How to Make a SaaS Pitch Deck [A Useful Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Apr 3, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 5
A few weeks ago, our client Glen asked us a question while we were designing his SaaS pitch deck.
"What’s the one thing investors actually want to see in the first 30 seconds?"
Our Creative Director replied, “Proof you’re solving a real problem for a growing market.”
Simple. Sharp. True.
As a presentation design agency, we work on many SaaS pitch decks throughout the year. And in the process, we’ve observed one common challenge—too many founders try to impress investors instead of convincing them.
In this blog, we’ll break down how to make a SaaS pitch deck that builds belief, not hype.
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 Most SaaS Pitch Decks Fail (And What to Fix First)
Let’s just say it upfront—most SaaS pitch decks fail because they talk like resumes and not like solutions.
You know the kind. Slide 1 says “revolutionizing the cloud.” Slide 2 is a team of four blurry headshots. Slide 3 throws in a market size so big it looks suspicious. Then somewhere near the end, there's a product screenshot. Maybe.
This isn’t a pitch. It’s a guessing game.
And investors don’t have time to guess.
What we've noticed is that founders often approach their SaaS pitch deck like a branding exercise.
They want it to look slick, feel modern, maybe drop a few buzzwords. But here’s the thing—investors aren’t looking for your brand. They're scanning for answers.
They want to know:
What problem are you solving?
For whom?
Why now?
Why you?
Miss those and you’ll lose attention by slide three, no matter how cool your typography is.
The root issue? Most decks are built around what the founder wants to say, not what the investor needs to hear.
And that's the fix.
When you flip that, everything changes. The deck stops being a vanity project and becomes a sales tool. A serious, strategic tool.
So before you think about gradients and graphs, ask yourself this:
If I had only one slide to win a meeting, what would I show?
Now we’re talking.
How to Make a SaaS Pitch Deck That Works
Let’s be blunt. You’re not pitching a product. You’re pitching clarity. Confidence. Conviction.
If your deck can't clearly show what you do, why it matters, and how you’ll win — you're just another startup asking for a shot in the dark.
We've worked with dozens of SaaS founders, and the ones who get funded don’t necessarily have the best product. They just explain their story better. They simplify, sequence, and speak to the investor’s mind. So if you're building your SaaS pitch deck, forget fancy words. Let’s get practical.
We’re going to walk you through how to build a SaaS pitch deck that actually works. Slide by slide. No fluff. No fillers. Just what needs to be there — and why.
1. Start with a Problem, Not a Preamble
Please don’t open with your logo, your tagline, or your team. You’re not Apple.
Start with the problem. But not just any problem — the one your audience (investors) can understand in 10 seconds. It should be big, painful, and real.
Instead of saying: “SMBs struggle with cloud-based inventory tracking systems.”
Say: “9 out of 10 small businesses still use spreadsheets to manage inventory. And they’re losing $15B a year because of it.”
Numbers. Stakes. Clarity.
Why this works: Investors want to see that you understand your user’s pain. More importantly, they want proof that pain is costing people money or time. No pain, no urgency. No urgency, no deal.
2. Then Show the Solution (That’s You)
Once you’ve nailed the problem, the next slide needs to show how you solve it — cleanly. Visually.
This is where most founders start over-explaining. They turn the solution slide into a product tour.
Don’t.
You're not selling software. You're selling a new way of doing something that’s currently broken.
So instead of writing five bullet points, show what the user journey looks like before and after your solution. Use a single graphic. Bonus if it’s animated, but keep it simple.
Example:
Before: Manual spreadsheet logging → Delays → Lost revenue
After: Auto-synced platform → Real-time tracking → Increased profit
That’s your story arc. Problem to better outcome — and your product is the bridge.
3. Product Slide (Don’t Overdo It)
Investors don’t want a deep dive into your tech stack. They want to know what the product does and why it’s different. A single, clean screenshot or mockup with 2–3 core features called out is more than enough.
Here’s how to think about it:
Is the product easy to understand at a glance?
Do the core features solve the problem you introduced earlier?
What’s the “aha” moment that makes it sticky?
Add a short product demo link in your deck notes or email follow-up — not on the slide.
If you make the investor feel how easy or powerful it is, that’s a win. Don’t try to impress them with depth. Hook them with clarity.
4. Market Size Slide (Don’t Fake the Math)
This is where decks start to drift into fantasy. You’ll see something like:“The global SaaS market is worth $1.2 trillion. If we get just 1%, we’re golden.”
That’s not how investors think.
You need to show a believable market that you can realistically enter and dominate a piece of. Define your:
TAM (Total Available Market)
SAM (Serviceable Available Market)
SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market)
But more importantly, show how you got those numbers. Be specific. Reference sources. Show logic.
Example: If you're building invoicing software for freelancers, don’t just say the freelancing market is huge. Show how many freelancers in your geography use digital tools, how many pay for software, and what % you aim to convert.
Real numbers, rooted in real behavior. That’s what makes this slide land.
5. Business Model (How You Make Money)
Keep it simple.If you’re SaaS, you likely run on subscriptions. Cool. Say it.
Monthly? Annual? Freemium to premium?
How much is the average customer worth?
What’s the expected LTV?
Any upsell paths?
If you’re early-stage and still testing pricing, say so. But show you have a hypothesis backed by early signals.
Investors don’t expect you to have it all figured out. They just want to know you’re thinking about margins, churn, and sustainability. No one’s throwing money at a black hole.
6. Go-to-Market Strategy (Your Plan to Get Customers)
This slide is often too vague. “We’ll use SEO and partnerships” is not a strategy. It’s a list.
Investors want to know how you’re going to win your first 100, 1,000, and 10,000 users.
Who is your target customer?
Where do they live online?
What channels have worked so far?
What does it cost to acquire a user?
What’s your sales cycle like?
If you’ve already tested some channels and found traction, share real results. Even if it's just 50 paid customers from cold emails — that’s proof of motion.
If you haven't launched yet, show that you understand the landscape deeply. Mention competitors’ GTM moves and how you'll carve out your own lane.
7. Traction Slide (Your Proof of Progress)
This is your chance to show momentum.
Traction doesn’t have to mean revenue. It could be:
Beta signups
Active users
Retention numbers
Waitlists
Partnerships
Growth over time (monthly or quarterly)
Use charts, not text. A clean up-and-to-the-right graph — even if it’s modest — is more powerful than a wall of words.
And if you don’t have traction yet, don’t fake it. Instead, use this slide to show what’s already built, who’s on board, and what your roadmap looks like for the next 90 days.
8. Team Slide (But Make It Relevant)
Founders often treat this slide like a LinkedIn flex. Don’t.
This isn’t about where you went to school. It’s about why you are the right people to build this.
If your team has:
Domain expertise
Unique insights
Technical ability to execute
Previous exits or startup experience
Highlight it. Connect the dots. “Jane led product at X and scaled usage 10x. Now she’s building Y with that insight.” That’s the narrative investors care about.
If you're a solo founder, don’t hide it. But show how you're compensating for gaps — advisors, contractors, fractional roles.
9. The Ask Slide (Be Direct)
This is where you say how much you're raising, what you’ll use it for, and what the outcomes will be.
Not like this: “We’re raising $1M to scale.”
More like this: “Raising $1M to expand engineering, launch v2, and hit 1,000 paying users in 12 months.”
Break down use of funds. Show a roadmap. Make the investor see that you’ve planned this out.
Remember, vague asks make you look unprepared. Be precise, confident, and realistic.
10. Vision Slide (End with a Pull)
Investors bet on two things: outcomes and belief. You’ve covered the outcomes. This last slide is about belief.
Where are you taking this? Why now? What will the world look like if you succeed?
But keep it grounded. Don’t promise to “redefine humanity with blockchain AI.” Just paint a picture of how the space is evolving and how you’ll lead it.
One sentence. One image. One idea that sticks.
That’s what they’ll remember when they open five other decks after yours.
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.