How to Make the Cap Table Slide [Detail & Impress]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- May 11
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 2
Our client, Emily, hit us with a simple but interesting question while we were working on her pitch deck:
“How do I make my cap table slide clear enough that investors don’t have to ask me to explain it?”
Our Creative Director answered:
“Make it simple. No one’s impressed by a complicated cap table. Get straight to the point.”
As a pitch deck agency, we’ve seen this play out time and time again. Founders, in an effort to show how thorough they are, overcomplicate their cap table slide. It’s like they want to flex all their numbers and data, but in reality, all that complexity just clouds the message. A cap table isn’t about impressing people with your depth of knowledge, it’s about making sure investors understand the basics, fast.
So, in this blog, we’re going to cut through the noise and discuss exactly how to write and design a cap table slide that works. No fluff, just what you need to know.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
The Problem with Cap Table Slides
Here’s the reality: the cap table slide is often a mess. Founders try to cram in too much: ownership percentages, vesting schedules, dilution projections, and on and on. It’s like a spreadsheet explosion.
But, investors don’t want to wade through that. They want to see ownership distribution in a way that’s instantaneously clear.
If you’ve been in the startup world for any length of time, you know this: clarity beats complexity. Investors don’t care about the nitty-gritty details. They care about the big picture. They want to understand who owns what in the company and how that ownership might evolve over time, especially when they’re thinking about putting their money into your business. They’re not here for a crash course in cap tables.
So, if your slide is stuffed with charts and numbers that only you truly understand, you’re probably losing them before they even reach the bottom of the slide. In fact, you might even make them start wondering if you’re overcompensating for something. It’s like showing up to a dinner party in a tuxedo with a bowtie that’s three sizes too big.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
How to Write and Design the Perfect Cap Table Slide
Alright, let’s get real here. The reason you’re reading this blog is because you know a cap table slide isn’t just about putting numbers on a slide. It’s about presenting those numbers in a way that’s easy to understand, and more importantly, that gets your point across fast.
If your cap table looks complicated, investors will assume your business is complicated. And that’s a problem.
So, here’s how to design a cap table slide that cuts through the clutter and does its job: communicating ownership clearly.
1. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
You’ve heard this before, but it bears repeating: less is more.
Think about it. An investor is looking at your cap table slide for one reason only—to understand ownership distribution. That’s it. They don’t need to know the exact number of shares each person owns down to the last decimal point. And they definitely don’t need to know about your vesting schedules, employee stock options, or anything else that just muddies the waters.
The goal here is to strip away everything unnecessary. Focus on the key elements that matter:
Founder(s): Who owns the company right now?
Investors: What percentage of the company do investors own (current and potential)?
Other Stakeholders: This could include employees with stock options, co-founders, and others who have a stake in the business.
Start with these elements and avoid overloading the slide with irrelevant details. If someone wants to know about vesting schedules, let them ask. For the slide, keep it simple.
2. Use Visuals That Make Sense
Your cap table doesn’t have to be a boring list of numbers. In fact, a boring list of numbers is the quickest way to lose an investor’s attention. People are visual creatures. They understand and retain information better when it’s presented visually.
Here’s where good design comes into play. Instead of listing names and percentages in a row, use a pie chart or stacked bar chart to show the ownership distribution. These visuals do two things:
They make the information easy to absorb at a glance.
They highlight the most important data points—who owns what.
For instance, instead of listing the percentages as something like “Founder A: 45%, Founder B: 35%, Investor A: 15%, etc.,” show a pie chart with slices representing each stakeholder’s share. This immediately helps investors understand the ownership landscape with a single glance.
But keep it clean. Don’t make the chart too colorful or fancy—stick with a few clear, distinguishable sections. Make sure the most important elements stand out, and keep the design minimal. The goal is to make things easy to digest, not to overwhelm.
3. Label Everything Clearly
You’d think this is obvious, but it’s amazing how often we see cap tables where the labels aren’t clear enough. It’s simple: label every segment and use legible text.
If you’re using a pie chart, label each section with both the percentage and the person/entity that owns it. If you have a stacked bar chart, label each section in the bar with the name of the stakeholder and their percentage.
But don’t just slap on any label. Make sure your labels are precise. There’s nothing worse than a pie chart with vague labels like “Founder 1” and “Founder 2.” This is where you need to get real—list names, not just titles.
And if the text gets too small to read easily, increase the size. If you need to zoom out, then do it. Legibility is your top priority. There’s no point in making a perfectly designed cap table slide if no one can read it.
4. Avoid Complex Terminology
This might sound like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how often we see startups using industry jargon and complex terminology in their cap tables. Terms like “Series A Preferred,” “Convertible Notes,” and “Liquidation Preference” might be second nature to you, but they’re probably a foreign language to most investors, especially if they’re new to the startup space.
Investors aren’t coming to your pitch deck to study the fine print of your funding rounds or get a crash course on your capital structure. They’re there to understand your company’s financial landscape quickly.
If you feel like these terms are necessary, add a footnote. But don’t clutter the slide with things that only a handful of people are likely to care about. Stick to the basics—who owns what and how much of it.
5. Group Similar Stakeholders Together
Cap tables often have different groups of people: founders, investors, employees, etc. To make things easier to digest, group these stakeholders together in your chart or diagram.
For example, in your pie chart, you might have:
Founders: 60%
Investors: 30%
Employees/ESOP: 10%
This makes it clear at a glance who the major players are and how ownership is distributed across the key groups.
Pro Tip: If you have a lot of stakeholders, you can group similar ones together in broader categories. So instead of showing every single investor’s name and percentage, you could have a single category for “Investors” and show a combined percentage. This keeps things clean and focused.
6. Keep It Focused on the Present (Not the Future)
It’s tempting to put future projections on your cap table slide—like how ownership will change after your next funding round. And sure, it’s important to think about dilution and future funding. But here’s the thing: the cap table slide is for the now.
Yes, dilution matters. Yes, future funding rounds matter. But unless you’re in the middle of raising funds and want to show how ownership might change in the next round, leave the projections out. Investors want to know where things stand right now. They don’t want to have to guess or imagine what your ownership structure might look like in 6-12 months.
7. Balance Detail with Simplicity
Here’s the tricky part: you don’t want to strip the slide of useful information either. You still need to give investors enough context to understand what they’re looking at.
That means showing:
The ownership breakdown (who owns what).
The percentage each person or group owns.
The total number of shares outstanding.
These three pieces of data are critical. Any more than that, and you risk overloading the investor with unnecessary details. Anything less, and you leave them asking questions.
8. Ensure Consistency
This might sound minor, but consistency is key. Make sure that the fonts, colors, and design elements of your cap table slide match the rest of your presentation. Don’t go off on a wild design tangent just because you’re dealing with numbers.
It’s all about creating a cohesive look. Your cap table slide is a part of your overall story, and it should feel like it. This doesn’t mean you need to use the exact same colors, but you should aim for a consistent, professional aesthetic that aligns with the rest of your deck.
9. Test It With Someone Who Knows Nothing About Your Business
Finally, one of the best ways to make sure your cap table slide works is to test it with someone who doesn’t know a thing about your business.
Ask them to look at the slide and tell you what they understand. If they can’t quickly tell you who owns what, then your slide is likely too complicated. If they can understand it right away, you’re on the right track.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.