Your first slide is obviously important for a pitch deck; first impressions count, and a thorough introduction will go a long way. It seems founders often forget that the last slide is just as important.
There’s a simple reason for this: investors easily look at hundreds of slide decks per month and it’s hard to remember them all. Sure, startup names are often catchy and self-explanatory (Lyft, DoorDash), but it’s hard to remember that Orange refers to a car charging company, not the fruit. Companies often receive concise summaries of the companies they work with. In Orange’s case, it could be, “You know, the company that puts chargers in apartment buildings.” Everyone around the table says, “Aaaah, yes,” and the conversation continues.
As a founder, you have the opportunity to influence how someone summarizes your company. The way to do that is to reinforce your message on the first and last slide. What is a good abbreviation for your business? Are you Dollar Shave Club for underwear? Are you Turo for caravans? Are you Freshbooks for aircraft ownership? Well, those are all handy abbreviations – but you can also get more creative!
You need a closing slide
When pitching, you start with your best stuff first and go from there. The last slides are generally where you show weaknesses. If you don’t have a closing slide, your biggest weaknesses can remain on screen as you talk to investors and answer questions. As you can see, that’s not a great way to get the pump going, and you end up being grilled about your finances, team, go-to-market, or whatever else you added at the end of the game as an afterthought. Instead, set yourself up for success with a good closing slide. Remind your audience who you are and what your company is about to do.
In this story, we dive into the 45+ pitch deck teardowns done so far, and pull out some of the closing slides from our library of pitch deck samples. Top Tip: It’s 100% worth subscribing to TC+ just to see these teardowns and our incredible library of pitch advice. But then again, I wrote most of it, and I’m biased. Still. Subscribe. Continue. It will be the best handful of dollars you spend this year, I promise.
Some examples of closing slides that work
Alto’s final slide. Image credits: Pharmacy Alto
Alto raised $200 million to make a better pharmacy. Choosing to end with a slide that inspires rather than casts a shadow on conversations is one thing. But choosing the succinct “a better pharmacy” rounds out the slide to make it an A+. Watch the teardown of the entire pitch deck.
