Order map

Where each section sits in a deck. A cell shows the share of decks that have that section at that slide; rows run in the order sections usually first appear.

Decks compared170with every slide listed

Median length13 slidesmiddle half 10–18, before any appendix

Team slideslide 10median position; 89% of decks have one

Ask slide42%of decks have one, usually at slide 14

All decks

170 decks with a full slide list

Slide	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	21+
Cover	98%
Problem			38%
Vision & summary		20%
Solution					26%
Why now				8%
Product							25%
Market					12%
Traction								17%
Business model									6%
Competition						8%
Go-to-market										5%
Team		15%
Financials											2%
Roadmap									4%
Ask										5%
Closing												10%

Scroll sideways to see later slides.

0%38% or more of decks have this section at this slide.The figure in each row marks its most common position.

Section by section

How common each section is, where it usually first appears, and what reading data says about it.

SectionDecks that have itFirst appearsWhat investors' reading shows

Coverslide 198%Readers spend about 23 seconds on the first page, and the biggest drop-off in a deck is between slides 1 and 2. Papermark, 2024 and 2026
Solutionslide 491%No published figure.
Teamslide 1089%The most-read slide in two datasets: about 46 seconds in early-stage decks, and investors spent 30% more time on pre-seed team slides in 2024 than the year before. DocSend, 2021–2024
Productslide 686%More time here is not a good sign: in 2019 data, failed seed decks drew four times as long on product slides as successful ones. DocSend via TechCrunch, 2019
Problemslide 382%No published figure.
Marketslide 674%Investors spend 30–40 seconds on market sections, and say the approach to the number matters more than the number. DocSend investor panel, 2022
Tractionslide 869%No published figure.
Closingslide 1465%No published figure.
Vision & summaryslide 354%No published figure.
Competitionslide 1053%Time on competition slides rose from about 35 to about 53 seconds between 2019 and 2020; 70% of funded pre-seed decks had one against 35% of unfunded. DocSend, 2021–22
Business modelslide 944%Funded pre-seed decks placed the business model around fourth; unfunded decks placed it around tenth. DocSend, 2023
Askslide 1442%Fewer than half of readers reach the last slide, which is where the ask usually sits. Papermark, 2026
Roadmapslide 1336%No published figure.
Why nowslide 535%Funded pre-seed decks put "why now" near the start; almost half of unfunded decks left it out or placed it around eighth. DocSend, 2023
Go-to-marketslide 1034%No published figure.
Financialsslide 1317%No published figure.