LibGuides: Business Planning Guide: Pitch Decks

Why do you need a Pitch Deck or a Pitch Presentation?

In addition to a fully fleshed out business plan or business model, you will probably need to condense this information into a pitch deck or a pitch presentation. When you are seeking outside capital from venture capitalists or angel investors, they are going to want you to pitch your company to them opposed to sitting down and reading your business plan. In addition to securing outside capital, a pitch deck or a pitch presentation can also be used to approach other clients or customers if your business sells B2B (business-to-business), and these presentations can also be used to approach companies in complimentary lines of business for strategic partnerships.

Video Courses on Pitching and Presenting

LinkedIn Learning This link opens in a new window
This Learning Resource has several video tutorials that can help you learn how to use presentation software, such as PowerPoint and Prezi, and a number of tutorials that cover how to make a convincing presentation. You can find these tutorials by either going to the "Communication" or "Presentations" topic links under the Business Section of the library. There is also a "Pitching to Investors" course that can help you understand your pitch and what Private equity Investors are looking for.
Gale Business: Plan Builder This link opens in a new window
A step-by-step online planning tool for starting, managing and optimizing a business or nonprofit; the Gale Business: Plan Builder dashboard walks users through five areas of exploration to develop a business plan focused on long-term success.

Books and eBooks

There are several books and eBooks in the Library Catalog on how to craft a pitch and how to make convincing business presentations. Click on the subject headings below to find our books and eBooks on this topic.

Business Presentations

Sales Presentations

Business Communication

Pitch Deck and Pitch Presentation Templates

Canva's Pitch Deck Templates
Canva is a website that creates free design templates and tools to allow people without a design background to create visually appealing marketing materials or presentations, and they have several pitch deck templates to choose from.
Guy Kawasaki's "The Only 10 Slides You Need in Your Pitch"
Guy Kawasaki, who is a former Apple employee and a Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist, has created an infographic to describe his 10/20/30 rule for pitch decks. An explanation of this as well as the suggested content for each slide can be found by following this link.
SCORE Business Plan Presentation Template
SCORE has created a Business Plan Presentation Template that can be downloaded, and this template has suggestions for what information should be covered on each slide.

Sample Pitch Decks

Another great way to get ideas for your pitch deck or presentation is to look at the presentations that successful companies have presented to investors. Click the link that says "The slide deck we used to raise half a million dollars" below to see the slideshare presentation of Buffer's pitch deck from their first round of VC funding. On the right hand side of this page, there will also be links to pitch decks from other successful companies.

The slide deck we used to raise half a million dollars from Buffer