Founder guides
Pitch Deck Template: Evidence, Market Size and a GTM Plan
A pitch deck template tells you which slides to make. It cannot tell you what to put on them. The decks that work show evidence on every slide. Here is a ten-section outline and the proof each section needs.
A strong pitch deck follows a simple outline, such as Sequoia's ten sections: purpose, problem, solution, why now, market potential, competition, business model, team, financials and vision. What makes it credible is evidence on each slide: customer quotes and commitments on the problem, a bottom-up market size, named competitors and a go-to-market plan tied to real early results.
The outline below follows the one Sequoia Capital publishes for founders (Sequoia Capital). The evidence column is ours: it is what turns each section from a claim into something an investor can check.
Key takeaways
- Use a standard outline so investors can find what they look for.
- Put evidence on every slide, from customer quotes to named competitors.
- Show market size bottom-up, with the assumptions visible.
- Make the go-to-market slide specific: first buyer, first channel, early results.
- One idea per slide, stated in the title.
What slides should a pitch deck include?
Sequoia's ten sections cover what most early-stage investors expect. You can merge or reorder a few, but each question should be answered somewhere.
| Section (Sequoia) | What it answers | Evidence that makes it credible |
|---|---|---|
| Company purpose | What you do, in one sentence | A sentence a stranger understands |
| Problem | Whose pain, and how they cope today | Interview quotes, the cost of the workaround |
| Solution | Why your approach works | Pilot results, usage, a short demo |
| Why now | What changed to make this possible | A dated change in technology, regulation or cost |
| Market potential | How big the reachable market is | Bottom-up TAM, SAM, SOM with sources |
| Competition / alternatives | What buyers use today, and why you win | Named competitors, their prices, your difference |
| Business model | How you make money | Price, unit and early unit economics |
| Team | Why you | Relevant experience, domain knowledge |
| Financials | Where the money goes | Plan, runway, milestones the money buys |
| Vision | Where this goes in five years | A credible path from the first market outward |
Sequoia's advice for the first section: "define your company in a single declarative sentence."
How do you make the problem slide convincing?
Show the problem through the customer: who has it, what it costs them today and what they already do about it. One real quote beats three adjectives.
Strong problem slides use evidence from customer discovery: the number of conversations, a representative quote, and a measure of the cost, such as hours per week or money spent on a workaround. If you have commitments such as a paid pilot or letters of intent, they belong here or on the traction slide.
How should you show market size in a pitch deck?
Bottom-up, with the assumptions visible: number of buyers times price, then narrowed to the part you can serve and win. A large top-down number with no path to it is a weak slide.
Our TAM, SAM, SOM guide walks through a worked example using a public government count and three stated assumptions. On the slide, show the three numbers and a single line explaining how you got them. Keep the full calculation in the appendix for investors who ask.
What makes a go-to-market slide credible?
Specifics: the first buyer, the first channel, what it has produced so far and what the money will scale. Investors discount plans that list every channel.
A credible go-to-market slide answers four questions:
- Who buys first? The specific buyer, not a market category.
- How do you reach them? One or two channels, with early numbers.
- How does a deal close? Who sells, and the steps.
- What will the money do? Which part of the motion it scales.
If you have run founder-led sales, show what you learned: reply rates, pilots, conversions.
What are the most common pitch deck mistakes?
Claims without evidence, a top-down market size, a competition slide that says there is none, and a go-to-market plan that lists every channel.
- "We have no competitors." Buyers always have an alternative, even if it is a spreadsheet.
- "If we get just 1% of the market." Not a plan. Show how you reach customers.
- Too much text. One idea per slide, stated in the slide's title.
- Hiding weaknesses. Investors will find them; naming the biggest risk and your plan to test it builds trust.
Where do you get the evidence for a pitch deck?
From customer conversations and early tests for the problem and traction slides, and from sourced research for market size and competition.
NELL's DeepValidate report covers the research side: sourced market sizing, named competitors with prices, demand signals and the risks most likely to kill the idea, scored across 11 dimensions. Launchpad adds a 21-section go-to-market strategy. Both link every claim to its source, which is what you want before putting a number on a slide. See the sample report.
Frequently asked questions
How many slides should a pitch deck have?
Enough to answer the core questions clearly. Sequoia's outline has ten sections; supporting detail can go in an appendix. Clarity matters more than the count.
What is the most important slide in a pitch deck?
It depends on the investor, but the problem and traction slides carry the most weight early on, because they show whether real customers care.
Should a pre-seed pitch deck include financials?
Include a simple plan showing what the money buys: milestones, runway and the key assumptions. Detailed multi-year projections matter less at pre-seed.
How do I show traction with no revenue?
Show commitments and usage: logged customer conversations, paid pilots, letters of intent, pre-orders, active users and how often they return.
Is it OK to use a pitch deck template?
Yes. A familiar structure helps investors find what they need. The content, especially the evidence on each slide, is what makes the deck yours.
Start where you are
The template is the easy part. Evidence is what investors read.
Sources
The evidence column is NELL's guidance, not Sequoia's. Investors differ in what they expect; adapt the outline to your audience.