How to Make the Unit Economics Slide [For Pitch Deck ]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Aug 15
- 7 min read
Ronnie, one of our clients, asked us an interesting question while we were making their unit economics slide.
He said,
“Should we show every cost and revenue detail here, or only the ones that matter most to investors?”
Our Creative Director replied,
“Only the numbers that prove your growth is sustainable.”
As a presentation design agency, we work on many unit economics slides throughout the year and in the process we’ve observed one common challenge — founders often cram too much into this slide, making it harder for investors to see the real story.
So in this blog we’ll talk about how to make the unit economics slide clear, credible and convincing.
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.
What is the Unit Economics Slide
Let’s get this out of the way. The unit economics slide is not an accounting statement. It’s the one slide in your pitch deck that tells an investor, in black and white, if your business can make money in the real world. It breaks down the profitability of one “unit” of your product or service — whether that’s a subscription, a single transaction, a customer lifetime — so they can see if scaling up means scaling profits or scaling losses.
Think of it like a stress test for your business model. Investors don’t want to be dazzled here. They want the naked truth. They’re asking, “If I give you one dollar, how much will you turn it into after costs?” If that answer isn’t clear on this slide, they’ll assume the worst.
Why the Unit Economics Slide Can Make or Break Your Pitch
We’ve seen founders treat this slide like a data buffet. They throw in acquisition costs, churn rates, upsell numbers, operational overhead, market size projections, and every chart they can fit — hoping that somewhere in the mess, the investor will spot something they like. What actually happens? The investor checks out.
The purpose of this slide is to tell one story: your unit is profitable, and that profitability will only get better with scale. If your slide doesn’t make that point in under 10 seconds, it’s not doing its job.
How to Make the Unit Economics Slide for Pitch Deck
We’ve designed enough pitch decks to know one thing — the founders who nail this slide are the ones who think like investors when building it. They ask themselves, “What would I want to see if I were risking my money here?” Let’s walk you through how to create a unit economics slide that passes that test.
1. Start With the Right “Unit”
This is where most people mess up before they even open their slide software. The “unit” in unit economics is the single transaction or customer instance you’ll analyze. Pick the wrong one and the whole slide becomes confusing or irrelevant.
If you sell a subscription SaaS product, your unit might be a single subscriber over one year. If you’re in e-commerce, it might be one customer purchase. If you’re in the food delivery business, it could be one order.
Why does this matter? Because investors want a realistic snapshot, not an abstract number. We’ve seen founders pick “lifetime of the customer” as their unit without actually having historical data to back it up. That’s like promising you can run a marathon when you’ve only done a 5k.
Choose a unit you can prove. If you don’t have lifetime data, use monthly or quarterly data, then explain how you’ll improve those numbers over time.
2. Get Laser Clear on the Two Big Numbers
Investors will zoom in on two numbers first:
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) — what you spend to get a customer.
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) — what that customer is worth to you over their lifetime.
If your LTV is not significantly higher than your CAC, no amount of flashy design will save you. A healthy rule of thumb is at least a 3:1 ratio.
Now, here’s where presentation design comes in. Don’t bury these numbers in a sea of text. Make them visually distinct. If we’re designing it, these numbers are in large, bold type, possibly with a contrasting color, and placed in a position where they’re impossible to miss.
A quick investor glance should tell them, “Okay, they spend $100 to get a customer, and they make $300 back. That’s interesting.”
3. Show the Breakdown Without Overwhelming
This is the balancing act. Too much detail and you overwhelm your audience. Too little and you look like you’re hiding something.
The sweet spot is to break down your CAC and LTV into 3–5 key components each. For CAC, you might show paid ads, content marketing, referrals, sales commissions. For LTV, you might show initial purchase value, upsells, repeat purchases, subscription renewals.
Visually, use a clean table or side-by-side boxes. Each component gets a short label and a number. No long paragraphs. No complicated formulas that require mental gymnastics to follow.
4. Add Context With Benchmarks
Numbers mean nothing without context. If your CAC is $50, is that good? Investors won’t know unless you show them what “good” means in your industry.
If you can, add a small line or callout comparing your numbers to industry averages. For example:
CAC: $50 (Industry average: $75)
LTV: $200 (Industry average: $150)
This does two things — it positions you as someone who knows your market inside-out and it builds credibility instantly.
We’ve seen investors perk up when they see a well-placed benchmark because it saves them from having to research it themselves.
5. Keep the Math Simple
Your slide is not the place for complex financial modeling. Keep the math clean, show the key equations, and let the numbers speak for themselves.
For example, instead of showing ten different ways to calculate LTV, pick one credible method and stick with it. The simpler the formula, the faster your audience will grasp it.
One of our clients once insisted on showing five variations of LTV “to be transparent.” What actually happened was half the room got confused and the other half started doubting the accuracy. We redesigned it to one method with a small footnote, and the slide instantly clicked.
6. Use Design to Guide the Eye
Even the best numbers lose their impact if they’re not easy to read. Investors won’t spend more than a few seconds on each slide unless they’re deeply hooked.
Here’s how we structure a unit economics slide visually:
Headline: A single sentence summarizing the takeaway (example: “Our customers are profitable within 3 months”).
Primary Numbers: Large, bold, and separated from the rest of the text.
Breakdown: A clean, minimal table or chart showing CAC and LTV components.
Visual Element: One simple graphic — a bar chart comparing CAC and LTV, or a funnel showing acquisition to retention.
Supporting Context: Benchmarks or footnotes in smaller text.
The goal is that an investor can scan from top to bottom in under 10 seconds and get the message.
7. Tell the Growth Story
Unit economics is not just a snapshot of today — it’s a hint at tomorrow. Investors want to see if your numbers will improve with scale.
If your CAC is high now because you’re early-stage, show how it will drop as brand awareness grows.
If your LTV will increase because of new product lines or higher retention, visualize that progression.
We’ve often added a small projection chart beside the main numbers to show “today” vs. “future.” It helps investors picture what their money will help you achieve.
8. Avoid Vanity Metrics
This is a trap many founders fall into. They throw in big numbers like “total users” or “website visits” thinking it’ll impress. The truth is, if those numbers don’t directly feed into CAC or LTV, they belong somewhere else in your deck.
Vanity metrics dilute the clarity of your slide. The investor’s brain starts wandering to questions that derail the conversation. Keep this slide pure — CAC, LTV, and the components that drive them.
9. Use Real Data, Even if It’s Not Perfect
Nothing kills credibility faster than numbers that feel made up. If you don’t have exact data, be honest and label estimates clearly. Investors respect transparency far more than inflated projections.
We once worked with a startup that wanted to “fill in” missing data with what they thought investors wanted to see. We pushed back and encouraged them to show current real numbers, then outline the plan to improve them. That honesty landed them follow-up meetings because investors could see the founder understood their own metrics deeply.
10. Rehearse the Story Behind the Numbers
The slide itself is only half the battle. The other half is how you talk about it.
In your pitch, you’ll likely spend 30–60 seconds on this slide. That means you need a tight, confident explanation of where the numbers came from, what they mean, and why they’ll get better.
We tell our clients to prepare for two types of investor reactions:
The fast nod: They get it immediately and move on. Good — you’ve done your job.
The drill-down: They ask for more details on acquisition channels, churn rates, or pricing strategy. Good — they’re engaged.
Both outcomes are wins if your slide is built well.
A well-crafted unit economics slide is proof you understand your business at the most fundamental level. It’s the bridge between your big vision and the investor’s need for hard evidence. And when you build it right, it becomes one of the most persuasive parts of your pitch deck.
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.