Introduction

The Sequoia-style pitch deck is a concise narrative that proves there is a valuable problem, your product is the right solution, now is the moment, and you are the team to win. This guide explains each slide’s intent, the evidence investors expect, and how to adapt the flow by stage—illustrated with examples from founder-led companies Zypsy has supported.

Updated October 2025

Download: Sequoia‑Style Outline (1‑pager)

A concise, reusable 1‑page template that mirrors the Sequoia flow. Includes slide prompts, evidence checkboxes, and a fillable outline for fast iteration.

What’s inside: 14‑slide outline, field‑by‑field prompts, evidence checklist, and a fillable draft page
Format: PDF + Google Doc
How to get it: Request the 1‑pager via our Contact page: Contact

How to use this outline in 7 days

Day 1: Draft Problem, Solution, Why Now using the prompts; collect 3–5 proof points each.
Day 2: Build bottoms‑up SAM; sanity‑check pricing with 3 targets.
Day 3: Storyboard a 90‑second demo; script one killer value moment.
Day 4: Map GTM + Business Model; outline ACV, payback, or usage drivers.
Day 5: Competition grid with real eval criteria from win/loss notes.
Day 6: 18–24 month plan: burn, hires, milestones tied to next raise.
Day 7: Design pass; rehearse to ≤12 minutes; refine based on 2 dry runs.

The Sequoia Flow at a Glance

Problem: Who hurts, how often, and how much it costs them today.
Solution: Your product’s core insight and how it uniquely fixes the problem.
Why Now: Market/tech inflections that make this inevitable today.
Market Size: Credible bottoms-up and/or top-down TAM/SAM/SOM.
Product: The experience and architecture that deliver value.
Business Model: How you make money; unit economics if applicable.
Competition: Current alternatives and your durable advantage.
Traction: Evidence of pull (usage, revenue, retention, pipeline).
Team: Founder-market fit and unfair advantages.
Financials: Key assumptions, burn, runway, hiring plan.
Vision: Long-term roadmap and category-defining outcome.
Optional: The Ask (round size, use of funds, milestones).

Note: Order can flex slightly (e.g., move Traction earlier for growth-stage companies), but keep the story arc intact.

Slide-by-Slide Guide with Founder Tips

1) Problem

Purpose: Prove an urgent, frequent, high-value pain for a specific ICP.
Show: Measurable impact (time lost, data risk, cost overruns) and current workaround limits.
Example cue: AI security failures and model fragility increased enterprise risk before Robust Intelligence; articulate the before-state clearly.
Pitfalls: Vague personas; unquantified pain; anecdote without data.

2) Solution

Purpose: Convey your product’s core insight and why it wins.
Show: 1–3 killer capabilities mapped directly to the stated pains; one killer demo.
Example cue: For creator tooling, highlight end-to-end workflows like Captions moving from subtitling to a full AI studio.
Pitfalls: Feature lists without outcomes; jargon over clarity.

3) Why Now

Purpose: Anchor timing to durable tailwinds (platform shifts, regulation, infra maturity).
Show: External curves (e.g., cost curves, standard adoption) that reduce risk today.
Example cue: API/service-mesh maturity driving connectivity demand for platforms like Solo.io.
Pitfalls: Trend-chasing without causality to your GTM.

4) Market Size

Purpose: Prove a large, reachable, efficiently served market.
Show: TAM/SAM/SOM built bottoms-up (price × target accounts × adoption).
Example cue: For data infra, segment users and attach realistic seat/usage pricing as in Covalent or Crystal DBA.
Pitfalls: Hand-wavy top-down stats; ignoring serviceable constraints.

5) Product

Purpose: Make the experience tangible; show how value is delivered.
Show: Short narrative demo, system diagram, and proof of scalability/quality.
Example cue: Cross-platform UX and design systems scaling fast (e.g., Captions web transition and unified DS).
Pitfalls: Screens without flow; architecture without user impact.

6) Business Model

Purpose: Explain how revenue is created and scales.
Show: Pricing model, monetization levers, early unit signals (if any).
Example cue: Usage-based APIs, seat/licensing, or take rates—tie to value moments; see GTM clarity in enterprise stories like Cortex.
Pitfalls: Misaligned pricing to value; complex tiers too early.

7) Competition

Purpose: Show you understand the landscape and your wedge.
Show: Customer alternatives (DIY, status quo, incumbents) and your durable edge (data, distribution, workflow lock-in, net-new capability).
Example cue: For AI safety, contrast pre-deployment testing vs. manual audits referencing Robust Intelligence positioning.
Pitfalls: “No competitors;” 2×2 without evidence.

8) Traction

Purpose: Evidence of pull and learning velocity.
Show: Cohort retention, qualified pipeline, ACV, sales cycle, MoM usage, activation, conversions.
Example cue: Public proof points like Captions scale metrics help, but any honest velocity signal (time-to-value, POCs) matters.
Pitfalls: Vanity metrics without context; cherry-picking.

9) Team

Purpose: Founder-market fit and the capability to execute.
Show: Relevant experience, prior outcomes, domain networks.
Example cue: Ex-Uber/Twilio founders bringing microservice expertise in Cortex.
Pitfalls: Bios over fit; missing why this team now.

10) Financials

Purpose: Demonstrate stewardship and plan realism.
Show: 18–24 month plan, burn/runway, hiring by function, unit/efficiency goals (e.g., gross margin, payback).
Pitfalls: Overprecision without traction; missing sensitivity ranges.

11) Vision

Purpose: Show the compounding roadmap toward a category-defining company.
Show: Sequenced product horizons, platform/eco expansion, long-term moat.
Example cue: Multi-audience platform narratives like Copilot Travel with ecosystem primitives.
Pitfalls: “We’ll be the X of Y” without milestones.

Optional) The Ask

Purpose: Align capital to milestones and de-risking plan.
Show: Round size, instrument, use of funds, proof milestones for next raise.
Pitfalls: Shopping list budgets; no milestone-to-metrics mapping.

Example 14-Slide Outline Founders Can Reuse

1) Title + One-Line Value Prop 2) Problem 3) Solution 4) Why Now 5) Market Size 6) Product (Demo) 7) Business Model 8) Competition 9) Go-To-Market 10) Traction 11) Team 12) Financials + Plan 13) Vision (Roadmap) 14) The Ask

Mapping: What to Prove on Each Slide

Slide	Evidence to Compile	Core Metrics/Artifacts	Primary Owner
Problem	User interviews, support logs, compliance/audit pain	Frequency, impact $/time, current workarounds	Product/Founder
Solution	Prototype, demo script	Before/after, time-to-value	Product/Design
Why Now	External data, tech maturity	Cost curves, adoption stats	Founder
Market	Account lists, pricing	TAM/SAM/SOM (bottoms-up)	Product/Finance
Product	Flow + system diagram	Latency/SLA, quality bars	Eng/Design
Biz Model	Pricing page, contracts	ACV/ARPU, margin, payback	GTM/Finance
Competition	Win/loss notes, eval grids	Differentiators, switching costs	Product/GTM
Traction	Analytics, CRM, cohorts	Activation, retention, revenue	Product/GTM
Team	Bios, prior outcomes	Domain proof, network leverage	Founder
Financials	Hiring plan, forecast	Burn, runway, hiring by function	Finance
Vision	Roadmap, moats	Horizon 1–3 milestones	Founder

Stage-Based Adjustments

Pre-Seed/Seed: Emphasize Problem/Solution/Why Now; show founder insight, prototype/demo, and early design partner interest. Traction can be qualitative (design partner quotes, LOIs).
Series A: Prioritize Market, GTM, unit signals (activation, retention, early efficiency). Move Traction earlier.
Series B+: Highlight scale economics, predictable GTM, product breadth, and category leadership narrative; include KPI trends and cohorts.

Checklist: Investor-Ready in 7 Days

Day 1–2: Problem/Solution narrative; collect proof (quotes, logs, videos).
Day 3: Market model bottoms-up; price-test with 5 targets.
Day 4: Product demo storyboards; record a 90-second screenflow.
Day 5: Competition grid from win/loss notes.
Day 6: Financial plan (18–24 months), hiring, milestone map.
Day 7: Design pass; rehearse the talk track 3×; fix time to ≤12 minutes.

FAQs for Founders

How long should the deck be? 10–14 slides, with an appendix for detail.
Can I change the order? Yes—don’t break the logic: problem → solution → proof → plan → vision.
Do I need a full TAM? Provide a bottoms-up SAM with clear assumptions; include sensitivity.
What if I have little traction? Provide credible leading indicators (activation, POCs, LOIs, design partner feedback).
How visual should it be? Enough to make value obvious; every visual must earn its place.

How Zypsy Helps With Pitch Decks

Pitch deck strategy, narrative, and design: fundraising assets are part of our brand capability set. See our end-to-end capabilities.
Investor readiness sprints: rapid turn on story, visuals, and demo alignment; we routinely pair brand, web, and product to make the pitch concrete (see work: Cortex, Captions, Robust Intelligence, Solo.io).
Design Capital option: select startups can access up to ~$100k of brand/product work via equity instead of cash; learn more in Introducing Design Capital and our investment page.
Ready to start? Contact us to scope your deck package via Contact.

Additional Founder Resources

Brand storytelling for pitches: download the Brand Logo Playbook for Startups.
Explore more founder content on our Insights hub.