Pitch Deck Handbook: Overview and Principles

The Pitch Deck Handbook is for anyone who is looking to build a pitch deck for raising money for their startup or idea. It will cover each “typical” slide found in a pitch deck in detail to give you an in depth look at how to build a great deck, slide by slide.

Keep in mind, every startup is different so you might not include some of the slides talked about or you might include ones that aren’t discussed at all in this series.

If you need help designing your pitch deck, please reach out: hello@danstrangfeld.com

Disclaimer: There are many things that go into being able to successfully raise money beyond your pitch deck. Your slides are just what sum everything up about your startup into a simple package that will hopefully convince investors to write you a check.

Pitch Deck Principles

Before we dive into each slide, I first want to introduce some principles that are important to keep in mind when building a deck. These principles should be thought about in each and every slide you create. Remember; Clarity, Credible, and Cohesive.

1. Money Loves Clarity.

This is a saying coined by Rob Dyrdek who built the Dyrdek Machine amongst many other companies. I personally think it perfectly sums up what you need to think about in a pitch deck. Without clarity, how will someone ever write you a check?

A few core areas that investors will need to be able to obtain clarity in:

• What the problem is that you are addressing
• What the solution(s) are that you are building and how they solve the problem(s) you listed
• What the opportunity looks like; Market wise, timing wise, and ask wise

2. Be Credible.

Not only do you need to know what you are talking about, but investors need to be convinced of it as well.

You need credibility in everything that you put in the deck, but make sure to really cover the following areas:

• Why you are the team to build this company
• Data + Logical Reasoning for; The problems you are addressing, your strategy, and your competitive advantage

3. Tell a Cohesive Story.

Remember, investors are likely starting from ground 0 of what your company does. Just like a good book, your deck should paint a clear picture about your business in a linear fashion.

You’ll need to we’ve your points together in a manner that makes the information presented build on itself.

For example: Talk about a problem that needs to be solved, then introduce your solution and talk about exactly how it solves the problem that you listed before.

How the Pitch Deck Handbook is Structured

Each post in this series will cover one slide type that is typically included in a pitch deck. Within the post, we will cover:

• What the slide’s main purpose is (what is the slide trying to accomplish)
• An example slide from a fictional crypto startup, “Stable Station”
• Contents and information that SHOULD be included and/or CAN be included in the slide
• A few example locations of where the slide is typically placed in a pitch deck

Table of Contents

Slides to be included in this handbook:

1. Intro
2. Problem
3. Why Now
4. Existing Solutions
5. Solution
6. Business Model (Coming Soon)
7. Competitive Advantage (Coming Soon)
8. Traction (Coming Soon)
9. Market (Coming Soon)
10. Roadmap (Coming Soon)
11. Financials (Coming Soon)
12. Team (Coming Soon)
13. Ask (Coming Soon)
14. Closing (Coming Soon)
15. Index (Coming Soon)