What tools to use for your deck (and which ones to avoid)

There are now so many different tools being used for creating and sharing decks, and after reviewing 250+ decks in the past week, here’s our take on the most frequently used options.

Before we get to the list, it’s worth saying that while your primary focus should of course be on the customer, product and growth, you don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot by making simple mistakes in your deck presentation. Using the wrong tool for your deck can make even a high growth startup look clunky, and behind-the-times.?

Remember, investors are humans! After viewing dozens, if not hundreds of decks, it’s super easy to get bored. Opening a deck that looks polished can instantly add a spark of energy into an investor’s day and get them intrigued, and makes you as a founder look like you know what you’re doing.?

The worst thing you can do is make your deck hard to open. Chances are, unless you’ve come via a warm referral, if you forgot to make your Google Drive link open and investors have to request access, they just are not going to view it and will have forgotten about it by the time your grant them access.

Alright, alright…here is our list:

Canva : The decks usually look great when created via Canva, but make sure when you send it, you don’t share the edit view!

Dropbox DocSend : Docsends are easy to open (yay!) and let you see who is viewing your deck, and what slides are capturing their attention. We know a lot of investors hate founders reviewing their viewing analytics,but this can also be really valuable insights for the founders. If you use Docsend, don’t live and die by the analytics as it can sometimes be misleading, and can make you look a bit mental (sometimes it turns out an investor spent 15 minutes of Slide 5 just because they got a phone call, not because they were analysing your graphs in great detail). Use it, but use it with caution.

SeedLegals : Yes, we’re biassed as we love SeedLegals, but the (free to use) Pitch page makes it ridiculously easy for investors to get the key bits of information they're looking for in just a few glances. You can upload a video pitch, an elevator pitch and your deck to the page meaning you don’t lose out on the opportunity to showcase your brand. Plus, it saves you from having to add all of this to an email to investors.?

trumpet ?? The personalisation is such a superb and elegant feature. We love the Calendly integration, and the option to add the custom voice introduction at the top of the page.

Google Slide: GSlides give us the ick. It rarely looks professional, and mostly ends up looking like it’s an old deck from the early 2000s. Sure, it’s what’s on the inside that matters, but it’s hard to feel inspired by a deck that looks drab.

PDFs: Yes, some investors love it. For us, when we’re reviewing so many decks at once, it’s a nightmare. Having so many open PDFs on your computer does not make for a happy Mac, let alone a happy investor!

Notion : We’ve seen an increase in founders using Notion as a home base for all funding-related materials. It’s a sleek way to show investors you’ve thought about all the little details. The only downside is that it can get a bit wordy, and doesn’t give you as many opportunities to showcase your branding. If you choose to use Notion, use it in addition to sharp, stunning deck.

AI Tools like Beautiful.AI: Hey, if it makes your deck look nice and saves you time, we’re in! If you want to hide the fact you used an AI designer, put it in a Docsend link (to keep the mystery alive…)

A few bonus tips and things to avoid:

• Inconsistent numbers: Information provided in an email or a form need to match what is on the deck. Especially with revenue stats. It makes you look less trustworthy if there are inconsistencies. Ensure stats are up-to-date, always.
• Lack of clarity with revenue. Know the difference between revenue and MRR. They are not the same, and you’ll create disappointment with investors who will find out quickly that the ￡10k MRR is actually just revenue, when they may have actually been excited about the ￡10k revenue.
• Do not have more than 15 slides in your deck. 10-12 is ideal, anything more than that get’s way too long, and an investor will likely lose interest. Remember, the goal of the deck is to get a follow up meeting, so you are not expected to share every bit of info in just 12 slides.

Want a free deck review? Shoot us an email for a 20 minute pitch practice session with us (obvs free!)