0/ I often get questions from early stage founders about fundraising. Should I use a deck? What should it include?

My POV: A deck allows you to control the conversation & craft the best narrative for your company

are 10 key elements of an early stage fundraise deck (thread)

1/ Problem — what is the problem the company is addressing & why? Is this a real pain point? Data to illustrate the severity of the problem is always helpful

2/ Vision — what is the company's vision? In other words, what is the long term true north you are working towards?

for example, LinkedIn’s Series B deck describes “professional people search” as moving from via flat directories to network based

3/ Our Approach / Solution — outline what your company is doing and how. This section may include a demo of the product or some screenshots

4/ Team — share the key team & their backgrounds. First and foremost, investors are making a bet on you so it's important to highlight why this team is the right one to solve the problem. If you've worked together in the past, call this out to illustrate comfort working together

5/ Why now — why is now the right time for you to solve this? Investors are often trying to understand why the problem has not been successfully addressed previously, and why this time could be different

Instacart vs. Webvan is a great ex of the importance of timing

6/ Total Addressable Market (TAM) — your market size. *PSA*: only calculate the size of the market you will directly address. eg. if you're selling software to logistics providers, show the size of the logistics software market you're targeting not the entire logistics market

7a/ Traction metrics (2–3 slides) — share how the company is doing. Metrics could be revenue, gross margin, unit economics, MAUs, LTV, CAC, the list goes on. The exact metrics will depend on the KPIs of your company

7b/ Highlight marquee logos and proof points. It is important to show your company in the best light, but also not to omit any key metrics just because they are not what you wish they were. If you are not sure, keep them in the appendix in case an investor asks

8/ Milestones & projections — share revenue & growth projections for the next 12–24 months as well as 5 yrs. Include major product or growth milestones (new products, customer segments etc). This shows how you're thinking about the future & what growth you believe is achievable

9a/ Competition — list the other players & explain why you're different. It shows that you're aware of the market dynamics and your customer's alternatives. Otherwise, you could leave investors wondering if you understand how your market is evolving

9b/ *PSA*: A comprehensive view of your competitors is also important because it illustrates how you define your long-term market.

eg. if Notion were to list Asana, that indicates want to own project management as well vs just free form note taking

10/ Fundraise — how much are you raising and what the goals are for the financing? If you have raised money previously, this would be a good place to include how much and from whom

PS — the exact order above will vary depending on your specifics so feel free to rearrange for the best flow for you

PPS — there's a ton of great resources that open sourced pitch decks from well known companies. If it would be helpful to share drop me a line and I'll share out!