What startups need in their Series A deck

With a busy fundraising fall underway, we’ve been highlighting the things that startups need to successfully raise a Series A. We started with a relatively neglected topic, the data room. Today, we’re looking at the pitch deck, and we’ve even created a template that you can browse below or download as a PowerPoint.

Most founders are much more familiar with the deck than the data room, and they probably have one prepared already. But that familiarity doesn’t make it any less crucial. After all, your deck is how many investors will form their first impression of you, before you get a chance to pitch them in-person or over Zoom.

In fact, one of the most common requests sent to our Ask a Seed VC advice column is for feedback on pitch decks. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be feasible to provide a detailed critique of every deck, but we can provide some tips on how to do it right.