I’ve been advising small business owners for a long time, and recently, I’ve noticed a shift. More of my clients aren’t just bootstrapping their businesses anymore. They’re thinking bigger and faster, and that often means one thing: raising outside capital from investors.
It’s exciting to see. But with this new wave of investor-seeking entrepreneurs comes a common question I keep hearing:
“What exactly do I need to put in a pitch deck?”
So, today, I want to walk you through the elements of a great pitch deck. Not just the slides you should include, but also how to think about your pitch depending on who you’re raising money from. Because a pitch deck isn’t just a formality—it’s the story you’re telling about your business, your team, your vision, and your ask. And that story needs to shift a little depending on whether you’re talking to an angel investor, a group of crowdfunding supporters, or a seed-stage venture fund.
Let’s start with the basics.
The 12 Core Slides of a Pitch Deck
Most great pitch decks follow a pretty universal structure. You can add some flair or reorder a few things depending on your style, but here’s a solid foundation:
1. Title Slide
This one’s easy. Your company name, your logo, and your tagline (if you have one). Bonus points if you include a quick one-liner that clearly says what you do. Think: “The Career Platform Helping Veterans Launch High-Paying Tech Jobs” or “Uber for On-Demand Yard Work.” If you have a website, this is also a great place to include your URL—make it easy for people to learn more about you or follow up.
2. The Problem
This is where you show investors the pain point you’re solving. Make it real. Make it personal. If you’ve lived the problem yourself, even better—share that. It makes the opportunity feel more grounded. Use a powerful stat or a simple story to show how urgent or widespread this issue is.
3. Your Solution
Now, show them how you’re solving the problem. What’s your product or service? What makes it better, faster, cheaper, or more accessible than existing solutions? Try to keep it simple here. You’re not there to explain every detail—just enough to get them leaning in.
4. Market Opportunity
How big is the market you’re going after? This is where you introduce TAM (Total Addressable Market), SAM (Serviceable Available Market), and SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market) if you want to get technical.
But you can also just paint the picture: “There are over 300,000 independent home service professionals launching businesses each year—and demand for flexible, skilled labor is only growing.”
5. Business/Economic Model
How do customers interact with and pay for your product or service? Do you sell subscriptions, offer pay-per-use services, or charge a one-time fee? This is where you explain your business model from the customer’s perspective—how value is delivered and how money flows in. At the same time, consider adding a few notes about your economic model: what it costs to deliver that value, what margins look like, and how that scales. Keep it clear and straightforward. If you’re still refining your model, share your assumptions and explain how you’ll test them.
This is your proof of concept. Got customers? Revenue? Waitlists? Testimonials? Even if you’re pre-revenue, show progress: product development milestones, beta users, and strategic partnerships. If you’ve already validated the concept, this is also the time to identify where you are in the funding journey—are you raising a seed round? Series A-C? Be clear about your stage so investors can quickly align expectations.
7. Go-to-Market Strategy
How are you going to grow? Are you doing direct sales? Partnerships? Paid ads? Community-driven growth? Investors want to know you’ve thought about how to reach your customers efficiently and repeatedly.
8. Competition
This is where you show you’ve done your homework. Every business has competition—direct or indirect. A good slide here highlights your key differentiators. Use a matrix or a quadrant if visuals help clarify your position.
9. Team
Investors invest in people as much as they invest in ideas. So, tell them about your team. Why are you the right people to build this? Highlight relevant experience, shared passion, or a unique insight into the problem.
10. Financials
You don’t need a detailed financial model on the slide, but you should include a high-level view of your projections. Three to five years out: revenue, expenses, EBITDA, and key milestones. If you’re pre-revenue, focus on unit economics or your cost structure.
11. The Ask
This is the slide that tells them how much you’re raising and what you’re going to do with the money. Be specific. “We’re raising $500K to hire two instructors, build out our learning platform, and launch in three new markets.”
12. Vision or Exit
You should wrap it all up with your big-picture vision—what the world looks like if you succeed. But don’t stop there. Investors are ultimately asking, “How do I get my money back—and then some?” Use this slide to show them a path to liquidity, whether that’s a future acquisition, a public offering, or a clear route to strong, recurring dividends. If your business is aiming to stay private and grow sustainably, explain how investor returns will be structured. Don’t leave them guessing—make the path to exit (and ROI) explicit.
Tailoring Your Pitch to the Raise Type
Now, here’s where things get interesting. While the deck structure stays mostly the same, the tone and focus should shift depending on the type of investor you’re pitching.
Angel Investors & SPVs
Angel investors use their own money, often early-stage, and often on gut and trust. They’re betting on you. That means you want to:
Emphasize your personal story and why you’re uniquely qualified to solve the problem.
Show early traction, even if it’s modest.
Paint a picture of the potential upside. They want to believe this could be the next breakout hit.
SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles) are just pooled angel money. You’re still pitching to individuals, but it’s cleaner on your cap table. The story still needs to resonate emotionally and financially.
Reg CF (Regulation Crowdfunding)
This is a whole different ballgame. With Reg CF, you’re pitching to the public—people who might be customers, fans, or community supporters. It’s less about venture math and more about:
Mission and Impact
Relatability
Social Proof (testimonials, reviews, media mentions)
Your deck here should feel more like an Equity Crowdfunding Campaign. Focus on your story, your passion, and the difference you’re making. People invest in Reg CF because they believe in the founder or the cause—not just the returns.
Reg A+ (Regulation A Plus)
Now we’re getting into mini-IPO territory. Reg A+ allows you to raise up to $75M from the public, but it comes with a heavy compliance burden. Your deck needs to be more polished:
Audited financials
Legal disclaimers
Scalable business model
Bigger vision
Still, storytelling matters. Just know your audience here is more like retail investors—they want substance and story.
Final Thoughts
A pitch deck isn’t just about slides—it’s your narrative. It’s your opportunity to control the first impression. And when you tailor it for the audience in front of you, that impression hits harder.
Whether you’re raising $50K from a local angel investor, $500K through Reg CF, or dreaming big with a $10 million Reg A+ raise, the core elements remain the same:
A clear problem
A compelling solution
A real market
A credible team
A smart plan for growth
The rest is style and strategy.
What I recommend is using ChatGPT to help you first develop a simple, clear, text-based version of your pitch deck. This lets you focus on the content and flow without getting caught up in design. Once the message is dialed in, you can use a tool like Gamma to automatically convert that outline into a beautifully designed presentation with graphics and layouts that feel professional. It’s a game-changer, especially for founders who aren’t designers.
So, if you’re putting together your first (or fifth) pitch deck, start with the fundamentals—but don’t forget to shape the story for the room you’re in. Investors don’t just want to hear what you do—they want to feel why it matters.
If you had just one shot at explaining why someone should bet on your business—what would you say, and is your pitch deck saying it clearly?
