Pitch decks are ugly — I made a free tool to make yours shine.

Matty Brownell
3 min readApr 20, 2023

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Founders lack the design knowledge and resources to effectively design their pitch decks. As a startup brand designer, I see it firsthand.

It‘s not their fault — design costs money and it’s hard to justify its value at an early stage. Instead, we see slides jam-packed with stats and paragraphs of text. Is it all really necessary?

Here’s the proven truth: The design of your pitch deck will determine the success of your pitch.

Investors see design as a reflection of the founder

I’ve worked alongside top VC firms over my career, and they all say the same thing:

Today’s investors care more about you and your brand than your product.

Yet founders still focus more on what they are presenting vs. how it’s being presented.

The “how” is your competitive advantage. It’s the hook that can make investors fall in love with you. Is your story clear and easy to grasp? Can it keep investors’ attention?

Just as you would determine what to wear for your pitch, a well-designed deck gives investors an idea of who you are and how you see the world. It shows the care and intention put behind every slide.

Our Idea

Pitch Deck Builder

Seeing this missed opportunity time and time again, I decided to build a tool that is both easy and accessible for founders.

Designed for Google Slides, the Pitch Deck Builder is a free tool to organize and design the perfect pitch deck.

It’s packed with helpful tips and editable layouts of key slide types.

Here are just a few examples:

Title
Problem
Solution
Product
Market

The template is intended as a starting point. When you’re ready, our expert designers are here to elevate your layouts with a unique and professional brand. See some of our work here.

My hope is that this can be a useful resource to every founder. Let me know your thoughts 🙌.

Download the free Pitch Deck Builder (no email needed!)

Matty Brownell is the founder of ONTO, a branding agency focused on helping startups get seen, funded, and scaled. hello@weareonto.com.

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Matty Brownell
Matty Brownell

Written by Matty Brownell

Branding, AI, healthcare. Founder of weareonto.com and co-founder of havenhealth.care

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