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A pitch deck is the staple of early-stage startup fundraising. It’s typically a presentation containing a summary of a startup’s business model designed to persuade the persons to whom the presentation is being made to take a particular course of action, hence the “pitch” in the name. The person is often a potential investor, but pitch decks are also used when meeting with potential partners and even co-founders or staff.
The presentation is usually created using PowerPoint, Keynote or other similar software, and although there are a wide range of opinions about what a pitch deck should contain, the pitch deck typically covers an introduction of the business and the team behind it, the problem the product is looking to solve, revenue model and market opportunity as well as the traction (if any) that the startup has gotten up to that point.
In our experience, successful pitch decks are usually brief but packed with value, forgoing long blocks of text in favor of graphs and diagrams to show data in more memorable ways. The goal at that point is usually not to get a check after the presentation, but to make it to a subsequent meeting at which the technical aspects of the business can be discussed in detail and an agreement in principle can be reached regarding an investment.
After a pitch deck is sent to a prospective investor and they decide to move forward, they will typically issue you a term sheet.