What Forum Ventures looks for in a pitch deck

Problem

A real, painful, expensive problem for a clearly defined customer, validated by customer discovery where the same problems surface unprompted across many conversations — not opinions or polite feedback.

“Is this a real, painful, and expensive problem for the right customer?” — Idea Validation and Customer Discovery: A B2B Founder Playbook

“You are not looking for opinions. You are looking for patterns that repeat without prompting.” — Idea Validation and Customer Discovery: A B2B Founder Playbook

“Customer discovery is a system, not a single conversation” — Idea Validation and Customer Discovery: A B2B Founder Playbook

“Show them how your company has identified a gap in the market and aims to solve it with an innovative product or service.” — Jonah Midanik

Solution

An innovative solution to a clearly identified gap — but don't over-explain the product. At pre-seed they want the market, vision, and team to come through more than a deep product walkthrough.

“Don't over-explain your product. VCs need only a few things to make a decision on whether they want to meet with you: Your market environment, your vision and your team.” — Pitch Decks that Raise Guide

“The key to success in any venture is identifying an issue that needs attention and finding a viable solution.” — Jonah Midanik

“Design matters. First impressions with customers and investors make a big difference” — Mike Cardamone

Market size

A clearly and believably $1B+ market, framed bottom-up around the specific reachable segment rather than an inflated TAM. They want to believe a $1B+ business can be built that matches the founder's vision.

“Market: Must be clearly and believably $1B+ at a minimum” — Pitch Decks that Raise Guide

“Don't define the market as big as possible. Instead, focus on your targeted, reachable market. The more specific you are, the more realistic your pitch will be.” — Jonah Midanik

“Use this slide to expand on who your ideal customer is and how many of them there are. What is the total market size and how do you position your company in the market?” — Jonah Midanik

“They have to believe in your thesis / vision that 'there will be a $1B+ business'” — Jonah Midanik

Traction

Evidence of execution and market/product validation — user growth, revenue, partnerships, or product milestones — with every claim backed by proof. Validation that customers ask for pilots, pricing, or timelines counts as much as hard numbers at pre-seed.

“Showcase your successes so far, such as user growth, revenue, partnerships, or product milestones. This demonstrates your ability to execute and helps build credibility with investors.” — The Essential Guide to Creating a Compelling B2B SaaS Pitch Deck

“They ask about pilots, pricing, or timelines” — Idea Validation and Customer Discovery: A B2B Founder Playbook

“If you say it, prove it. VCs hear a lot of wild claims.” — Jonah Midanik

“31% of respondents reported that founders must demonstrate market and product validation” — The State of the Pre-seed and Seed VC Market - 2024

Team

An exceptional founding team and tight founder-market fit — the single most weighted factor. They have to think you're great and believe you're the perfect founder for this specific problem.

“Team: They have to think that you're great.” — Pitch Decks that Raise Guide

“you need to be the perfect founder for the problem you're solving” — Jonah Midanik

“my top priority from the very beginning was to over-index on founder experience” — Mike Cardamone

“Include key management and expand on their history, educational background, skills, and their specific role in the company.” — Jonah Midanik

Business model

A credible path to $100M in revenue within seven years — the deck exists to prove that trajectory. Financial projections are not required at the first pre-seed meeting, but the revenue logic must hold up.

“A successful pitch deck is a clear, concise story that tells any potential investor why you and your team are building a company that is going to get to $100M in revenue within 7 years.” — Pitch Decks that Raise Guide

“Competition" and "Financial projections" are listed as unnecessary for the first pre-seed meeting” — Jonah Midanik

“Focus on sales and customer conversations early and often.” — Mike Cardamone

Competition

Not required at the first pre-seed meeting, but founders should understand their right to win. Forum explicitly lists competition among the slides you don't need to nail to earn a first meeting.

“What you DON'T necessarily need at the first meeting for a pre-seed investment: 1. Competition” — Pitch Decks that Raise Guide

“Competition" and "Financial projections" are listed as unnecessary for the first pre-seed meeting” — Jonah Midanik

“Figure out your right to win and lean into that” — Mike Cardamone

Why now

A clear articulation of how the market will evolve over the next 5-10 years and why this is the moment — timing and market environment are among the few things they decide on before taking a meeting.

“See into the future. Make sure you can clearly articulate how your market will evolve over the next 5-10 years” — Lessons from investing in 100 B2B SaaS companies

“VCs need only a few things to make a decision on whether they want to meet with you: Your market environment, your vision and your team.” — Jonah Midanik

“Our thesis for all three remains industry agnostic within the B2B SaaS space; however, we are excited about a few specific areas” — Mike Cardamone

The ask

A deck that works as a self-contained story told up front, since VCs spend under three minutes reading it. Run the raise like a sales process and put the strongest material first.

“VCs spend < 3 minutes reading a deck.” — Pitch Decks that Raise Guide

“A deck is not a collection of disjointed pieces of information – it's a story.” — Jonah Midanik

“Treat fundraising like a sales process.” — Mike Cardamone

“my top priority from the very beginning was to over-index on founder experience”

“A deck is not a collection of disjointed pieces of information – it's a story.”