Startup Pitch Decks that raised over $400M | Hacker News Reader

Startup Pitch Decks that raised over $400M

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52 pointsyarapavan8 comments

It's a silly headline, implying that Powerpoint wizardry was the primary factor behind the raise. I suspect that companies with growth metrics like these could walk in with pitch decks that look like chicken scratch, or none at all, and get the same investment.

Absolutely AGREE. In fact, I think the establishment (VCs, Angels, Media, wannabes?) should stop feeding the illusion that this stuff matters in anything but marginal cases.

The commenter below who asked for a network graph is suggesting something that could put this debate on solid factual footing

It's like peacock plumage, the biggest, strongest bird is still going to "win" but you gotta look good doing it. Or yell at an intern to whip up some slides.

For those who wanted a look at which decks raised large amounts of money, the two you're concerned with are

WeWork (355mm series D): https://attach.io/startup-pitch-decks/#wework

and

Mixpanel (65mm Series B): https://attach.io/startup-pitch-decks/#mixpanel

I'd rather see the network graph between the founders and investors/advisors than a pitch deck. Decks are formalities only.

What resources are available to help construct a network graph of the company at the time of the raise? This could be the evidentiary footing necessary to finally end the ridiculous harping on pitch decks.

What does become important is the founding team's ability to attract those names. And here we can derive a metric for what matters in a start-up CEO.

Not sure. I think Crunchbase and Mattermark are the only ones actively collecting that kind of information in a consolidated way. Any public data on founders would be highly biased toward founders with the drive to put a lot out about themselves publicly or are already well known.

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