How to Create a Pitch Deck: Part 1 – A Compelling Solution

Funding challenges are a major reason start-ups fail, with 8% unable to secure financing and an even larger 29% running out of money entirely. This highlights an essential truth: success isn’t just about building a great product—it’s about showing investors why your company is worth their backing. Achieving this requires creating a pitch deck that goes beyond being a simple collection of slides. It must tell a compelling story that captures your start-up’s vision, strategy, and potential while sparking curiosity.

This article is the first in a three-part series breaking down what investors want to see in your pitch deck. In this part, we’ll focus on the key slides that lay the foundation: mission, vision, problem, solution, product, and value proposition. These slides are your chance to clearly show why your start-up matters and how your solution delivers real value.

How to Structure Your Pitch Deck

While there are 14 essential slides we recommend for your pitch deck, don’t let the number overwhelm you. In reality, these slides can be grouped into three key themes that form the backbone of your pitch. Here’s a quick breakdown of those groupings:

As you can see, the slides work together to tell a cohesive story. In a nutshell, an impactful pitch deck will:  

• Outline your venture’s goals and the size of the opportunity—this includes details like market size, business models, scalability, and your mission and vision.  
• Address the likelihood of achieving those goals by showcasing your team’s capabilities, the technology at your disposal, product details, and other key factors that build confidence in your ability to execute.
• Be clear, compelling, and concise.

Now, in this article, we’ll focus on the slides that demonstrate you have the right solution. These include your Mission and Vision, Problem, Solution, Product, and Value Proposition slides. These are the ones that help you show why your idea matters. If you’d like to explore how to present your business opportunity, you can find the next section here. And for advice on showcasing your team and your ability to seize the opportunity, click here.

The Mission and Vision Slide

When it comes to creating a pitch deck, the mission and vision slide should succinctly communicate your start-up’s core objectives and long-term aspirations. A great mission statement doesn’t just state what your company does today; it paints a picture of the transformative impact you aim to achieve in the next decade.

Key Elements

• An Audacious Goal: Investors are drawn to bold, ambitious visions. Some may even dismiss a start-up if they feel the mission lacks ambition or scope.
• Clarity: Clearly articulate what your start-up does and why it matters. Avoid vague or overly complex statements that could confuse your audience.

Common Pitfalls

• Recycling Achievements: Avoid framing your mission around goals that have already been accomplished by others. Statements that mimic successful companies like Airbnb or Uber can come across as unoriginal, diminishing investor excitement.
• Lack of Scale: A narrow or overly modest mission can signal that your venture isn’t aligned with the high-growth potential venture capitalists are seeking.
• Ambiguity: A mission that lacks clarity can create confusion, leaving investors questioning your objectives. This can undermine confidence in your ability to inspire stakeholders like employees, advisors, and customers to join your journey.

Mission and Vision Example

Company: Arkive

Arkive successfully raised $9.7 million by presenting a vision slide that began with a provocative question: “What if the Smithsonian was owned and curated by the Internet?”

This question immediately captured attention, encouraging investors to imagine a decentralised and community-driven approach to cultural preservation. By challenging conventional ideas of ownership and curation, Arkive effectively conveyed a powerful and transformative vision.

The example illustrates how posing thought-provoking questions can inspire investors to envision a future shaped by your start-up’s mission, making your long-term goals more compelling and memorable.

Further examples of the Mission and Vision slides, as well as all other slides in an effective pitch deck can be found in the EWOR Pre-Seed Unicorn Slide Collection.

The Problem Slide

The problem slide is a cornerstone of the pitch deck you create. It establishes the need for your solution and convinces investors that your start-up is addressing an urgent, substantial, and unavoidable issue. Without a compelling problem slide, it’s difficult to spark the interest and excitement necessary to secure funding.

Key Elements

• Authenticity: The problem must be real and resonate with people. Investors need to believe it’s a genuine issue worth solving, as many start-ups fail by addressing problems that lack true demand.
• Magnitude: Quantify the problem’s impact—whether in time, money, or emotional toll. The greater the scale, the more compelling the case for your solution becomes.
• Inescapability: Demonstrate that the problem cannot be easily avoided or solved with existing alternatives. A pervasive and pressing issue will command far greater attention.

Common Pitfalls

Overly Broad Statements: Avoid vague, generalised problems like “climate change is a challenge.” Instead, focus on a specific, actionable angle, such as reducing the high costs of renewable energy storage.

Assuming Knowledge: Don’t expect investors to understand the nuances of your industry. Test your slide with people outside your field to ensure clarity and accessibility.

Weak Visuals: Dense blocks of text fail to capture attention. Use impactful visuals like graphs or data points to highlight the problem’s scale and urgency.

Problem Slide Example

Company: Mi Terro

Mi Terro secured a $1.5 million seed round by vividly showcasing their team’s ability to tackle a critical environmental issue. Their pitch emphasised the transformative power of their technology, which converts agricultural waste into plastic-replacement proteins.

The slide effectively underscored the scale of the problem by presenting compelling data: 20 billion PVA wrap dishwasher and laundry pods are produced annually, with 75% polluting waterways and soil. By framing the issue not only as a financial challenge but also as an emotional one—impacting essentials like drinking water and food—they resonated with investors on a deeper level.

The Solution Slide

The solution slide demonstrates how your start-up effectively resolves the problem you’ve identified. This is your opportunity to showcase a clear, scalable, and innovative approach that highlights the conceptual strength of your solution.

Key Elements

• High-Level Concept: Present your solution in an abstract and simplified manner, focusing on the overall approach rather than intricate product specifics.
• Process Visualisation: Use a side-by-side comparison to illustrate the broken process versus your solution. This clarifies the improvement your approach offers.
• Scalability: Show how your solution is designed to grow efficiently, leveraging technology or systems to handle increasing demand.
• Differentiation: Highlight unique aspects of your solution that set it apart from existing alternatives or competitors.

Common Pitfalls

• Misalignment: Ensure the solution directly addresses the problem you’ve outlined. A disconnect can leave investors questioning your understanding of the issue.
• Lack of Scalability: Avoid presenting solutions that rely heavily on manual processes or appear difficult to expand. Scalability is a critical factor for investors.
• Generic Approaches: Failing to differentiate your solution can make it seem unoriginal. Show what makes your approach distinctive and innovative.
• Over-Complication: Don’t overwhelm with technical details. Keep the slide clear and accessible to ensure investors can quickly understand the value.

Solution Slide Example

Company: Arkive

Arkive’s solution slide built upon their mission and vision by providing a clear and specific comparison. The slide visually contrasted the traditional art curation process on the left with Arkive’s decentralised and democratic approach on the right.

This innovative strategy highlighted their unique value proposition: shifting power from elites to the people, much like a modern-day Robin Hood. By emphasising their distinctiveness and the societal impact of their solution, Arkive demonstrated a compelling narrative that resonated with investors.

The Product Slide

The product slide is where you highlight the specific, tangible manifestation of your solution. While the solution represents your overarching strategy, the product slide demonstrates how your product uniquely implements that strategy in a practical, effective, and distinctive manner.

Key Elements

• Clear Positioning: Showcase how your product operationalises the solution and why it’s the best approach to achieving the desired outcomes.
• Holistic Value: Highlight the collective impact of your product’s features, focusing on the overall functionality rather than presenting a disjointed list.
• Visuals and Simplicity: Incorporate screenshots, graphics, or other visuals to make the product easy to understand at a glance. Use a single slide or two for clarity, even for complex offerings.
• Focus on Key Features: Choose the most impactful features that illustrate the product’s capability and alignment with the problem and solution.

Common Pitfalls

• Feature Overload: Avoid overloading the slide with excessive technical details or a laundry list of features. Focus on the product’s overall effectiveness rather than granular specifics.
• Fragmented Presentation: Presenting features in isolation without tying them to the product’s overall value can dilute its impact. Ensure the features support a cohesive narrative.
• Neglecting Visuals: When creating a pitch deck, a text-heavy slide can fail to engage. Use visuals like screenshots or diagrams to clearly communicate your product’s functionality and user experience.
• Lack of Differentiation: Ensure the product slide conveys what makes your product unique. Generic presentations can fail to excite investors.

Product Slide Example

Company: Party Round

Party Round’s product slide effectively communicates their solution: a user-friendly app designed to simplify fundraising. This clarity helped them secure $7 million in their pre-seed round.

The slide balances a holistic view of the product’s impact with hints at its key features. On the left, it presents a clear, step-by-step process:

• Creating a funding round
• Configuring the round like sending money on a phone
• Building a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) as a streamlined investment agreement
• Inviting investors to participate

On the right, the visual representation of the app offers a snapshot of its interface, creating an immediate connection with the audience.

Rather than delving into the complexities of the legal innovation underpinning their app, Party Round strategically refrains from overloading the slide with details. This approach invites curiosity, encouraging investors to ask questions about the legal framework while ensuring the pitch remains concise and engaging. This clarity and focus played a crucial role in their fundraising success.

The Value Proposition Slide

The value proposition slide is your opportunity to articulate the unique benefits your product or service delivers to its users. This slide is particularly effective in demonstrating why your business is valuable and how it creates meaningful outcomes for customers.

Key Elements

• Tangible Benefits: Highlight measurable advantages your product offers, such as: X% reduction in carbon emissions, X% decrease in operational costs, or X% improvement in customer satisfaction
• Emotional and Status Value: Address less quantifiable benefits, such as enhancing social status or alleviating emotional pain, especially for products where direct financial or time savings may not be the primary appeal.
• Impact Explanation: Clearly connect the value your product generates with practical benefits for the user, such as time or cost savings, increased efficiency, or improved quality of life.
• Focus on Controllables: Emphasise aspects of your value proposition that are within your direct influence, showcasing a clear and achievable impact.

Common Pitfalls

• Over-Idealism: Avoid presenting an overly optimistic or theoretical value proposition that relies on unrealistic scenarios. Strike a balance between visionary goals and practical outcomes.
• Complexity: Steer clear of overly complicated explanations. Make the connection between your product’s value and tangible benefits simple and clear.
• Obscurity: If the value proposition isn’t evident or its impact isn’t immediately clear, consider leaving out the slide. An unclear message can dilute the effectiveness of your pitch.

That’s a Wrap

By now, you should have a solid understanding of how to create the first key slides in your pitch deck: your Mission and Vision, Problem, Solution, Product, and Value Proposition slides. These are the building blocks that help you communicate why your start-up matters and why your solution is worth investors' attention.

In the next part of our series, we’ll dive into the slides that highlight the business opportunity—showing investors the potential market, scalability, and growth strategies that will turn your vision into a successful venture.

Like what you've read and are ready to supercharge your startup journey? Explore our Founder Resources—the ultimate toolkit for founders, featuring expert-crafted templates, guides, and strategies to help you build, launch, and grow with confidence.

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