Kody Wirth is a content writer and SEO specialist for Palo Alto Software—the creator's of Bplans and LivePlan. He has 3+ years experience covering small business topics and runs a part-time content writing service in his spare time.
7 Great Pitch Deck Examples From Real Businesses
A solid pitch deck can mean the difference between landing funding and going home empty-handed.
Your deck has to convince investors that you and your business are a good bet. Otherwise, they’ll take their money elsewhere.
But what does a good pitch deck look like? Yes, there are specific slides that you should include, but including them won’t guarantee that you get funding.
Luckily, there are hundreds of pitch decks from highly successful companies that you can look at for inspiration.
For this article, I grabbed a few favorite pitch decks and dug into why they’re so good.
Why these pitch decks?
These pitch decks made the list because they come from highly successful startups that successfully landed one or multiple rounds of investor funding.
They’re unique with specific strengths and formatting that go beyond your typical presentation templates.
Some are more like a business plan presentation—incredibly long, use a lot of text, and focus more on data and financials. Others are short, highly visual, and meant to invoke specific emotions.
No matter your business stage or industry—these are all useful to explore and reference when crafting your pitch.
Get started with a free startup pitch deck template
Don’t get held up creating your pitch deck presentation.
Download a free investor pitch deck template with pre-built slides and instructions from experienced entrepreneurs.
This template is yours to customize and adjust as you see fit. And remember, the 11 slides in the deck are just the standard to start with.
1. Airbnb — Turning a pitch into a story
Airbnb’s pitch deck has become the go-to example for startups. Sure, the design is outdated, but the results speak for themselves. It is one of the most recognizable funding success stories of the 2000s, and many would say that’s because of their pitch deck.
Company info
- Founded: 2008
- Industry: Travel and hospitality
- Business Model: Digital marketplace
- Funding: $600,000 seed funding round in 2009
- Source: Sequoia Capital and Y Combinator
What’s great about this pitch deck?
Airbnb’s deck is simple and punchy. It gets right to the point, doesn’t overload the slides with too much information, and serves as a useful backdrop to the founder’s elevator pitch.
The deck is also fairly brief.
It doesn’t include every slide that we recommend. Instead, they prioritize crafting a story and leaning into their strengths.
In just a few slides Airbnb:
- Demonstrates a real-world problem and viable solution.
- Breaks down a clear path to enter the market.
- Details how they will make money and even show initial traction.
Key Takeaway: Tell a story and play to your strengths. You don’t need to get into every detail about your business during the initial pitch. The goal is to spark interest and start a conversation. Just be ready to answer any lingering questions after the fact.
2. Copper Cow Coffee — Showcasing expertise
Copper Cow Coffee, known for its Vietnamese coffee and portable pour-over technology, has been part of multiple funding rounds (including a stint on Shark Tank). Founder Debbie Wei’s pitch deck is less concerned about proving a business concept than showing the competitive advantages of her business.
It is a well-designed pitch deck to review if you are looking to scale and bring in additional capital.
Company info
- Founded: 2016
- Industry: Food and beverage
- Business Model: D2C, Subscription, and Wholesale
- Funding: $2 million seed round
- Source(s): Techstars, CRCM Ventures, among others
What’s great about this pitch deck?
This deck does a lot with visuals. It conveys the history, innovation, and premium nature of Vietnamese-sourced coffee with virtually no text. Rather than being a distraction that investors get hung up reading, the deck is far more additive and helps punctuate specific points during the pitch.
Since this is an established business, once the unique value proposition is set, the remainder of the deck is dedicated to operational efficiency, partnerships, and revenue—areas of the business that prove Copper Cow Coffee is sustainable, has a strong competitive advantage, and has opportunities to grow.
Key Takeaway: There’s no need to dig deep into hypotheticals when your business has enough traction to prove you’re worth investing in. If you have enticing data points, use them to sell your value to investors.
3. LinkedIn — A pitch meant for knowledgeable investors
LinkedIn often gets lumped in with other social media platforms, but its purpose and user base are unique.
From the beginning, it was pitched as a network for professionals—where you could easily find and contact the right people in your industry.
So, the concept and unique value were easy to understand. But how that would work and generate consistent revenue were the bigger questions.
Company info
- Founded: 2003
- Industry: Social Media and Professional Networking
- Business Model: Freemium model with revenue from advertising, premium subscriptions, and talent solutions.
- Funding: Approximately $103 million (before going public in 2011)
- Funding Source(s): Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, etc.
What’s great about this pitch deck?
While I praised the Airbnb deck for being lean, I’m giving LinkedIn a thumbs up for the opposite. Their deck is incredibly thorough and heavy on information and data to establish the company’s position, monetization strategies, and growth details.
That doesn’t mean that they skip establishing a narrative. They just did it in only a few slides, choosing to focus on the traction and experience of their founding team.
This makes sense when your audience of investors may actually be potential users as well. So, establishing credibility, digging into the details, and clearly defining a sustainable path for growth were necessary.
Key Takeaway: Tailor your pitch and pitch deck to your audience. This may require you to add more details, prioritize different business areas, or pull back on specific information to let the story shine.
4. Uber — Proving there’s a pain point
Uber is an interesting case of a business poking holes in a problem that most people just accepted. At the time, there were no real alternatives to paying for a taxi. And owners of these cab companies held a bit of a monopoly over the industry.
For Uber to succeed, it had to prove that innovation and harnessing new technologies were key.
This makes this deck a must-review if your business has the hurdle of pushing an established industry system to evolve.
Company info
- Founded: 2009
- Industry: Transportation and Technology
- Business Model: Digital marketplace
- Funding: Approximately $24.5 billion (before going public in 2019)
- Funding Source(s): SoftBank, Benchmark, GV, etc.
What’s great about this pitch deck?
Uber’s pitch deck painted a visceral picture of how the taxi industry was ripe for disruption in just two slides. For anyone who has had to hail a taxi, this immediately resonates.
The rest of the deck is dedicated to how they would do it. They needed to apply reality to this futuristic vision with facts, ambitious but believable financial projections, and evidence that they had traction.
Key Takeaway: If your business is built around disruption and new technology, you must prove that people will care. Clearly and quickly outline an actual problem, present a bold vision for the future, and then back that up with tangible steps to get there.
5. DoorDash — Proving there’s a better way
Now synonymous with food delivery, DoorDash wasn’t actually the first to market with the mobile ordering concept. That honor goes to GrubHub.
In this case, arriving later was a benefit. There were still obvious gaps in mobile ordering that made the technology less impactful for consumers. No dedicated delivery drivers, a lack of up-to-date restaurant information, and extensive wait times were just the minimum.
DoorDash didn’t reinvent the wheel but honed in on the new pain points that business owners and consumers complained about. And that is the crux of their pitch.
Company info
- Founded: 2013
- Industry: Food Delivery and Technology
- Business Model: Logistics platform connecting customers, restaurants, and delivery drivers, earning fees from each order.
- Funding: Approximately $2.5 billion (before going public in 2020)
- Funding Source(s): Y Combinator, Charles River Ventures, SoftBank, etc.
What’s great about this pitch deck?
DoorDash’s pitch deck for Y Combinator’s demo day clearly defines a significant problem in the food delivery industry and presents its platform as a solution that benefits consumers, restaurants, and drivers alike.
Combined with their elevator pitch, the deck effectively showcased DoorDash’s technological edge and operational efficiency. They demonstrated proven traction in an area that didn’t rely on a dense population center, further illustrating a clear vision to scale the business.
Lastly, they left a clear opening to draw in interested investors. By proving they know the industry and have a foothold that will lead to sustained growth, they didn’t need to fully explain the opportunity. Instead, they used their demonstrated success to land direct conversations after the larger pitch.
Key Takeaway: Your deck can be a backdrop to your elevator pitch. It doesn’t have to do all the talking but should elevate your point through well-timed visuals.
6. Peloton — Connecting with customers
It’s interesting to compare Peloton’s original Kickstarter campaign to their future pitch deck.
The consumer-facing Kickstarter spent little time establishing a narrative. Instead, it prioritized product features, visualized how it could fit in someone’s home, and showcased behind-the-scenes development.
Their 2018 pitch deck emphasizes how Peloton makes people feel. It informs the emotional connection with a detailed audience breakdown, brand values, and multiple customer quotes.
They wanted to prove that they had a deep understanding of their customers and had evolved as a brand. No longer just being seen as innovative exercise equipment but a recognizable brand movement.
Disclaimer: Peloton has struggled to maintain consistent growth after growing wildly successful amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Hardware recalls, issues with user retention, high-profile executive exits, and a struggle to adapt to changing demands are all contributing factors.
However, Peloton’s deck still led to funding before their initial success and is still a strong example of how to showcase an in-depth understanding of your customers when pitching.
Company info
- Founded: 2012
- Industry: Fitness and Technology
- Business Model: D2C hardware and subscription services
- Funding: Approximately $994 million (before going public in 2019)
- Funding Source(s): Tiger Global Management, True Ventures, L Catterton, etc.
What’s great about this pitch deck?
Peloton strays away from the typical business overview of most pitch decks. Investors knew the product already and needed to be sold moreso on the potential long-term retention of customers.
Peloton expertly defines its customer base beyond typical demographic and psychographic information. They string the community narrative throughout the deck, reinforcing the customer identity with every visual. You not only walk away knowing their customer base but get a sense of how they view themselves.
Key Takeaway: Don’t be afraid to diverge from the standard pitch deck structure. If you have to prove a specific point or show off a deep understanding of 1-2 business areas, craft your pitch around that instead.
7. Facebook — Let data do the talking
Facebook’s deck represents a business very different from what it is today. While social platforms like MySpace and LinkedIn were around, the scale and connectivity proposed with the platform had never been seen before.
So, the majority of the deck is dedicated to demonstrating that there is customer interest and a viable path to scaling to new customers. The business model takes a bit of a backseat, likely with the intent to flaunt how many potential people companies could engage with.
Company info
- Founded: 2004
- Industry: Social Media and Technology
- Business Model: Advertising, with ventures into hardware sales.
- Funding: Approximately $2.3 billion (before going public in 2012)
- Funding Source(s): Accel, Greylock, Peter Thiel, and others.
What’s great about this pitch deck?
Facebook’s pitch deck is a masterclass in breaking down market opportunity. They demonstrate a clear product-market fit that feeds into an ambitious but achievable path to growth.
At any point, real data can be inserted, they do it. There are no questions about the business’s growth potential because it is laid out so well.
Key Takeaway: Use in-depth data to make your point. Any time you can punctuate your narrative with research or your own internal metrics, you will be far more convincing to potential investors.
Additional pitch deck resources
Hopefully, this curated guide of successful pitch decks will help you determine what to focus on in your deck.
For more guidance, check out these resources:
- Y-Combinator Startup Directory: Explore a list of 5,000+ companies funded by Y-Combinator to learn what type of businesses get early seed funding.
- PitchDeckHunt: Check out this library of over 1,000 real-world pitch deck examples for more inspiration.
- Investor Pitch Deck Template: A great starting point to develop your deck and ensure you cover all necessary information.
- Elevator Pitch Guide: A selection of resources that will help you refine your verbal pitch, impress investors, and know how to adapt it for different scenarios.
- Our Favorite Pitch Deck Tools: If you need more than a template to create your presentation, check out this round-up of pitch creation tools.
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