Pitch deck: what Indian investors look for

A pitch deck explains your startup to an investor.
Aim for 12 to 16 slides, then an appendix.

Starter includes one pitch deck review a year.

What each slide must show

These are the 16 slides our deck review checks, in order. Every line comes from its rubric.

Slide	What it must show	What we mark down
1. Title	Must show Say what you do in one line on the title slide Rewrite the one-liner in plain words Add your contact details (from pre-seed) Put a date on the deck (from seed)	Marked down The tagline is category jargon with no plain meaning
2. Problem	Must show Name who has the problem Put a cost on the problem Say how customers solve it today Back the problem with customer evidence (from pre-seed)	Marked down The problem is described as affecting everyone
3. Why Now	Must show Name the outside change that makes this possible now Put a year on that change (from seed) Say why the window will close (from seed)	Marked down "Because AI" used as the entire why-now
4. Solution	Must show Answer the problem point for point Explain how the product works State the customer's result in numbers	Marked down The slide is a list of features
5. Product	Must show Show a real screenshot of the product Make the screenshot large enough to read Point out what matters on the screenshot (from seed)	Marked down A mockup or stock illustration stands in for the product
6. Market size	Must show Size the market bottom-up Show TAM, SAM and SOM (from pre-seed) Give each market figure a source and a year (from pre-seed) Name the segment you win first	Marked down "1% of a huge market" sizingCritical TAM is inflated by including adjacent markets you do not serve
7. Business model	Must show State your price Name who pays Define your unit of sale State your gross margin (from seed) Show CAC and payback (from Series A)	Marked down A revenue model with no price in itCritical
8. Traction	Must show Show the numbers behind each percentage Show a metric month by month (from pre-seed) Label the traction chart's axes and units (from pre-seed) Show retention or repeat purchases (from seed) State your revenue (from Series A)	Marked down Growth shown as a percentage with no absolute base Vanity metrics stand in for real ones
9. Go to market	Must show Name your main sales channel State what the channel costs (from seed) Show customers the channel has already brought (from seed)	Marked down Channels listed as generic categories
10. Competition	Must show Name your real competitors Add the status quo as a competitor Say where competitors are better than you	Marked down A feature matrix where only your column has ticksCritical "We have no competition"Critical
11. Moat	Must show Name the mechanism behind your moat Say why the moat grows with scale (from seed) Show early evidence the moat works (from Series A)	Marked down The moat is a list of adjectives First-mover advantage claimed as the moat
12. Team	Must show Say why this team wins this problem Show what each founder did, not just where Name the gaps in your team (from pre-seed) Say who is full-time (from pre-seed)	Marked down Advisor logos in place of operator history
13. Financials	Must show State the assumptions behind your numbers State your burn and runway Shorten the projection to suit your stage	Marked down A hockey stick with no assumptions behind it A multi-year P&L at pre-seed
14. The ask	Must show State how much you are raising Name the instrument (from seed) Break down the use of funds Tie the raise to a milestone	Marked down The ask buys runway rather than a milestone
15. Vision	Must show State your vision in one sentence Show the path from today to the vision (from seed)	Marked down The vision slide restates the market size
16. Appendix	Must show Add an appendix	Marked down Nothing. It is optional at every stage.

Misses tagged critical cost the most points.

Across the whole deck, we also check:

Bring the main deck to 12 to 16 slides
Cut every slide to 60 words or fewer
Add more concrete figures
Turn your numbers into charts
Make the body text large enough to read
Put the slides in the order readers expect

What changes with your stage

Our review judges your deck at your own stage. A slide can be required, expected or optional.

Every stage needs Title, Problem, Solution, Market size and Team.
From pre-seed, add Business model and The ask.
From seed, add Why Now, Product, Traction and Competition.
From Series A, add Go to market, Moat and Financials.
Leave Financials out at idea stage and pre-seed.

A missing required or expected slide scores zero. A missing optional slide costs nothing.

How the free review works

Sign up free and answer the quick start questions.
Upload your deck as a PDF, up to 20 MB.
We read every page and match it to a slide.
Each slide is checked against your stage.
You get a score out of 100, with a band.
Each fix in your plan shows the points it is worth.
Your plan orders the fixes by when to make them.
If we cannot read enough pages, you get the review back.

Score my deck free

Questions founders ask

What is a pitch deck?

A pitch deck is a short set of slides about your startup. It explains the problem, your answer and your raise. You send it to investors before you meet.

How many slides should a pitch deck have?

Aim for 12 to 16 slides in the main deck. Keep each slide to 60 words or fewer. Move extra detail to an appendix.

Which slides does an early stage deck need?

At every stage: Title, Problem, Solution, Market size and Team. From pre-seed, add Business model and The ask. From seed, add Why Now, Product, Traction and Competition.

Should a pre-seed deck have financial projections?

No. Our rubric leaves Financials out at idea stage and pre-seed. Show your burn and runway instead. From seed, show 18 months and the assumptions behind them.

Is the deck review really free?

Yes. Starter includes one pitch deck review a year. Pro and Max include more. You need a free account to upload.