Pitch deck outline

10–12 slides for a science-to-startup pitch. Fill each section with 1–2 sentences or bullets.

Slide 1 — Title
Company name, tagline, one-line thesis

What does the company do in one sentence?

Slide 2 — Problem
Who has the pain? What is the cost of inaction?

Anchor in a real customer or market failure. Use numbers if possible.

Slide 3 — Solution
What you build and why it works

Connect to the research or IP. One clear value proposition.

Slide 4 — Why now
Market timing, tech readiness, regulatory or adoption tailwinds

Why couldn’t this have been built (or sold) 3 years ago?

Slide 5 — Market size
TAM / SAM / SOM with sources

Bottom-up preferred. Show your beachhead and expansion path.

Slide 6 — Product / demo
What it looks like — screenshot, workflow, or live demo

Focus on outcome, not features. One “aha” moment.

Slide 7 — Business model
How you make money (pricing, units, margins)

Be specific: who pays, how much, and why they’ll keep paying.

Slide 8 — Traction
Metrics, pilots, letters of intent, early revenue

Even early signals (e.g. waitlist, LOI) show momentum.

Slide 9 — Competition
Alternatives and your differentiator (2×2 or table)

Acknowledge incumbents; stress why you win on speed, cost, or quality.

Slide 10 — Team
Founders and key hires — relevant expertise and credibility

Why this team can execute on this idea. Include research/commercial mix.

Slide 11 — Ask
Round size, use of funds, milestones for this round

Tie dollar amount to 12–18 month milestones (e.g. first revenue, key hire).

Slide 12 — Thank you / contact
Name, email, calendly or next step

ScienceToStartup — Resources · sciencetostartup.com