Dropbox’s 2007 pitch deck that helped it win Sequoia backing

ABOUT

Based in the US, Dropbox helps people be organized, stay focused, and get in sync with their teams by providing a smart workspace for file storage and sharing. It started in 2007 as a simple online backup service formed by a group of MIT students, with initial funding coming from Y Combinator.

Dropbox used this pitch deck to win the initial backing of Sequoia Capital. US seed and early-stage investment firm Amidzad Partners also participated in the 2007 round.

Since then, Dropbox has grown to have more than 600 million users as of late last year, with over 400,000 teams using Dropbox Business around the same time. It went public in the US in March 2018.

Fundraising journey

• 2007: Initial US$15,000 from Y Combinator and US$1.2 million seed investment led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Amidzad Partners.
• 2008: US$6 million series A led by Sequoia Capital and participated by Accel Partners.
• 2011: US$250 million series B led by Index Ventures, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, Goldman Sachs, Greylock Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, RIT Capital Partners, and Valiant Capital Partners. Angel investors Hadi and Ali Partovi also participated in this round.
• February 2014: US$350 million series C from existing investors.
• April 2014: US$500 million in debt.
• March 2017: US$600 million in debt led by JP Morgan Chase & Co.

How is the deck compelling?

• It presents a visual that depicts the problem that Dropbox aims to solve, combined with the short but clear tagline “Storage is a mess.”
• It elaborates on the main issues of the then-current data storage manners and processes.
• After stating these issues, Dropbox then visualizes how the “ideal” state of data storage should be and introduces the service that it provides.
• It includes a product demonstration and shows details of the features that make Dropbox better than its competitors.
• It explains Dropbox’s business model and customer acquisition plan.

SOURCE

Deck: PitchDeckHunt