Pitch decks
Pitch deck checklist: the evidence investors need
A practical pitch deck checklist covering customer pain, product, market, traction, business model, team, fundraising ask, and the evidence behind each slide.
The takeawayYour deck should explain the customer, the evidence, and what the round unlocks. Visual polish helps communication; it cannot replace proof or accurate assumptions.
Build the story around a decision
Start with a clear company description and the customer problem. Then show why your solution changes the customer's outcome and why the timing matters. Keep the story consistent with the company profile you use for investor matching.
Sequoia's pitching framework emphasizes purpose, problem, solution, timing, market, alternatives, business model, team, financials, and vision. Use those subjects as coverage checks, not a requirement to reproduce another company's slide order.
Use a slide-by-slide evidence checklist
Each major claim should have a source or an identifiable company record. Label estimates and forecasts visibly. For pre-launch companies, validation and technical progress can be useful evidence, but should not be described as revenue.
- Problem: customer interviews, observed friction, or measured cost.
- Product: screenshots, a working prototype, or a clearly labeled concept.
- Market: a bottom-up customer and spending model with assumptions.
- Traction: dated revenue, usage, retention, pilots, or validation results.
- Business model: pricing, gross-margin assumptions, and sales motion.
- Competition: alternatives and why customers would switch.
- Team: relevant experience, responsibilities, and missing capabilities.
- Raise: target amount, use of funds, and measurable next milestones.
Choose imagery that explains the product
Use product screenshots, customer workflows, team photographs, and prototype images when they help an investor understand the business. Avoid decorative images that consume space without carrying information.
The Founder Relay deck generator accepts your logo and up to 10 images, then produces a 10-slide PDF from a guided intake. Review the text, financial assumptions, image rights, and layout before sharing it.
Run a final credibility check
Read the PDF on a phone and a desktop. Check small text, charts, dates, links, and any claims extracted or drafted by AI. Remove confidential information that does not belong in an introductory deck.
Keep a short investor-facing deck and a separate diligence folder. The first document should earn a relevant conversation; the second should support the questions that follow.