I recently came across a nice post by Greg Muender on Quora that listed some great (at least as far as design is concerned) examples of investor or Venture Capitalist (VC) pitch decks. Although the pitch decks from Everest, CSSPiffle and Speakeasy were very well designed, they lacked some crucial information that investors look for. I can only presume that they were meant as eye candies to reach out to potential investors and were followed up by slightly more detailed presentations made in person.

There are two presentations that I loved, both from a design standpoint and their succinct depiction of information that is important to pitch to an investor or a venture capitalist. The first one is by a company named Piccsy and their online presentation can be viewed by clicking on the image above.

The second one was by a company named Cadee which also managed to squeeze in important information in a brief slide deck. The presentation can be viewed by clicking on the image above and can be used as a template for pitching a startup venture to investors.

I must admit that both (in fact all five) presentations are very eye-catching and at the very least communicate to the potential investors that we have got great designers working for us, a must have asset for any consumer internet services company. Having said that, good design or catchy presentation should only be a supplement to an investor pitch deck.

Investors are primary interested in a great team, ideally with a proven track record of delivery, working on solving a big problem for a large market. They need to see or hear you talk about validation of your idea from a customers’ perspective and proof of decent traction before anything else in the presentation, including good design, will appeal to them. Aside from this, make sure you communicate to the investors, your understanding of the market you are planning to go after including the competitive landscape and your edge over the competition. You nail all of that, and I assure you, even a pitch deck comprised of scribbling on the back of a napkin will do the job!

If you know of any nice examples of VC pitch decks or similar presentations that can be used as a template for pitching to investors, do mention them in the comments below.