10 essential slides for a captivating pitch deck

If you have a long, rambling pitch deck, you are done.

In fact, those aren’t my words, but those of Naval Ravikant, co-founder of AngelList.

There’s more truth to that than you think. According to a recent research by DocSend, the majority of investors spend just three minutes and 44 seconds on one pitch deck. Having a captivating one isn’t just optional, it’s the key to winning those investments—along with your speech of course.

But designing and structuring all your ideas into a few slides can be such a pain. So, I’ve done some homework for you.

The following examples were created with BaseTemplates–a curated collection of slide templates and design elements.

Title slide

Your first slide can make or break the entire presentation. It will be right behind you when you introduce yourself and also when you thank the audience for their time at the end. This makes it the most viewed slide in your entire presentation. Make it count.

Here are some essential tips for your slide design:

• Leave plenty of white space and make just one eye-popping element–your product image or name + tagline.
• Include your logo, of course.
• Keep it simple and straightforward–do include a snappy line about your company or your slogan, but don’t overweight it with too much text.

Summary/overview

This slide should clearly present the problem your company is trying to solve and the solution you are proposing.

Keep the text purposefully brief here. You need to trigger the initial curiosity among the investors, not spill all the beans just too soon.

Don’t be afraid to go bold here with a big claim. It can serve as a powerful cue for your further presentations on the target market and your product value.

The problem

The solution

The business model

The market or the opportunity (why now?)

Customer acquisition (go to market)

Competition

The team

The ask