It's a good exercise for any startup to make a "pitch deck" where you tell a great story.

First, consider Guy Kawasaki's video of the 10/20/30 Rule:

10 slides, 20 minutes, 30pt+ font size

Then, check out these resources:

• Five Magic Slides

• VentureHacks on Startup Pitch Decks

• Mint.com's pre-launch pitch deck

• Dave McClure's sample pitch deck

• Gates, Jobs, and the Zen aesthetic

• Fred Wilson, Six Killer Slides

• It's not the tool; it's the user.

It's also helpful to remember that the purpose of a pitch meeting is to get another meeting. But that's fodder for another Convo.

Feel free to suggest more startup pitch resources here...

I recently created some resources for entrepreneurs, including a pitch deck that aggregates some of the best pitch decks into one, and provides insight from some of the top accelerators, angels, and VCs:

The "Best" Startup Pitch Deck & How To Present to Angels / VCs: http://www.slideshare.net/Sky7777/the-best-startup-pitch-deck-how-to-present-to-angels-v-cs

Top 10 Lies Entrepreneurs Tell Investors: http://www.slideshare.net/Sky7777/top-10-lies-entrepreneurs-tell-investors

Financial Model for Capital Raises: http://onematchventures.com/various-rounds-of-investment-effecting-ownership-waterfall-analysis-and-irr-return-multiple-analysis/

Thanks, Sky. I added your links to the Best Startup Pitch Decks page too:

http://pandawhale.com/post/23261/best-startup-pitch-decks

Also, remember that you do NOT go through the deck when you meet the funder! Meet first, look them in the eye, and decide whether you want to send a deck afterwards.

The VentureHacks article says it's okay to send a deck before a meeting. Do you agree?

I'd recommend not sending the deck ahead of the meeting. I'd meet, judge the fit and whether you trust the funder and go from there...

There are plenty of people who insist on a slide deck ahead of a meeting.

But I agree with you, Justin. In an era of 50 coffee meetings, the first meeting is almost always about chemistry instead of content.

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-Garr Reynolds. It's all about Garr Reynolds. You have a post from him up there but his site is a great great resource: http://www.presentationzen.com/

-One of the greatest presentations ever. Hans Rosling: http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html and you too can use the software he did to assemble this amazing piece: http://www.gapminder.org/

-Here are the best TED talks, ranked by users: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?hl=en&key=tWri7T3f4Ex6-uVU8i9-FFQ&hl=en#gid=0

I don't know if it can be considered a startup pitch resource, but can come in handy: I am very fond of the book Even a Geek can Speak. It boils down the details of giving great presentations. And it does. I also read Back of the Napkin, but I found it extremely shallow (although a person I respect a lot, Sacha Chua likes it)

Thanks Justin, I found the Amazon links for Even a Geek can Speak and Back of the Napkin.

I also like Dan Roam's variation on Back of the Napkin. His point is simple: Emphasize storytelling.

That's really what the most compelling TED Talks do as well.

An update to the concept of the Startup Pitch Deck is the 4-slide deck:

http://pandawhale.com/post/41596/how-to-craft-a-concise-pitch-investors-will-care-about-by-bing-gordon

1. Imagine a world where....2. Here's how we get there...3. Known obstacles to overcome4 The pot of gold5 Why our team is awesome6 Routing number for investment

http://avc.com/2010/06/six-slides/

That's good! And number 6 is awesome.