The outline
12 slides, one connected argument.
- 01
Cover
Give the room a handle for the idea.
Put on the slide
- Company or project name
- One plain-language sentence saying what you do
- Presenter name and contact
“Mitti makes refillable home-cleaning products for apartment communities.”
- 02
The problem
Make the unmet need concrete and specific.
Put on the slide
- Who experiences the problem
- What they do today instead
- A customer quote, observed behavior, or measured cost
- 03
Who has this problem
Show a reachable first customer, not an abstract population.
Put on the slide
- The first customer segment
- How often the problem occurs
- What makes this group a good starting point
- 04
Your solution
Connect the product directly to the problem.
Put on the slide
- The product or service in one sentence
- A simple diagram, product photo, or short workflow
- What is meaningfully better for the customer
- 05
Why now
Explain the change that makes this moment relevant.
Put on the slide
- A customer, technology, policy, or cost shift
- Evidence that the shift is already happening
- Why waiting makes the opportunity harder or smaller
- 06
Market and first wedge
Make the market believable from the bottom up.
Put on the slide
- The first niche you can reach
- A transparent estimate of customers × annual value
- A credible path from this wedge to adjacent segments
- 07
Business model
Show how value can become sustainable revenue.
Put on the slide
- Who pays, how much, and how often
- Typical gross margin or unit economics if known
- Important assumptions you still need to test
- 08
Go-to-market
Explain how the first customers will find and adopt it.
Put on the slide
- One or two acquisition channels to test first
- Sales or onboarding steps
- What a successful first 90 days would look like
- 09
Evidence and traction
Replace adjectives with proof.
Put on the slide
- Pilots, paid customers, repeat use, waitlist quality, or working prototype
- The date range and method behind each metric
- What the evidence does—and does not—prove
- 10
Alternatives
Show that you understand what customers compare you with.
Put on the slide
- Direct competitors and workarounds
- The dimension on which you are different
- Why customers might still choose an alternative
- 11
Team and execution
Show why this team can take the next step.
Put on the slide
- Relevant work, domain knowledge, or lived experience
- Clear roles and meaningful gaps
- Advisors or partners only when their involvement is real
- 12
The ask and next milestone
End with a specific, accountable next step.
Put on the slide
- Amount or support requested and the instrument, if applicable
- Use of funds tied to milestones
- What you will report back and by when
“₹30 lakh funds a six-month pilot across three clinics: product validation, security review, and 500 completed consultations.”
A format people can actually read
Build one landscape 16:9 master deck. Export a compact PDF for email and a live presentation version with speaker notes for meetings. Keep an editable source file for yourself, but share a read-only PDF unless you have a reason to give edit access.
Use a familiar font, generous margins, and one idea per slide. A useful starting point is a 28–36 pt title and 18–24 pt body on a standard screen deck; check the exported PDF at normal zoom on a laptop before sharing. The exact point size matters less than legibility and restraint.
- Use sentence-case headlines that state the point, not labels like “Market” or “Traction.”
- Prefer one strong chart or image over a collage of tiny screenshots.
- Put detailed calculations, research tables, and legal explanations in an appendix.
- Name files clearly, for example: Mitti-Pitch-Deck-2026-10.pdf, and include a date or version.
Two useful shorter versions
Do not send one generic deck to every audience. Equity investors need ownership terms, return potential, and financing context. Grant reviewers need eligibility, public benefit, work plan, and budget. Reward-based backers need the product, delivery plan, price, risks, and what happens if things change. Make the audience and the funding type explicit.
| Format | Use it for | Suggested sequence |
|---|---|---|
| 6-slide first-look deck | A warm introduction or a short application | Problem · solution · customer · proof · model · ask |
| 10-minute meeting deck | A live conversation with time for questions | Use all 12 slides; plan roughly one minute per slide and leave time for discussion |
| One-page brief | A quick forwardable summary | What it is · who needs it · proof · model · team · next milestone · contact |
| Campaign / backer story | Reward or community funding | Maker · need · what funds unlock · timeline · risks · supporter choice |
A short spoken opening
Try this 20–30 second structure: “We help [specific customer] solve [costly or frustrating problem] with [product]. We know it matters because [specific evidence]. We are asking for [amount or next step] to reach [measurable milestone] by [date].”
Replace every bracket with facts you can defend. If evidence is early, call it early evidence. If a number is an estimate, label the assumption and explain how you will test it.
Appendix: what to keep ready
- A bottom-up market-sizing worksheet with sources and assumptions
- Customer interview notes or research method, with private information removed
- product walkthrough, architecture or manufacturing notes appropriate to the audience
- Three-year financial assumptions rather than false precision
- A risk register and the next experiments that reduce each risk
- Cap table, incorporation, IP, and compliance details only when relevant and reviewed by qualified professionals
One last reminder
This original guide is educational, not legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. Use current facts, verify local requirements, and ask a qualified professional when the decision affects your obligations.