EXAMPLES OF THE BEST PITCH DECKS

1. Pitch deck by Sequoia
2. Pitch deck by Airbnb
3. Pitch deck by Uber
4. Pitch deck by Guy Kawasaki
5. Facebook Pitch deck

1. Sequoia Capital Pitch Deck

What was the total amount raised? According to TechCrunch, Sequoia Capital is a Venture Capital firm that has raised about $1 billion for later-stage US investments.

Key takeaway: “If you can’t explain the tale of the firm in five minutes then you’re either overthinking it or you haven’t simplified it down enough.” Sequoia Capital’s Mike Vernal

Sequoia Capital, a well-known venture capital firm, has its own 10-slide pitch deck format to compete with Guy Kawasaki’s. It is a highly curated framework that highlights unique ideas and forces clarity of thought.

And, as the video above illustrates, effective communication of your objective, rather than simply listing features, is critical. The following is our take on the Sequoia Capital pitch deck outline–simple, it’s clean, and straightforward to produce.

Design Tip: Select a new color from our color wheel or one of your brand colors (My Brand Kit is available with Venngage for Business) and construct your own pitch deck with your branding by clicking the blue backdrop.

Blue and Pink Iconics Pitch Deck

With this pink and blue slide deck, you can add a splash of color to your version of the Sequoia pitch deck template. The contrasting hues draw attention to your information.

2. Airbnb sales pitch deck

What was the total amount raised? Vator estimates that it will cost $20k after three months and $600k after eight months (seed).

Key takeaway: According to Fast Company, a vast marketplace, exceptional rate of traction, and a market ready for a new rival are what helped Airbnb stand out early on–and its slide deck clearly demonstrates these points.

Your pitch deck should clarify the key points in your company plan in an easy-to-understand manner. Few startups have succeeded in this as well as Airbnb.

Airbnb’s famed deck has been redesigned as two light and airy layouts. The emphasis here is on appealing images with minimal text.

Airbnb Fundraising Presentation

This is also known as a demo day presentation. Because it will be visible from a distance and you will be presenting, you don’t need a lot of text. The goal is to enhance rather than detract from your speech.

One of the advantages of the Airbnb slide deck format is that each slide contains no more than three sections of information:

3. Airbnb Pitch Deck

The rule of three, one of the most common presentation layouts, has been drummed into my head since middle school art class, and for good reason: it works.

Here’s one of the slides that exemplifies why this style of pitch deck template works so well.

Pitch Deck Template

Only the best pitch decks, in my opinion, adhere to this simple rule on their slides.

Design Tip: Click the background and choose from swatch colors, gradients, and patterns–or your brand colors–to make the best pitch deck templates seem like yours. To add your own numbers and words, click any of the text boxes.

This simple Airbnb pitch deck template is clean and extremely simple to customize. It’s ideal for those who are new to giving presentations.

Don’t forget to substitute your own tagline for the well-known “Book rooms with locals rather than hotels.”

Similarly, your tagline should communicate what your company provides. Airbnb provides enticing possibilities, such as cost savings, an insider’s perspective on a location, and new acquaintances.

Design Tip: In our online editor, click the text fields to add your own words to the pitch decks. Duplicate the slides you want to save and delete the ones you don’t.

4. Uber’s elevator pitch

What was the total amount raised? According to Business Insider, $1.57 million in startup capital was raised in 2010.

The essential lesson is that it clearly emphasizes the key pain point (cab inefficiencies) and the enticing remedy (1-click ordering).

In a Medium post, Uber co-founder Garrett Camp published the company’s very first pitch deck from 2008.

There is a startling quantity of text. Nonetheless, it manages to cover every significant aspect of their business plan in a concise manner–including key differentiators, use cases, and the best and worst-case scenarios.

The traditional Uber pitch deck design has been revamped with clean visuals and layouts.

Uber’s investor presentation

Using the same structure for your whole slide deck may cause your audience to tune out.

However, if you question your audience’s expectations, they will be more likely to pay attention. We rebuilt Uber’s pitch deck, for example, and employed at least five alternative slide layouts.

Pitch Deck for Uber

The finest pitch decks are brief, presenting simply a few key topics over a few slides. However, your deck may require a little more information at times.

There’s nothing wrong with having a lengthy investor pitch deck as long as the slide layouts are rotated a few times. Nobody wants to see the same presentation with different metrics or points on each of the next 25 slides.

For example, this slide deck design, which we built on the well-known Uber deck, features 20 or more slides! And, as shown in the slides below, the arrangement changes a couple times:

Replace the photos with your own or search our in-editor library for thousands of free professional stock images. To use our “replace” tool, double-click any image. Then, use a keyword search to find photos.

Uber’s blue slide deck

We’ve added bright colors and imaginative layouts to this version of the Uber pitch deck template. In our online editor, you can quickly change the icons. Choose from our in-editor collection of thousands of free icons.

5. Guy Kawasaki’s elevator pitch

What was the total amount raised? According to one estimate, Guy Kawasaki’s Garage Financing raised more than $315 million in venture capital for its clients.

The key message is to avoid lengthy technical details in your pitch deck. Concentrate on the pain issue you’re addressing, how you’ll address it, how you’ll generate money, and how you’ll reach customers without exhausting your marketing budget.

Guy Kawasaki, a well-known investor, developed the 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint: 10 slides, 20 minutes, and no typefaces lower than 30 points.

Guy Kawasaki’s ten-slide outline is well-known for its precision. While you may be tempted to include as much of your business plan as possible, his outline encourages you to distill your most crucial material and engage investors or clients in a short period of time.

We’ve replicated his iconic outline in two winning templates that you can adapt and personalize.

Gradient Pitch deck by Guy Kawasaki

This clean, simple pitch deck template has all of the components you require and none that you do not.

Kawasaki’s approach directs you toward what venture capitalists are truly interested in: your problem/solution, technology, competition, marketing plan, team, financial predictions, and timeline.

Guy Kawasaki Gradient Pitch Deck Template

Design Tip: Use our in-editor chart generator to quickly insert charts and graphs. Data can also be imported from Excel or Google Sheets.

Pitch deck for Blue Guy Kawasaki

The pitch deck template’s more conservative style keeps all of the focus on the important information. Kawasaki suggests completing the 10 slides in 20 minutes, allowing 40 minutes for questions.

Another piece of advice is to use fonts that are 30 points or higher. This will require you to stay focused on your main ideas and express them clearly.

Anything smaller, and you risk losing your audience–especially if they’re too preoccupied with reading tiny print and tune out what you’re actually saying.

Design Tip: Using our My Brand Kit tool, you can easily apply your brand colors with a single click. Using our in-editor icon library, swap out the icons. It provides access to thousands of professional icons and images.

6. Buffer Pitch deck

The traction slide was crucial for Buffer. It demonstrated that they had an excellent product/market fit. It is considerably easier to raise funds if you have a lot of traction.

What was remarkable about Buffer’s pitching process was that the subject of competition was where many of their discussions broke down. Investors grew perplexed–the social media world was crowded, and no one knew how Buffer stood out.

To clear the air, they eventually prepared this slide:

Pitch Deck Buffer Slide

To be honest, we still perplexed by this addition to the Buffer pitch deck, but it could be just me.

In any case, we’ve replicated Buffer’s pitch deck, complete with its own rival slide, a fresh new layout, and some easily customizable icons on the timeline and traction slides.

Buffer Pitch Deck Design

You may have to make your case to a small group of investors at times. Sometimes it will be in front of an auditorium full of random people from your industry.

And I guarantee that not everyone will recognize your brand off the top of their head.

Your job should be to make it as simple as possible for people to find out more information or contact the team if they have any questions. I would recommend including this on the final slide, as shown in this pitch deck example.

Template for a Modern Marketing Pitch Deck

Or on the longest-viewed slide, such as the title slide in a pitch deck. This will help anyone that is interested write it down as the event organizers get things ready.

7. Facebook pitch deck

What was the total amount raised? $500K in angel funding from venture capitalist Peter Thiel (first round).

Key takeaway: If you don’t yet have revenue traction, focus on other indicators such as customer base, user engagement, and growth. Use a timeline to tell your company’s story.

The finest pitch decks tell your company’s or brand’s true story. You want to sell the audience not only on your product, but also on how you created it from the ground up.

Facebook’s traditional pitch deck displays the amazing schools that have already signed up, as well as a timeline of future launches.

Intercom’s pitch deck also includes a traction slide, which aided the company’s growth.

Another example of a company or product timeline is seen in the pitch deck below. People are already quite familiar with timelines and know how to read them rapidly, according to our findings. This would have worked beautifully in the Facebook pitch deck as well.