SaaS Pitch Deck: A Guide to Winning Investors

Professional investors, like venture capitalists and angel investors, can unlock the doors to exponential growth for your SaaS business. 

With the potential for huge investment, ideas to optimize your product, and connections to influential networks, investors can determine your business's success. 

Whether this is your only funding round, your seed round, or you've progressed through multiple funding rounds, the right pitch deck can be the difference in winning over top-tier investors. 

As a SaaS SEO agency, we’ll help you build the perfect pitch deck and showcase real-life examples of how great SaaS companies have done it. 

What We'll Cover:

What is a SaaS Pitch Deck?

A SaaS pitch deck is a brief presentation that gives an overview of your business plan, products, services, market opportunity, and growth trajectory. Its primary function is to convince potential investors or clients to invest in your business.

It is a crucial tool for startups or established SaaS companies to seek funding or attract potential stakeholders.

Your pitch presents investors with an idea that captivates them and leaves them eager to engage further. While securing funding is not a one-step process, a good pitch deck can help you quickly advance to the next stage.

10 Essential Elements to Include in Your SaaS Pitch Deck

The main goal of a pitch deck is to show potential investors what your company is doing now and how successful it will be in the future. While pitch decks have a basic structure, the items covered will vary depending on the funding round.

But here are ten elements that you must include. 

#1 Introduction 

The first slide of your pitch deck should introduce your SaaS brand or company. Instead of going for a lengthy description, keep it short and straightforward. 

You can even ask a question to get your audience to engage with the pitch deck. Here’s an example to introduce a productivity tool. 

Can you guess how many hours you lose because of inefficient processes? Then, introduce the statistic and the solution – your SaaS tool. 

SaaS companies' most popular approach is introducing their tool in one line. For example, “We help manage your team’s projects” or “We help make videos in 30 seconds.” 

Here’s a real-life example from Front. 

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#2 The Problem

Once you have introduced your SaaS company, tell them what problem it’s solving. In this slide, you can highlight real-life scenarios that resonate with the target audience and gently guide them toward the problem. 

You can answer the following questions: 

• What is the problem?
• How big is it (i.e., how many people/demographics does it affect?
• What kind of people are affected by this problem?
• How big is the opportunity in the niche?

Instead of being too descriptive, keep the text focused and brief. Here’s how DropBox did it for its first-ever pitch deck. 

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You can even use statistics that further point out that the problem you’re solving is large/important. 

#3 The Solution 

The next slide introduces how your SaaS product solves the identified problem, emphasizing its unique selling points. In other words, show why your SaaS solution resolves the identified pain points. 

After observing many pitch decks, one unique approach we love is this: Introduce the different solutions to the current problem and explain why yours is the best. Doing this shows the investors that you have adequately researched your market and demonstrates your thought process behind the SaaS tool. 

While doing this, ensure you don’t overwhelm the audience with large paragraphs of text. 

Here’s how Heyday did it. They discuss two existing solutions and how their tool combines both pros.

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#4 Market Insights 

Including market insights shows an awareness of where your company will likely be in some time and the strategies you will need to adopt to get there. If you want to convince investors, they will want to see the potential of your product—so show them!

Include data on;

• Market growth
• Market size
• Total addressable market (TAM)
• How it is projected to grow in the coming years 

Visual elements such as charts and graphs are best used to present insights in an engaging and visually appealing manner.

An excellent example of this slide comes from Moz, which shows how much it has captured and what it plans to capture in the future. 

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#5 Competitive Landscape 

This slide is an excellent opportunity for you to showcase how you’re different from your competitors and why investing in your company would be a safe bet.

Here are some questions you can answer with this slide: 

• Who are our direct and indirect competitors?
• Where do we place ourselves within the competitive landscape?
• What makes us different? Or why would people choose us over others?
• What are some factors/features/functionalities that are there in our SaaS tool but missing in others?

Instead of just telling you’re the best, this slide can do a great job of showing why you’re the best. 

Here’s how Aircall showcased its competitive landscape. 

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#6 Product Showcase 

This slide is the main part of your pitch deck. You introduce your product and demonstrate why it’s important. 

Here’s what you can show with this slide: 

• How does it solve the user’s problem?
• The main features/benefits
• The areas you focus on
• Your product’s ease of use or UI with a short demo or screenshots

Instead of being too technical, portray some real-life use cases that are easy to understand and explain everything your product can do. 

Here’s how Cedar starts showcasing its product in a simple, visual style. 

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#7 Revenue Model

The revenue model provides quick insight into your SaaS business’s pricing strategy and financial plan. During initial rounds, it gives investors an idea of what customers would be willing to pay to reap the software's benefits and how you plan to generate revenue. 

You can also showcase any additional services that are important to the revenue model and touch on your business model. 

If you’re preparing a pitch deck for a seed round or later rounds of funding, use historical pricing and revenue data to explain any price increase or the impact your product or feature upgrades have brought to your financials or enterprise customers. 

Here’s how Zestful does it.

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#8 Team Introduction and Contact Information 

One reason your SaaS company is incredible could be the people working on it. This slide is an excellent way to showcase the important members of your team—like your product or marketing teams—and their qualifications, including some stellar companies they worked for, achievements in their field, and awards. 

This slide is significant for SaaS companies trying to secure Seed and Series A funding rounds. Investors most often make a bet on your product idea and your team.

Here’s a fun and engaging introduction by Dropbox. 

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#9 Traction and Milestones 

This slide should showcase all the milestones you have achieved and how your company has grown over the years. It's vital to show investors that investing in your company is not too risky and that you will remain profitable or become profitable in the coming years. 

It could show; 

• The number of sales you’ve made
• The revenue growth you have achieved
• Any significant goals you have achieved
• The growing number of users/subscribers
• Conversion rates
• That you have a low churn rate
• The number of feature updates or UI updates you have made
• The growth in margins

Here’s how Mixpanel shows their MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) growing over time. 

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#10 Funding Ask 

Before you finish your presentation, remember to tell investors the amount you’re looking to raise and what you’ll use that amount for. 

Link that amount to specific needs such as new product features, marketing, or expansion.

Be clear and transparent here about how the funds will be utilized. Some companies also give a detailed breakdown of how they plan to invest the entire amount in different areas, which builds trust and lets the investor take your ask seriously. 

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Bonus: Incorporate SEO into Your Pitch  

SEO is essential in your SaaS pitch deck because it shows that your SaaS company can drive target traffic to your software at much less cost than paid ad campaigns. Businesses must develop a strategic SEO campaign that shows potential investors they can get their software in front of the right customers. 

Remember, investors are highly critical about how you spend their funding. They wouldn't want to hear that you plan to blow their investment on paid ad campaigns, which only last a specific timeframe. 

However, proving to them that your website has a sound SEO (ideally a healthy ranking) will show that you've already built authority in your industry.

Launch your SEO campaign today and read our SEO blog for the latest tips and tricks! 

Tips for Creating a Compelling SaaS Investor Deck

These are the top tips to ensure your pitch deck secures the financing you need.

• Clearly state your mission and vision: When introducing your company, state your mission, vision and how you differentiate yourself in the market. Doing this also shows them your long-term goals for your business and the value you intend to provide your target audience. This information helps investors understand if they share your vision and if your company aligns with their investment objectives.
  
  
• Lead with your strengths: Determine your company's greatest strengths and use them to attract investment. Perhaps your business has experienced exponential growth since its launch, or industry experts rate you as the top content marketing platform. Whatever your strengths are, leverage them to engage investors in your pitch deck and convince them to fund your product.
  
  
• Tell a story: Your pitch deck must tell a cohesive story, first outlining the problem your buyers face and then introducing your product as the solution.
  
  
• Keep it simple: There is much information to get through in your pitch deck, so you must keep it as straightforward as possible. Avoid loads of complicated data and industry jargon. Maintain a conversational tone and unpack concepts like you're speaking to people who have no idea what you're talking about because not all potential investors are industry experts.
  
  
• Invest in professional design: A professional must create Your sales deck using high-quality content and attractive images. It's imperative to include your branding and logo so investors can experience your brand and how you make a mark in the industry. 

Top 5 Examples of a Winning SaaS Pitch Strategy

Learning from real-life examples of successful pitch decks can be as inspiring as talking to a successful SaaS startup.  

Here are five SaaS pitch examples that you can learn from. 

#1 Mattermark 

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Mattermark provides a search engine like Google that informs SaaS companies and investors about other companies.  

Details of the company: 

• Industry: Analytics, Big Data, Machine Learning, IT, Software 
• Customer: B2B 

Details of the pitch deck: 

• Year: 2014 
• Round: Series A funding
• Amount raised: $6.5M 

What can you learn from this pitch deck? 

• Make the correct use of data graphs and provide information in an easy-to-digest manner.
• Use numbers to make your case strong.
• If this is your initial round of funding, demonstrate your team's expertise to build trust in your SaaS company.

#2 Launchrock 

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Launchrock helps you build a custom launch site in minutes to capture early users and supercharge your marketing efforts. 

Details of the company: 

• Industry: Advertising, Marketing, Analytics, Software 
• Customer: B2B 

Details of the pitch deck: 

• Year: 2011 
• Round: Seed funding
• Amount raised: $800K 

What can you learn from this pitch deck? 

• The first few slides should be interactive and engaging. You can build suspense, ask questions, or tell a real-life story.
• Don’t make your slides too content-heavy. Keep them simple and brief, using bullet points and visuals wherever possible.
• Attach screenshots to show instead of tell.

#3 Intercom 

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Intercom offers an AI customer service solution that combines an AI chatbot, help desk, and proactive support to keep costs low and provide better customer satisfaction.

Details of the company: 

• Industry: Marketing, Customer Service, Productivity, AI, Software 
• Customer: B2B 

Details of the pitch deck: 

• Year: 2012 
• Round: Seed funding
• Amount raised: $600K 

What can you learn from this pitch deck? 

• Keep your pitch deck as short as possible. Don’t overstuff information when you can portray everything in a few slides.
• Showcase customer testimonials or reviews of famous CEOs or influencers in your niche.
• Be as genuine as possible with the numbers and your funding request.

#4 Buffer 

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Buffer is a social media management tool that helps you increase engagement and grow your brand’s profiles on different social media platforms.

Details of the company: 

• Industry: Marketing, Social Media, Productivity, Analytics, Software 
• Customer: B2B 

Details of the pitch deck: 

• Year: 2011 
• Round: Seed funding
• Amount raised: $500K 

What can you learn from this pitch deck? 

• Use quotes from famous personalities and then build your case.
• Use statistics about how your tool has benefited your audience.
• Share details about milestones, competitive landscape, and your niche in one slide each. Compress the information instead of stretching it. 

#5 Moz 

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Moz is an SEO tool that helps businesses increase traffic, rankings, and visibility in search results. It offers multiple SEO products under its platform. 

Details of the company: 

• Industry: SEO, Marketing, Productivity, Analytics, Software 
• Customer: B2B 

Details of the pitch deck: 

• Year: 2012 
• Round: Series B funding
• Amount raised: $18M 

What can you learn from this pitch deck? 

• If you’re applying for a later funding round, showcase your history and milestones in a visually appealing format.
• Showcase economic trends that benefit your business.
• Show how you have used your funds till now to build transparency and trust.

Create Effective SaaS Pitch Decks and Secure Investors Today

A powerful pitch deck can help SaaS businesses raise capital and achieve greater success and growth. 

While there are many elements to include in your SaaS pitch, ensure it is honest, transparent, and true to your brand. Once you keep these in mind and combine them with all the elements discussed in this guide, you can supercharge your way to the next funding round. 

Ready to get your SEO campaign started and boost your pitch deck performance? Contact MADX Digital today.