Inside the small startup ecosystem, we have a handful of topics that are constantly popping up. Building an effective pitch deck is probably in the top 5 of most talked about matters – as we all know, for a good reason.
There’s tons of guidance online when it comes to creating your own deck and most mentors, accelerators and investors have their own advice to give. However, pitch decks are still a tough topic to discuss. From our own experience coaching over 300 founders into raising €600m+ in Seed to Series B rounds, finding companies that can truly crystallise their value proposition and showcase their information well is extremely hard.
This becomes an even bigger challenge when it comes to building the deck that will get a startup through the stages of a pitch competition.
As proud supporters and sponsors of Podim, we thought we’d put our best tips and recommendations forward to help founders prepare the deck they will use in their application. Take note!
The Hook
A hook to the investor’s brain in a pitch deck is a compelling and memorable element that grabs their attention immediately and makes your startup stand out. Investors see hundreds, if not thousands, of pitches, so a strong hook helps cut through the noise and ensures they remember your business.
The only goal of a pitch deck (or of an elevator pitch, a pitch on stage, etc) is to make investors want to book a meeting with you ASAP. “Hmm, that looks interesting, here’s my card, come and see me”. That’s your one and only goal.
As the founder you need to be asking yourself: how can I hook the audience into wanting to know more?
Here’s a good example of a hook:
“Everyone thinks remote work is the future. But here’s what no one is telling you—it’s actually killing productivity.”
We call this one the “Contrarian Wisdom” hook and it works because it piques curiosity by going against the norm.
Your hook doesn’t have to be contrarian, however. You can find a good hook in your traction, in your team, in technology that performs like magic, in a personal connection you have to that problem…
Here’s another example (the green marks are notes from an investor)
You get the idea.
So in preparing your PODIM pitch, start with the hook. What makes your story special enough to capture the attention of your audience?
Problem/ Solution
This seems to be where founders spend most of their time. We get it, it’s your comfort zone, your reason to have started this business, your exciting idea to disrupt the market. And…. nobody cares. As crazy (and sad) as it may sound, European investors don’t care much about your product. Yup, you read that right. European investors are, in their vast majority, financiers.
Despite the BS you read on well-meaning websites, investors aren’t looking for a vision, mission, character, or founder’s love story. They’re looking for concrete data and numbers. VCs need significant returns on their invested capital, so they will look at your financials first.
That’s right, at the end of the day, VCs are looking for money. Surprise, shock, horror! Who would guess?
Don’t take our word for it, there’s data that proves this:
Financials and team. That’s where they spend their time looking at in your deck. Problem and solution are the bottom two items.
By all means, explain – simply, quickly – the problem you have identified and how you are solving it. But don’t spend too much of your precious time on that.. If an investor is keen to speak more, you will have hour-long meetings just focused on the problem and your product fixing it. Your 3 minute pitch and your initial send deck are not the place for that.
Team
Ok, this one is important. You noticed above, the second thing investors care the most about, especially in the early stages, is your team. Makes sense, right? They need to know if the people behind the business have the skills and the experience to build a business that can go far.
Investors want to know what makes your team special. When I mean special, I mean unique. Quirky. Interesting. Capable. Drop the mugshots and glorified titles and focus on the relevant achievements and big-name firms in the space. What makes this team distinctive, and most importantly, why should anyone invest money in them?
Truth be told, nobody likes a bland team. Focus on the great and weird aspects of your teammates. Explain why they’re awesome. Show different. Awards? CoD winning streaks? Chess weekends? If your team is kind of bland, well, that happens too. Find your USP and play the hand you’re dealt.
Together with the credentials that will ensure your team is more than capable to execute what you’re promising, show that they’re cool human beings. I hope it’s not that hard.
Market
Does your business have the potential for venture-scale growth. You need to answer that.
In simple terms: that means a total addressable market (TAM) of $1B+ or a market large enough to generate significant returns.
What matters when showing market size?
- Clear, structured breakdown → Use TAM, SAM, SOM to make it digestible.
- Big enough for VC? → A total addressable market (TAM) of $1B+ is ideal.
- Realistic & defensible → Investors can spot inflated numbers. Your assumptions need to make sense.
- Relevant to your startup → Show you deeply understand where you fit.
Traction
The holy grail.
In a 3-minute pitch, you have limited time to prove that your startup is not just an idea—it’s gaining momentum. Traction is one of the most critical factors investors look for, as it de-risks the investment and validates market demand.
Since time is short, your traction should be:
➤ Concise – Get straight to the point.
➤ Quantifiable – Use numbers investors can quickly grasp.
➤ Impactful – Highlight growth, market validation, or revenue.
Traction builds credibility so you want to show that as early as you can in your pitch. Definitely don’t leave it to the last few seconds, to rush through in closing. Investors want to know you have a real business, give it to them.
A good tip here is to keep it visual – and by visual I don’t mean putting a screenshot of your financial model. Use graphs or bold numbers.
Instead of just listing numbers, frame them within the journey of your startup, woven the metrics you have into the story you want to portray to investors.
What if I don’t have traction, you ask. Well, traction doesn’t have to be revenue.
Here are a few things that also signal traction:
Revenue Growth (Best Traction)
- “We’ve hit €250K in ARR, growing 30% month-over-month.”
- “In the last 90 days, we’ve doubled our customer base.”
- Graph showing revenue or user growth 📈.
User Adoption & Engagement
- “We have 50,000 users with 10% week-over-week growth.”
- “Users spend an average of 45 min/day on our platform, 2x industry standard.”
- “We have 20 enterprise clients, including X, Y, Z.”
Strategic Partnerships & Industry Validation
- “We’re partnering with [big name brand] to roll out our product in 50+ locations.”
- “Google just invited us to their accelerator—only 1% of applicants got in.”
Sales Pipeline & LOI
- “€500k in LOIs signed from enterprise clients.”
- “Our pipeline has €1.5M in potential contracts from top European companies.”
Product & Tech Progress
- “Our software achieves 85% accuracy, outperforming competitors.”
- “Beta launch in January—we already have 5,000 signups.”
Media & PR
- “Featured in TechCrunch, as one of the ‘Top 10 CEE Startups to Watch’
Ok, you got the basics there. If you follow these recommendations you should be able to build a killer pitch for your Podim application!
General Pointers
But before you jump to work, we have a few more general pointers to help you.
Complexity doesn’t help you → in a 3-min pitch steer away from logic charts, diagrams, tables, too much text or any complex concepts. Your goal is to get that one meeting – or perhaps in this case move forward to the Podim finals! Confusing people won’t help you get there.
One slide = one message → don’t mix up your GTM strategy with your business model with your financials, your ask, your… Each slide should carry one single message. It’s better to have more slides that you go through quickly than to drown your audience in confusion about where to look and what each slide means. “I really liked that startup but I didn’t invest because they had 28 slides instead of 12” – said no investor ever.
Use your titles → titles are the prime real state of your deck, use them to tell a story. From this day onward you are going to vouch to never ever ever again write “The team”, “The problem”, “The financials” at the top of your slides. Ok, go on, promise. Thanks. Instead, make use of that space to tell a story that will give investors enough about your business even if they are just flicking through pages.
Simplify, simplify, simplify → make everything easy to grasp and absorb. Big titles, big fonts, big numbers, logos, pictures and simple visuals are your friends.
Final Thoughts
Building a pitch deck that wins over investors — and in this case, the PODIM selection committee — isn’t about cramming every detail into a few slides. It’s about clarity, impact, and making them want to hear more. Your goal isn’t to explain every nuance of your business in three minutes—it’s to get them curious, excited, and ready to book a meeting.
So keep it sharp. Keep it engaging. Drop the fluff. Focus on what actually matters to investors. If you do it right, your deck won’t just be another submission—it’ll be the one they remember. Now go crush that Podim application.
See you at the next phase!
Fundraising Bootcamp team
