5 Key Goals of a Pitch Deck [Explained]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Our client Ty asked us an interesting question while we were making his pitch deck. He said,
"What goals should we set for the pitch deck?"
Our Creative Director answered,
"A pitch deck should do five things: first, make the problem crystal clear; second, show your solution convincingly; third, highlight the market opportunity; fourth, prove that your team can execute; and fifth, inspire action from the audience."
As a presentation design agency, we work on many pitch decks throughout the year and in the process, we’ve observed one common challenge: most founders focus too much on looking good rather than being understood.
So, in this blog we’ll talk about the 5 key goals of a pitch deck you must hit to actually get investors, partners, or clients to care.
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.
5 Key Goals of a Pitch Deck
When it comes to pitch decks, most people think it’s about looking good. We see it all the time: founders spend hours obsessing over gradients, fonts, and animations, while forgetting what really matters. A pitch deck is not a slideshow to impress. It’s a communication tool. And if you don’t hit the key goals, all the polish in the world won’t make a difference.
From our experience designing decks for startups, scale-ups, and established companies, we’ve identified five non-negotiable goals that every pitch deck must achieve. These are the goals our Creative Director shared with Ty, and the same principles guide every deck we touch.
1. Make the Problem Crystal Clear
We cannot stress this enough: if the audience doesn’t understand the problem, they won’t care about the solution. And if they don’t care, nothing else matters. A lot of decks fail because the problem is hidden, vague, or buried under jargon. We’ve seen slides with graphs, numbers, and flashy visuals where the audience leaves scratching their heads, thinking, “Wait, what exactly is the problem?”
The goal here is to make the pain point so obvious that the audience feels it themselves. Use relatable examples, stories, or even statistics that hit home. When we designed a pitch deck for a SaaS startup, we opened with a slide showing a real-life scenario of a frustrated user. The investor didn’t need to read the text to understand the pain. By starting with empathy and clarity, the problem became undeniable.
Remember, you’re not just describing an issue. You’re creating urgency. Your audience should feel that this problem deserves solving, and it deserves solving now. Don’t hide behind buzzwords or assume they’ll get it. Spell it out clearly, simply, and convincingly.
2. Show the Solution Convincingly
Once the problem is crystal clear, the next goal is to present your solution in a way that feels inevitable. This is where many founders trip up. They talk about features, tech specs, or what makes their product “cool,” but fail to answer the crucial question: why this solution, and why now?
A good solution slide is about storytelling. It’s not a laundry list of features; it’s showing how your product or service directly addresses the pain you just established. In a pitch deck we worked on for a logistics startup, we replaced a bulky feature-focused slide with a story: a shipment delayed, a client frustrated, and how their platform solved it in real time. Investors immediately understood the value, and the team’s credibility grew without a single bullet point on tech specs.
Always tie your solution to the problem. Avoid generic phrases like “we make things easier” or “we are innovative.” Show, don’t tell. Use visuals, numbers, or quick comparisons that make the benefit undeniable. The audience should leave this section thinking, “This makes perfect sense.”
3. Highlight the Market Opportunity
Even the best solution won’t matter if there’s no market for it. One of the most common mistakes we see is founders glossing over the market or overhyping it without evidence. The third key goal is to make it clear that there is a meaningful opportunity, that it’s growing, and that you have a credible path to capture it.
This is where data matters, but it has to be digestible. Charts, graphs, and comparisons can work, but they should tell a story rather than overwhelm. For example, in a fintech deck we designed, we presented the market in three simple points: total market size, segmentable opportunity, and growth trend. Investors could see immediately that this was not a small niche, but a market with potential for serious returns.
Also, context is key. Don’t just throw numbers at the audience. Explain why they matter. How big is the opportunity relative to competitors? How fast is it growing? Why is now the right time? A clear market story builds credibility and shows that you’re not just solving a problem; you’re solving it in a way that can scale.
4. Prove Your Team Can Execute
Ideas are cheap. Execution is everything. Investors and partners know this. That’s why the fourth goal is to prove that your team has the experience, skills, and credibility to turn the idea into reality.
A strong team slide does more than list resumes. It tells a story about why this group of people is uniquely capable. We always focus on relevant experience, key achievements, and complementary skills. For example, in a healthcare startup deck, we highlighted a founder with clinical experience, a CTO with relevant tech expertise, and a business lead with a track record in scaling startups. Together, the slide painted a picture of a team that could execute under pressure.
Don’t rely on titles alone. Investors want context. What have you built before? What have you learned? Why does this team increase the odds of success? A deck that can convey this convincingly immediately earns trust, which is far more valuable than a flashy design.
5. Inspire Action
Finally, a pitch deck is useless if it doesn’t move the audience to act. This is the fifth goal, and arguably the most important. Whether you want funding, a partnership, or a sale, your deck should make it obvious what the next step is.
Many decks fail because they are informative but not persuasive. We see slides that end without a call to action, or with vague statements like “Let’s connect sometime.” That’s not enough. Action must be clear, simple, and compelling. For instance, in a B2B SaaS deck, we closed with a single slide stating the funding requirement, the equity offered, and a clear invitation for a follow-up discussion. No confusion, no extra steps.
Inspiring action also comes from the narrative throughout the deck. If your story is coherent, your problem is real, your solution is convincing, your market is credible, and your team is capable, then the final slide should feel like the natural next step. The audience should leave thinking, “I need to do something about this now.”
These Pitch Deck Goals Are Not Independent.
They work together to create a deck that communicates effectively and motivates action. Neglect one, and the whole deck suffers. For example, we’ve seen decks with stunning visuals and great numbers fail because the problem was unclear. We’ve seen decks with brilliant teams and strong markets fail because the solution was hard to understand.
A pitch deck is a story, and each goal is a chapter. You start with the problem, move to the solution, show the opportunity, introduce the team, and then inspire action. Skip or weaken any chapter, and your story loses impact.
From our work with Ty and dozens of other clients, we’ve learned that clarity, credibility, and persuasion matter far more than flashy design. Design is important, yes, but it’s a supporting actor, not the lead. If you focus on these five goals, your deck won’t just look good; it will work.
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.