You’ve got your product. You’ve visualized the growth potential of your SaaS company. You have a stellar marketing plan. But without investors, you’re dead in the water.
There’s no need to panic, though. All you need is a pitch deck that will convince investors to bet on you. Whether you’re just getting started or in need of a refresh to shake things up, I’ve got you covered.
Stick with us, and you’ll learn everything you need to know about exactly what a SaaS pitch deck is, what information needs to be included, and how to set yours apart from the crowd. Any given investor is going to see dozens of these presentations, so yours needs to be special.
What Is a SaaS Pitch Deck?
A pitch deck is a tool used by entrepreneurs that covers everything an investor needs to know about your SaaS company. All of that data is finely packaged into a presentation that will convince an investor that they should back your business plan. The idea is to prove that your product is worth financing and to do so with as little fuss as possible.
Picture a slideshow presentation that introduces a problem facing a given industry. Once the problem has been explained, a solution — your product — comes in, followed by research-backed data on the market, competition, and your financial plan, among other pertinent details.
It’s that simple: that’s a pitch deck. It’s a method of getting financing for your SaaS business. The tricky part is building a SaaS pitch deck that is so thorough and convincing that investors will be motivated to get behind your SaaS startup.
Without an excellent pitch deck, you’re going to find it difficult to get investors on board. They aren’t going to be interested in a speech about how great your company is without hard facts and projections to back that up.
Having all of the relevant data prepared and then displayed in a thoughtfully designed presentation is a great way to engage investors and get them to believe in your product as much as you do.
Now, let’s talk about the most important elements of a SaaS pitch deck and how you can incorporate them.
Key Elements of an Effective SaaS Pitch Deck
You can get creative with your pitch deck, but there are some elements that I highly recommend including. These elements will answer one or more of the following questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Whether you’re in the content marketing space or a B2B SaaS e-commerce company, your pitch deck needs to contain these minimum elements.
The Introduction: Explain Who You Are
You’re asking people for a lot of money here, so the last thing you want to do is bore them. Your introductory slide needs to be engaging, clear, and simple.
Your introduction doesn’t need to be wordy; it just needs to make your target audience want to learn more. You’ve heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” right? Well, in this case, your introduction is your cover, and you will be judged by it.
This is your first impression. If you’re pitching me, here’s what I want to see in your introduction:
- Who are you, and why should I care?
- What solution are you offering?
This keeps your introduction clear and concise, and it gives me an idea of what problems your company aims to solve with its product. You don’t need to overload your introduction with details; those will come later. For now, focus on the basics.
The Problem: Explain What Your Product Aims to Address
This is the part of the presentation where you’re going to discuss why your product exists. Why have you spent valuable time and resources creating this product? What problem does it solve, and for whom?
This element answers these questions:
- Who is going to benefit from your product?
- What is the problem your product can solve? What pain points can it address?
- Why should I care about this problem?
- How widespread is the problem?
In this section, you’re just laying down the reality of an issue that needs to be addressed. You don’t offer a fix here. Instead, get your audience invested in the problem. Again, keep it brief. Let the facts speak for themselves.
The Solution: Explain How Your Product Eliminates the Problem
Now, you get to talk about what your product brings to the issue. Let’s look at what questions to ask here:
- What is the solution to the problem?
- Why is your product better than others that are currently addressing the same problem?
- How does your product solve the problem?
You already believe in your product. This is the part where you convince potential investors to believe in it. Showing them that you can fix an issue isn’t enough; you need to prove that your solution is one that will make them money.
The Market: Explain How the Data Backs Up Your Profitability
You’re getting into the nitty-gritty, and this is where numbers are going to start coming in. You don’t want to bog down your slides with an overwhelming amount of information, so I recommend tossing a graph in here or listing some statistics that back up your projections.
This section of your presentation asks:
- What is the demand for your product? What is the market size? What is the total addressable market?
- When will you see results?
- Where is the market opportunity?
Again, your data should speak for itself. If the market is favorable, there’s not a ton of convincing to be done here.
The Competition: Explain What Sets You Apart
I am partial to this section because it gives SaaS providers the chance to show off. Up until now, everything has been very data-driven, and for good reason. Getting into the competition is your chance to show potential investors how your product is different and why it will perform better than others. Here, we ask:
- Who is the competition? Who is backing them? Who are their biggest clients?
- What sets your product apart from the competition? What makes your SaaS solution superior?
- Why would your product be chosen over a competitor’s? Why should an investor back your product instead of the competition’s?
- How are you going to compete? How will you outperform the competition?
Your pitch deck as a whole is a sales pitch, but this section is where you can really shine. If this section is done right, it’ll show that you’re knowledgeable about the competitive landscape and prepared to stand out.
The Product: Explain Everything There Is To Know About Your Product
We’ve arrived at the most important part of the pitch deck. Your product is your bread and butter, and you need to give potential investors insight into how it works.
Your audience may not have expertise in the field you’re diving into, so it’s best not to overuse jargon. Ask these questions:
- What exactly does your product do? What features does it offer? What is its functionality? What is your value proposition?
- Where can it best be implemented?
- How easy is it to use? How does it make the user’s life easier?
Tables, graphs, and charts are your friends. Make this section as accessible as possible. You’re not gatekeeping your product; you’re selling it.
The Financials: Explain Your Revenue Model and Plan for Growth
No pitch deck is complete without talking about money. This one is pretty straightforward:
- What is your pricing strategy? What data can you show to prove your profitability? What is your market volume?
- When can investors expect growth?
- How will you maximize profits? How will you address a market downturn?
In early-stage fundraising, you’ll be working mostly with projections and data from the existing market and competitors. Later, in Series B and Series C rounds, you’ll be able to provide real-life information on conversions, churn, your existing customer base, and how your business model has been successful thus far.
The Team: Explain Who Is Behind the Curtain
If you’re hoping angel investors are going to bet on your SaaS company, you’re going to want to tell them who they’ll be working with. You and your team are the heart of your business and the brains behind the operation. Show off who you are and what you can do. Ask the following:
- Who are you? Who are the other members of your team?
- What are your qualifications? What makes you an expert in this space?
- When did you launch your career?
- Where have you worked before? Where have you showcased your talents?
- Why are you the right people to be running this company?
Prospective investors need to believe in your product, but they also need to believe in you and your team. They’ll be putting their trust and their capital behind you, so you need to show them why that’s a good move.
The Traction: Explain What You’ve Done So Far
Let’s get right into this one:
- What milestones have you reached? What goals have you set and surpassed?
- When did your company become profitable?
- How do your monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and your annual recurring revenue (ARR) look? How have they grown?
This is another data-driven slide, so it should be easy to build. You can include whatever data you think is relevant and will be convincing.
The Funding Request: Explain How Much You’re Hoping to Raise
Investors need to know exactly what you’re asking for and what that money will be used for. In this slide, you should state the total ask, and then you should itemize what the funds will do. Answer these questions:
- What is the total amount you’re hoping to raise?
- When do you hope to have the funds raised?
- How will the funds be utilized?
It’s best to be transparent here. It’s not a secret why you’re standing in front of an investor: you want their money. Don’t beat around the bush; be honest and detailed.
What Investors Look for in a Saas Pitch Deck
There’s no formula here, but in general, investors want to see the elements we’ve discussed above. You can check out these pitch deck metrics to get an idea of how investors engage with pitch decks.
Here’s some other information they might look for:
- Proof of customer satisfaction
- Product demonstrations
- Sources for your research
- Copies of financial statements
This isn’t exhaustive, and you should be prepared to answer any questions potential investors may have. Your pitch deck should be:
- Engaging, clear, and concise
- Well-researched
- Transparent and honest
Building Your SaaS Pitch Deck
You’ve put together a Powerpoint presentation before, so call on those skills. To build your pitch deck, you need to combine the most important elements and information an investor will want to see and put it together in a clean, visually interesting presentation.
The narrative is critical, and the way in which your data is presented can make or break your pitch. When building your pitch deck, these are the areas to prioritize.
It’s important that you avoid overloading your slides with too much text. But I do recommend making sure that your pitch deck is comprehensive enough that potential investors can look back through it after your meeting. Your presentation is important, but it shouldn’t be needed in order for your slides to be understandable.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your SaaS Pitch Deck
You’ve been given a lot of information here about what to do, so now let’s talk about what to avoid.
- Distracting animations: Don’t go overboard on bouncing text or firework animations. Let the data do the work. Put some thought into design, but don’t let that be the most interesting part of your investor pitch deck.
- Too much text without visuals: Don’t fill your slides with walls of text, loads of technical terms, and extra information that isn’t relevant. Keep it simple and use graphics to drive the narrative.
- Too many slides: Don’t waste anyone’s time with hundreds of slides that all say the same thing. Include the necessary information and make each slide count.
- Boring, unengaging narrative: Don’t drone on about details that aren’t important to investors. You need to hook your audience from the first slide, and you have a limited amount of time to keep their attention. Use it wisely.
- Poor planning and research: Don’t build a pitch deck without thoroughly researched data and a well-planned presentation. You believe in your SaaS product, and you need hard data to convince someone else that they should, too.
Successful SaaS Pitch Deck Examples
Without seeing real examples of successful startup pitch decks, it can be hard to visualize what you need to do to build your own. I’ve gathered a few of my favorite pitch deck examples to give you an idea of what to strive for. You can use any of these as a pitch deck template, or start from scratch once you have an idea of what you need to do.
Buffer
https://www.slideshare.net/Bufferapp/buffer-seedrounddeck
Buffer’s pitch deck is striking in its simplicity. Without bright colors or graphics, it relies on data and statistics to craft its narrative. Buffer manages this without overloading the audience with information.
What to Know:
- What industries did Buffer enter?
- Tech: Marketing, Social Media, Analytics, and Productivity
- What was Buffer’s customer base?
- B2B
- What year was the pitch deck created?
- 2011
- What funding round was this pitch deck for?
- Seed Round
- How much did this pitch deck raise?
- $500,000
Dropbox
Dropbox’s pitch deck from their pre-seed round is an excellent example of why less is more. This pitch deck hits all the major elements and immediately lets potential investors know what the company is about.
What to Know:
- What industries did Dropbox enter?
- Cloud and IT
- What was Buffer’s customer base?
- B2B and B2C
- What year was the pitch deck created?
- 2007
- What funding round was this pitch deck for?
- Pre-Seed
- How much did this pitch deck raise?
- $1,200,000
Mattermark
https://www.slideshare.net/DanielleMorrill/mattermark-2nd-final-series-a-deck
Mattermark’s pitch deck was successful for many reasons. The simple, attractive design is eye-catching without being overwhelming. The data is easy to read and follow. The important questions are answered, and there are excellent visuals threaded throughout the presentation. Its co-founders are introduced, and their qualifications are clearly stated.
What to Know:
- What industries did Mattermark enter?
- Analytics, Machine Learning, Software, and IT
- What was Buffer’s customer base?
- B2B
- What year was the pitch deck created?
- 2014
- What funding round was this pitch deck for?
- Series A
- How much did this pitch deck raise?
- $6,500,000
With over 15,529 SaaS companies worldwide and hundreds more joining each month, securing funding is crucial for startups aiming to expand their teams, attract more customers, and accelerate growth. To stand out and attract investors, startups should emulate the strategies of successful companies like Buffer, Front, Dropbox, Mixpanel, and Canva, which collectively raised over $670 million using proven pitch decks. If you’re ready to transform your startup's narrative into a compelling investment opportunity and achieve exponential growth, download our list of the 30 best pitch decks and get started today.
Comments (0)
Leave a comment