How to Make a Pre-Seed Pitch Deck [A Detailed Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Oct 28, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 29
Sam, one of our clients, asked us an interesting question while we were building his pre-seed pitch deck.
"What’s the one thing investors actually care about at this stage?"
Our Creative Director didn’t even blink.
“They care if your idea solves a real problem and if you can prove you’re the one to do it.”
That’s it. One sentence. But that’s exactly the lens you need to build from when putting together a pitch deck at the pre-seed stage.
As a presentation design agency, we work on dozens of pre-seed pitch decks every year. And through all of them, we’ve noticed one common challenge: Founders often try to sound too polished instead of just being clear and convincing.
In this blog, we’ll break down how to make a pitch deck that actually works at the pre-seed stage and doesn’t waste your one shot in front of an investor.
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.
Why Your Pre-Seed Pitch Deck Matters More Than You Think
Let’s get one thing straight. At the pre-seed stage, no one expects you to have it all figured out. You’re not pitching growth metrics or profit margins. You’re pitching possibility.
And your pitch deck? That’s the medium.
It’s not just a visual document. It’s a filter. Investors use it to decide if you’re even worth a meeting. If your deck is confusing, generic, or bloated with buzzwords, it goes straight to the “pass” pile. Not because your idea isn’t good, but because you didn’t communicate it well.
Here’s what we’ve learned working with early-stage startups: A strong pre-seed pitch deck doesn’t try to impress with flash. It makes a clear case for why this, why now, and why you. That’s it.
If you can answer those three things in a simple, unpretentious way, you’re ahead of 80% of founders out there. And yet, that’s where most people fumble. They either over-explain or under-sell.
Your pitch deck isn’t about getting funded. It’s about getting in the room.
And at pre-seed, that’s the whole game.
How to Make a Pre-Seed Pitch Deck
We’ve helped enough early-stage founders to know this: the best pre-seed pitch decks don’t try to be perfect, they try to be understood. That’s the difference.
Founders often overcompensate at this stage. They’ll fill their deck with every possible detail, hoping to look “ready.” But the truth is, no one expects you to be ready. Investors know you’re early. What they’re betting on is your clarity — your ability to understand the problem, your customer, and your path to building something that matters.
So let’s get into the anatomy of a solid pre-seed pitch deck. This is what we build for our clients, and it’s what works when the stakes are high and attention spans are short.
1. Start with a punchy cover slide
We’ve seen too many decks that open with a logo and a tagline that means nothing. “Revolutionizing the way people connect with food”? That could be anything from a new lunchbox to an AI chef.
You need to ground the room right away. Use your cover slide to say:
What you do
Who it’s for
Why it’s relevant
Example:"On-demand mental health support for remote teams."That tells us what it is, who it’s for, and hints at why now. No fluff.
Make it visual. One striking image, product mockup, or short explainer sentence. First impressions still matter.
2. The Problem Slide
This is your starting gun. If people don’t believe the problem is real or worth solving, everything else falls apart.
But here’s where a lot of founders go off-track. They write the problem like a textbook or pile it with stats. Don’t. Keep it human.
Think like this:
Who feels the pain?
What are they struggling with?
Why hasn’t anyone solved it properly?
Let’s say you’re building a tool for managing freelance teams. The problem isn’t “freelancer operations are inefficient.” The real problem is:“Startup founders spend 8+ hours a week chasing updates from freelancers across email, Slack, and spreadsheets — and still miss deadlines.”
That’s specific. That’s visual. And it gets a nod from the investor who’s felt that problem.
You can follow that up with 1–2 supporting data points. Not 12. Just enough to say, “This isn’t just my opinion.”
3. The Solution Slide
This is where clarity beats creativity.
You’re solving a problem. Great. Now show how.
Avoid vague promises like “an all-in-one intuitive platform that simplifies workflows.” That’s not a solution. That’s a brochure sentence.
Instead, show how your solution directly connects to the pain you just explained.
Same example — for the freelance chaos problem — your solution could be:“A single dashboard that combines task assignments, updates, and payments for all freelancers in one place.”
Make it feel inevitable. Like, “Well of course this should exist.” That’s the reaction you want.
If you’ve got a prototype, show it. If not, a well-designed mockup is enough. What matters is that the investor gets what it does.
4. Market Opportunity
Yes, this one still matters — but not in the way you think.
Don’t dump a slide with: “The global SaaS market is $400B and growing at 14% CAGR.” That tells us nothing about your opportunity.
Investors want to see:
Is the market big enough to matter?
Is your wedge into the market believable?
Break it down. Show the bottom-up potential.
For example: "We’re starting with remote-first startups (10–100 employees), a fast-growing segment of over 100K companies globally. At $20/user/month, that’s a $1.2B serviceable market.”
That’s more useful than any Gartner chart.
5. Why Now
Timing isn’t everything — but it can be the difference between “why hasn’t someone built this yet?” and “finally.”
This is your chance to explain:
What changed in the world?
Why is now the time to solve this?
Back to our earlier example: "Remote teams have doubled since 2020. Managing distributed freelancers is no longer a niche problem — it’s the new norm. But most tools are still built for in-office project management.”
You’re not just building a product. You’re riding a shift. Show that.
6. Product Slide
Now zoom in. Show us what the product actually looks like.
Keep it focused:
One or two clear screenshots
Callouts to key features
A brief walkthrough or demo link, if you have it
You’re not trying to overwhelm here. Just help the investor picture how it works — without needing a demo call.
Use annotations or a short caption: "Dashboard shows deadlines, status, and payment per freelancer — in one view.”
This slide often gets skimmed, so make it scannable.
7. Business Model
Yes, even at pre-seed, you need to talk about how you’ll make money. You don’t need 5-year projections. But you do need to show that you’ve thought about this beyond “we’ll figure it out later.”
Here’s how to break it down:
Pricing (subscription, usage-based, freemium?)
Who pays (companies, users, marketplaces?)
How often (monthly, per seat, annually?)
You can also add a short note on what you’ve validated.“20 companies signed up for our waitlist at $15/user/month in under two weeks.”That’s the kind of signal investors look for — not fantasy financials.
8. Traction (If Any)
If you’re pre-product, skip this. But if you’ve launched anything, even a beta or waitlist, show the proof.
Don’t oversell. Just highlight what’s real:
Signups
Waitlist numbers
Early customer feedback
Pilot results
Revenue (if any)
Real traction beats polish. One of our clients had a deck that looked half-finished — but their beta had 1,200 users. That’s what got them the meeting.
9. Go-To-Market Plan
This doesn’t need to be a multi-phase marketing roadmap. Just tell us:
How will you get your first users?
Why will they care?
What’s your wedge in?
We see too many decks that say “social media and content marketing” — that’s not a strategy. That’s noise.
Instead:“We’re targeting 100 remote-first startups through founder Slack groups and warm intros. We’ve already booked 15 calls.”That shows effort, not just ideas.
10. Team
People invest in people, especially this early.
Don’t just drop logos or job titles. Give us a reason to believe you’re the ones to pull this off.
Tell us:
Why this problem matters to you
What unfair advantage you bring
Relevant experience (even if it’s not flashy)
Example: “Jake led ops at a remote-first startup for 4 years and felt this pain firsthand. Ana built internal tools at Trello and knows how to ship clean UX for chaotic workflows.”
That’s stronger than any brand name.
11. The Ask
Be specific.
How much are you raising, what will it fund, and what’s the timeline?
Avoid vague asks like “We’re raising a pre-seed round.” Instead say: “We’re raising $600K to hire 2 engineers, launch our MVP, and onboard 10 pilot customers over the next 8 months.”
Investors want to know you’ve done the math. Show it.
12. Close Strong
Your final slide should bring it back full circle.
What’s the vision? What happens if you win?
No need for a grand mission statement. Just remind them why this matters — and why you’re the one to build it.
Even a sentence like this works: "We believe every fast-growing company should have a better way to manage freelancers — and we’re building the tool to make that happen.”
Then leave contact info and make it easy to follow up.
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.