structure. This lesson will guide you through the process of the components and the pitch deck outline that belong in every pitch deck.

The introduction makes the start of your pitch deck structure

The Introduction Section provides an overview of the business and its opportunity. It is important for the structure of your pitch deck. It will include a brief background on the founders, any founding partners, CEO or senior managers, as well as any other key executives who may be involved in making decisions related to the business’s success (i.e., investors).

The introduction slide of a pitch deck is very important because it sets the tone and the mood for the rest of the slides. A concise and focused introduction will help establish your credibility to investors. The best way to start is by defining what your company does in simple terms, and then highlighting why it’s different than competitors.

If you’re presenting to multiple audiences, you want to customize this part depending on who you’re talking to.

Pitch Deck Outline Introduction Slide
The introduction makes the start of your pitch deck structure

Market challenges & problems prove your relevance

The problem slide is typically the most important slide in a pitch deck and also for the Pitch Deck Outline. It encapsulates all of your content and most likely the core message you want to convey.

This section of a Pitch Deck has the goal of raising awareness about a specific set of problems. It usually has three parts: A description of the problem, what it is costing the company, and what actions are being taken to solve it. The Problem Slide should be short enough to capture attention but long enough to provide all the necessary information.

A good Problem Slide should contain 3 parts: The Problem, What It Costs Us, and How We’re Fighting Back.

Pitch Deck Structure Market Challenge and Problems
State of the market

Your unique approach to solving the unsolved that'll impress your investors

Solution slide is a key feature in a pitch deck and should never be missing in a Pitch Deck Outline. It summarizes the pillars of a business and provides a map for investors to understand the company’s vision.

It is the shortest presentation in the pitch, designed to hook your audience and generate interest in your product or service. A Solution slide can be used to explain how your product or service solves the customer’s problem. It should be visual and concise. It should contain less than five lines of text that are easy to read.

The content of the slide should tell the reader what the product does, why it is necessary, and how it works in everyday life. Solution Slides are usually placed in a pitch deck to help investors understand how their money will be used in order for them to make an investment decision.

Pitch Deck Outline Solution Slide
Your unique approach to solving the unsolved that'll impress your investors
Demonstrating that the market is ready for your solution

The opportunity slide is the single most viewed slide in a investor presentation and very important for the pitch deck structure. It communicates the opportunity and provides a summary of what makes this opportunity unique.

You should also be aware of how to send pitch decks to investors after you created it following the pitch deck structure from this article.

You want to convey the company's story and sell investors on what they'll get from investing their time and money into your company. The Opportunity Slide should demonstrate how the company has a unique opportunity to disrupt a market that presents a high-growth opportunity with strong barriers of entry for new entrants. It should also include how you plan to execute this strategy.

Also, it should detail any recent success stories and show how they are making an impact in the industry. Finally, the opportunity slide should detail where the company is headed in terms of future goals and detailed plans for achieving them. Don't miss it in your Pitch Deck Outline.

Pitch Deck Structure Market Slide
Demonstrating that the market is ready for your solution
A detailed overview of what makes your product the ultimate solution

The product slide is a main focus of the Pitch Deck Outline. It should summarize the product’s key features and benefits, illustrate its value for customers, and show off its competitive advantages in comparison to similar products.

This slide should be simple and concise. The Product Slide is a visual representation of your product in a single paragraph. It provides a high level overview of what your company does, how it does it, who your customers are, and what sets you apart from competitors. The Product Slide will be used extensively throughout your Pitch Deck Structure, so it is important to get this section right.

All good presentations have one thing in common: they are telling a story to their audience through compelling visuals that illustrate key points along the way. Telling this story makes for an effective presentation which will help.

Pitch Deck Outline Product Slide

Progress, milestones & goals that will lead you to desired success

A traction slide is a visual representation of progress towards goals. These slides are usually at the beginning of a pitch deck and are designed to help investors understand how well the company is doing in terms of growth.

The traction slide is where you can show off all those numbers that tell investors how well the company is doing. These numbers include metrics such as top-line growth, user acquisition rates, and churn rates.

All these numbers provide an accurate representation of the health of the company and convince potential investors that your startup will grow exponentially in the future.

Pitch Deck Outline Traction Slide
Progress, milestones & goals that will lead you to desired success

Personality counts. Your team and you deserve an intro, too

The team slide is an important part of the Pitch Deck Structure. It provides information on the team members and their past experiences during their time at work.

The aim of this slide is to inspire confidence in the investor by showing that your team can bring your product to life. Team slides show your credibility, and potential for success with investors which is why they are important to create effectively.

We also follow the same Pitch Deck Outline and Structure approach when we offer our Pitch Deck Service.

Potential competitors and how you will outperform them in the future

With a competitor slide, you can add a lot of context about how your product is different from the competitors. This way, you help your potential customers to make a decision that is in their best interest.

A competitor slide is needed in every Pitch Deck structure and includes all the information that you need to know about your competitors and what they offer. It also shows a comparison between a company and its competitors, highlighting the key differences between them.

It's important to note that while some companies will list their competitors on their websites, others will not - so another reliable way to find them is through Google search or social media.

Pitch Deck Structure Competition Slide
Potential competitors and how you will outperform them in the future

First financial key figures will add firmness to your vision

By using a "Financial Slide" and showing how much money is being invested and returned on an investment, you can provide an overview of your company's financial health. We will also include the Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for a project. NPV is the value that takes into account cash flows from both years one and two, while IRR is the discount rate which gives us the same value as NPV.

The financial slide is necessary for the pitch deck outline and is usually in the form of a spreadsheet that displays financial projections for three years. The key parts are company's revenue breakdown by product/service lines and margins, operating expenses by line item type with percentage explained, total assets including capital used (equity + debt), cash flow by line items (incoming cash less outgoing cash), balance sheet (assets - liabilities = net worth), and finally profits before tax. The investor is looking for evidence that your business will create revenue or profit at some point in time.

Pitch Deck Structure Financial Slide
First financial key figures will add firmness to your vision

The amount of your desired funding and what you will be using it for

The investment usage slide is where you lay out what you plan on investing in. It should include all the funds that will be invested in capital expenses, operating expenses, and working capital.

Investment Usage Slides can vary depending on the size of the company and type of business they are involved in, but there are some similarities that remain across almost all presentations. There are also some other information that should not be missing on this slide to achieve the perfect pitch deck structure.

Type of Investment: The type of investment can be either equity or debt.
Percentage of Ownership: Depending on the type of investment, this might be how much ownership is given to the investor.

Sounds like a lot? If you want to know how much a pitch deck costs using professional services, you should read our article.

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