Reverse Engineering A Pitch Deck - SO - 10/14

This is Second Opinion, a newsletter created by your friends Deck Doctors and Hustle Fund, where we give tactical advice on how to create the perfect pitch deck.

Investors care about your cap table

Investors care a lot about the cleanliness of your cap table.

And unfortunately for founders, those cap tables can get messy fast. Especially when you’re raising from a bunch of different investors, sometimes with different terms or accompanying side letters.

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This is sponsored.

Today’s Edition

Alright, friends. Let’s talk pitch decks and why founders should build them backwards.

✨ Today’s episode: how to reverse-engineer your pitch deck to get the check.

Start at the end

Investors aren’t reading every slide. They’re skimming hundreds of decks, looking for the ones that could return their fund.

So before you start designing, ask yourself: what will make them stop scrolling? What will make them lean in?

The Deck Doctors like to call this the pragmatic approach.

Start with the outcome you want (probably a check 💸), then build your deck backward to get there.

In today’s episode of Second Opinion, they break down a strong deck from Food Fix, show how it nails design and flow, and explain the one tweak that could make it even better: lead with your traction.

Here's the episode:

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See ya in two weeks!

 PS: Trying to create the perfect pitch deck? This is for you.

-Dunky, Alex, and Mark