If you’re planning to raise funding for your startup, your first essential tool is a pitch deck. But here’s the key thing to remember: a pitch deck alone won’t get you funded. Its real purpose is to secure meetings with angel investors or venture capital (VC) partners.
Creating a pitch deck is more than just putting together 10 slides - it’s about telling a compelling story that captures your startup’s essence and leaves a lasting impression on investors. The challenge is crafting this narrative in a way that resonates with your audience, especially when time is short.
What matters most in entrepreneurship, is that you must have a great pitch - Guy Kawasaki.
Winning over investors requires a pitch that’s clear, passionate, and focused on solving a big, relatable problem. But let’s be real: creating an investment-worthy pitch deck can feel overwhelming - especially if it’s your first time.
To make things easier, I’ve compiled 10 legendary examples of pitch decks from companies like Airbnb, Uber, and Facebook. These decks helped their founders secure funding and eventually reach unicorn valuations.
10 Legendary Pitch Deck Examples
Below, you’ll find inspiring pitch decks from some of the most successful startups. While not all founders share their original decks publicly, the examples provided capture the key elements that impressed investors. They’ve also been ranked based on their popularity using UberSuggest’s Chrome extension.
What’s Covered in Each Pitch Deck?
For each example, I’ve outlined:
The Year, Funding Round, and Amount Raised.
Key Slides, and Elements/Factors that Impressed Investors.
Let's dive in!
1. Airbnb
One of the most referenced pitch decks of all time, Airbnb’s story is a startup success legend, as the most search pitch deck by entrepreneurs, globally.
Image Source: PitchDeckExamples
Here's the Template!
Year: 2009
Funding Round: Seed
Funding Raised: $600,000
Investor/s: Sequoia Capital and Y Ventures
What Impressed the Investors?
A massive market size ($2+ billion).
A simple, clear business model (flat 10% commission).
Unique positioning against competitors.
First-mover advantage, user-friendly design, and the Team.
Brief: When Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk created Airbnb’s pitch deck, they had no prior experience. They modeled their presentation using guidance from a Sequoia Capital template to help them raise $600K from Sequoia Capital and Y Ventures!
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2. Uber
Uber transformed the car-hiring industry, and has become a household name.
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Year: 2010
Funding Round: Seed
Funding Raised: $1.6 Million
Investor/s: First Round Capital, Brian Chesky (Airbnb), and Others.
What Impressed the Investors?
A clear problem statement (inefficiencies in hiring cabs.)
An innovative product (1-click service, 5-minute pickups, along with choice of fleets.)
Easy-to-use technology (Uber app.)
Large market potential ($4.2+ billion.)
Brief: Garrett Camp’s original (this) pitch deck focused on solving a universal problem and showcasing Uber’s potential. At the time, the company was called UberCab.
3. Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is a giant in the startup world, funding companies with a collective market value of $3.3 trillion.
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Brief: This template inspired Airbnb’s pitch deck. It highlights the importance of having a deep understanding of your business, customers, and revenue model.
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4. Facebook
Back in 2004, Facebook (then "thefacebook.com") was just starting its journey to global dominance.
Source: SlideBean
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Year: 2004
Funding Round: Seed
Funding Raised: $500,000
Investor: Peter Thiel
What Impressed the Investors?
A clear target market (15 million college students).
Impressive user engagement and growth metrics.
You may not be generating revenue yet, but if you've a website where 70,000 people are generating 90 Million page views per month, you’re up to the next big thing!
Brief: Eduardo Saverin used this deck - technically a media kit - to secure early funding from Peter Thiel. While Facebook wasn’t generating revenue yet, the data-driven focus on engagement won over investors. In fact, Peter Thiel, the billionaire VC cum entrepreneur, was the first outside investor in Facebook in 2004, with an investment of $500K.
5. WeWork
WeWork revolutionized coworking spaces, though its valuation has faced ups and downs.
Image Source: Slidebean
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Year: 2014
Funding Round: Series D
Funding Raised: $355 Million
Investors: T. Rowe Price, Goldman Sachs, Others
What Impressed the Investors?
A strong company overview (15,000 members generating revenue of $628 each).
A clear value proposition (25% cost savings for users).
Impressive Team & Board.
Brief: Founders used this deck to secure a whopping $355 million Series D funding, valuing the company at $5 billion at the time.
6. LinkedIn
LinkedIn has been the go-to professional networking platform since 2002. It was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 Billion in 2016.
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Year: 2004
Funding Round: Series B
Funding Raised: $10 Million
Investor: Greylock Partners
What Impressed the Investors?
A forward-looking vision (from directories to networks in the Internet 2.0 era).
Impressive Network Effect (900 million users).
Strong adoption metrics (73%).
A clear competitive advantage (entry barriers).
Brief: Reid Hoffman’s pitch deck showed investors LinkedIn’s potential in a growing digital landscape, raising $10 Million Series B funding, back in 2004.
7. YouTube
The platform that redefined online video started with humble beginnings. YouTube was acquired by Google in 2006 for $1.6 billion!
Image Source: Slidebean
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Year: 2005
Funding Round: Series A
Funding Raised: $3.5 Milliion
Investor/s: Sequoia Capital
What impressed the investors?
A clear problem statement (large video files were hard to share).
A big market (growing broadband adoption) + strong metrics.
A strong founding team (former PayPal employees) with a track record of growth.
Brief: Despite its simplicity, YouTube’s pitch deck successfully secured $3.5 Million in Series A funding, giving up 30% equity in the process.
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8. Square
Square turned mobile devices into point-of-sale solutions for businesses.
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Year: 2011
Funding Round: Series C
Funding Raised: $100 Million
Investors: Tiger Global Management and Kleiner Perkins
What Impressed the Investors?
A proven team (ex Google, LinkedIn, PayPal) with top-tier experience.
A massive market opportunity ($214 billion in mobile payments).
Solid data backing their GTM strategy.
Included 'Why Now' and Exit Strategy (55% IRR)
Brief: Square’s deck combined powerful visuals and strong numbers to impress investors and secure $100 million funding in Series C.
9. Mint
Mint simplified personal finance, leading to its acquisition by Intuit for $170 million.
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Year: 2007
Funding Round: Series C
Funding Raised: $14 Million
Investor/s: DAG Ventures and Founder’s Fund.
What Impressed the Investors?
A clear value proposition for users and partners.
Strong alignment with potential acquirers.
Brief: Mint’s pitch deck focused on how the platform saved users money while presenting a strong case for eventual acquisition, securing a $14 million funding in Series C round.
10. Buffer
Buffer helps users manage their social media content seamlessly.
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Year: 2011
Funding Round: Seed
Funding Raised: $500,000
Investors: Various Angels.
What Impressed the Investors?
Impressive traction (800 users growing 40% monthly).
A solid business model.
Large market (burgeoning social media landscape).
Strong team and mentorship.
Brief: Co-founder Leo Widrich shared this deck publicly, which has since become a popular resource for startups.
Conclusion
These 10 legendary pitch decks demonstrate that the key to securing funding lies in telling a compelling, data-driven story. While templates can inspire you, your pitch must be unique to your business and its vision.
Remember, a great pitch is about more than numbers - it’s about showing your passion, your solution’s impact, and your potential to succeed. Use these examples to guide your approach and create a deck that leaves investors eager to join your journey!
Good luck in fundraising!
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Disclaimer: Templates and examples are suppose to only educate you about the investors' expectations, but your story has to be unique which can't be simply copied from templates.
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