Evervault Pitch Deck [Lessons for Early-Stage Founders]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
We had just started working on a pitch deck for our client Rob when he paused and said:
“Everyone keeps telling me design is important, but then I came across the Evervault pitch deck and the design doesn’t look great. How does that work?”
Our Creative Director responded:
“We call design the basic etiquette for investor pitch decks. You wouldn’t show up to an interview looking sloppy. That said, I’ve studied Evervault’s pitch deck closely, and its real strength is clean, focused storytelling. That’s the factor behind its success.”
That conversation became the inspiration for this blog. Since several of our clients had already been discussing the Evervault pitch deck, we decided to break it down and analyze what actually made it work.
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.
First, Let's Take a Look at the Evervault Pitch Deck in Question
This is the pitch deck Evervault used to raise its seed round from Sequoia Capital, along with other leading investors. Learn more about: Sequoia Capital Pitch Deck Template
What Made the Evervault Pitch Deck Work Even Without Polished Design
Let’s get one thing out of the way.
If this pitch deck landed on your desk today, most people would say the design is underwhelming. Some would call it bad. And yet, Evervault raised a serious seed round from top-tier investors using this very deck.
So, the question worth asking is not “Why is the design bad?" The better question is “Why did it still work?”
To answer that, you need to stop thinking about pitch decks as slide collections and start thinking about them as decision-making tools.
Evervault understood that difference.
1. Starting with the founder, not the problem
Most pitch deck templates start with the problem slide. It feels logical. First explain the pain, then sell the cure.
Evervault ignores that advice.
The deck opens with the founder.
Specifically, it introduces Shane Curran and highlights his previous startup success as founder and CEO of Libramatic.
This is not accidental.
Starting with the founder immediately answers the most important unspoken investor question:“Can this person actually build this?”
Opening with the founder does three things at once:
Establishes credibility early
Reduces perceived execution risk
Frames the rest of the deck through trust
Instead of wondering whether this is an ambitious idea from an inexperienced team, the audience is primed to think: this person has done it before.
That mindset shift matters more than a beautifully animated opening slide.
2. The problem slide that lets the world speak
When Evervault finally gets to the problem, it does something smart.
It does not explain. It shows.
The slide communicates one idea: keeping data safe is hard.
But instead of paragraphs or diagrams, it uses news headlines and articles about data breaches. The design feels almost chaotic. And that is the point.
This slide works because:
It creates urgency without exaggeration
It removes opinion from the argument
It shows that the problem already exists
Evervault is not claiming there is a problem. The world already agrees there is one.
This is a subtle but powerful move. Investors do not need to be convinced. They are reminded.
3. A solution that matches the scale of the problem
Immediately after the problem, the deck introduces the solution with a strong framing: ending the data breach epidemic.
That word epidemic is intentional.
An epidemic implies:
Scale
Repetition
Systemic failure
Evervault is not positioning itself as a feature or patch. It is positioning itself as a fundamental fix.
This matters because small problems deserve small solutions. Big problems demand bold ones.
The language here aligns the solution with the severity of the problem. That alignment builds belief.
4. Identifying the missing link instead of listing features
After presenting the solution, the deck introduces a key idea: the missing link.
According to Evervault, data processing is where modern security breaks down. Data may be encrypted at rest and in transit, but it is exposed when processed.
This framing is effective because it does not overwhelm. It simplifies.
Instead of saying: “We do X, Y, and Z with advanced encryption methods”
The deck says: “This is the part everyone ignores. That’s why breaches keep happening.”
Investors love this kind of clarity because it:
Narrows the problem space
Explains why existing solutions fail
Makes the opportunity feel obvious in hindsight
Great startups do not add complexity. They remove confusion.
5. Technical slides that assume intelligence
Next come two slides that many people would criticize.
They are technical.
They are text-heavy.
They are not visually elegant.
And they are absolutely appropriate.
Why?
Because the assumed audience understands the subject.
Not every deck is meant for a general audience. This was likely presented to investors familiar with infrastructure, security, and developer tools.
In that context, technical depth is not a drawback. It is proof.
These slides communicate:
This is not a shallow idea
The founders understand the problem deeply
The solution is defensible and real
Oversimplifying here would have weakened trust. Evervault chose clarity over prettiness.
That is a recurring theme in this deck.
6. Resetting with a simple “why Evervault” slide
After the technical explanation, the deck pauses and resets.
There is a simple slide with three bullet points explaining why Evervault.
No diagrams.
No buzzwords.
No over-explaining.
This slide works because it:
Re-centers the value proposition
Helps the audience breathe
Reinforces differentiation
Good decks understand pacing. They know when to go deep and when to zoom out. Evervault gets that balance right.
7. Competitive advantage without theatrics
The competitive advantage slide does not try to impress.
There is no overcrowded comparison table.
No exaggerated claims.
No “we have no competitors” nonsense.
Instead, the deck focuses on what actually matters:
Why existing solutions fall short
Why Evervault’s approach is hard to replicate
For infrastructure startups, defensibility is everything. Investors are not betting on early traction alone. They are betting on long-term relevance.
This slide quietly reinforces that.
8. Talking about pricing earlier than most founders dare to
Many early-stage decks avoid pricing. It feels uncomfortable. Founders worry about being wrong.
Evervault does the opposite.
They clearly state their intention to use usage-based pricing, similar to Heroku.
This does two important things:
Makes the business model concrete
Signals maturity and foresight
The deck also distinguishes between:
Short-term user pricing
Long-term enterprise pricing
This shows that the founders are thinking beyond early adoption. They are thinking about scale.
Investors like that.
9. Roadmaps that actually help
The timeline slide and the roadmap slide are some of the strongest in the deck.
They work because they:
Visualize progress clearly
Show intentional sequencing
Avoid unrealistic promises
Roadmaps are not about predicting the future perfectly. They are about showing that the founder has thought through the journey.
This one does that well.
10. A clear, confident ask
The ask slide is simple. Direct. Thoughtful.
It answers:
What they need
Why they need it
When they need it
There is no ambiguity. No inflated ambition. No desperation.
A clear ask signals a founder who understands their stage and priorities.
11. Ending without overthinking it
The deck ends with a simple thank you slide.
Normally, we suggest using the final slide more strategically. But in this case, it works.
Why?
Because the pitch deck's value proposition has already been established. The story feels complete. Nothing more needs to be proven.
Sometimes restraint is the right move.
People Have Tried Copying this Evervault Pitch Deck and Failed
One founder came to us with a FinTech pitch deck that mirrored Evervault almost exactly. Same opening with the founder. Same sparse problem slide. Same technical explanation. Same minimal design. He assumed that if the structure worked once, it would work again.
It didn’t. He pitched it multiple times and got nowhere.
The reason is simple. Copying a successful deck never works, even when you copy it perfectly. And it fails for three predictable reasons.
First, the credibility was borrowed, not earned.
Evervault could start with the founder because past success mattered in that moment. When someone else does the same without equivalent proof, the slide feels like a claim, not a signal.
Second, the audience was different.
Evervault’s deck worked for investors who understood cybersecurity infrastructure. That still doesn’t mean you can copy this deck within the same space and expect it to work. Structure without context breaks fast.
Third, clarity was missing.
Evervault’s minimalism came after deep thinking. When founders copy the slides without the thinking behind them, the deck feels vague, not confident.
Great pitch decks are not templates. They are outcomes of decisions. Copying the outcome without understanding the decisions is why these decks fail.
FAQ: Would the Evervault pitch deck still work if it were raised today?
Not in the same way, and that’s an important lesson.
Evervault raised its seed round at a time when developer-focused security infrastructure was emerging and investors were actively searching for foundational plays in that space. The deck worked because it matched that moment. The problem felt urgent, the category felt early, and the founder credibility reduced execution risk.
If the same deck were pitched today, it would likely need:
Clearer differentiation against a more crowded market
Stronger traction or adoption signals
Sharper positioning against existing infrastructure tools
This doesn’t mean the deck was flawed. It means pitch decks are time-sensitive. They are designed to work in a specific market context, not forever.
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