UEV Templates for Hackathon and Pitch Events
Suggested pre-requisite: Complete the Quick Pitch template. This will be much easier.
At this point, we think it’s a bit of a waste of time to stylize and build your own pitch decks if you aren’t a designer. As such, this template isn’t a PowerPoint. It’s a template prompt you can use with any number of automated AI systems to quickly generate and then refine your deck. If you are an exceptional and highly efficient designer and choose to do it manually, you can still use this prompt as guidance for the copy sections.
There are hundreds of templates for pitch deck slides and ordering, here’s one we like:
Title Slide (intro)
Attention Grabber
Problem
Solution & Differentiator
Case Study (optional)
Team
Revenue
Market Sizing and Targeting
Competition
GTM & Projections
Milestones and Evidence (depending on stage, this may be optional)
Opportunity and Ask
Building the Prompt
Typically, if you’re using a specialized system like Gamma.app or equivalent, you don’t need to explain what you want, you just provide the copy and instructions. That said, it’s helpful to use a generalized LLM (Like ChatGPT or Gemini) first to help you refine the copy. We suggest the following sequence:
Start by going through the template below and filling in the placeholders. You don’t need to worry about brevity or sounding eloquent, just do a brain dump.
Paste the entire prompt below with the template and completed placeholders into your AI system to refine, add detail, or anything else you need.
Review all stats and make sure you have sources cited and evidence. Ensure the wording is your own and not AI slop. You need to be comfortable speaking to this – practice in your own voice.
Review the slide design notes. Often these are not great from a generalized system. You can keep them, tweak them, or remove them. The specialized LLM does not actually need this to be successful and you can opt to let it’s default interpretation take over by remove slide design notes entirely.
Once you have copy that makes sense, you can paste it into one of the tools like Gamma.app for the final output.
WARNING and Tips:
This is a starting point. If you just plug it into AI, you’ll get a mess. You need to clean it up and keep it honest.
AI will make up stats, figures, and other things – it’s your job to make sure your pitch is honest.
Everything in this template is just an example, you may find that you need to deviate from the script – feel free.
If you just try to paste it into an AI it may paste as an image, that won’t work well. You need to paste it in as text.
You could do this in sections, which will make it cleaner.
The Prompt Template
You are an expert pitch deck copy and script designer. Your job is to take the below copy, slide designs, and script, complete them where necessary, tighten them up, and ensure they can be used as a prompt to generate a highly compelling slide visuals and layouts. To do this follow these rules:
Adhere to the number of slides and slide topics exactly – do not deviate from this approach
Refine the copy so that it is 50 words or less per slide unless I say otherwise, while ensuring that you do not lose details, main ideas, or anything that would change the meaning of the slide.
Refine scripts to be succinct, articulate, and easy to understand, but do not overly reduce them – it’s important that all the ideas expressed make it to the final version.
For slide design, use the suggested ideas in those sections if present, the copy, and the script to create a brief concept for the slide – you don’t need to get into details, just 1 or 2 lines about an optimal layout and any images that might be helpful.
If you see placeholders like “TBD” or […], do your best to fill them in with the information you have.
Slide 1: Title
Copy:
[Company Name]
[Tagline]
[One line pitch that is 5-to-7 words long explaining what you do]
Script:
Hello, my name is [name] and I am the [role – CEO or similar] and [Founder or Co-Founder] of [company] and we’re building [what you do] to help [who it’s for] by using [your secret sauce].
Slide:
TBD
Slide 2: Attention
Copy:
[Title]
[Who the stats impact]
[The stats]
Script:
Did you know that [layout out two or three metrics and/or stats describing the cost of the problem, be it financial, social, or other – you want to grab their attention].
Slide:
This should be simple to read with the stats clearly front and center without a lot of verbiage surrounding them. It should feel like a blunt instrument drawing your attention to something important.
Slide 3: Problem
Copy:
[The problem]
[The problem owner]
[The scale]
Script:
[problem owners] struggle with [the problem] because [root cause]. The problem impacts [how many, how big – give a sense of scale].
Slide:
This slide should focus on the problem statement first and make sure that it is clearly and succinctly articulated, front and center. Everything else is in support of that.
Slide 4: Solution & Differentiator
Copy
Introducing [your solution]
[bullets of features and resulting outcome – how it solves the problem]
[secret sauce claim]
Script:
We solve this problem by [explain your solution and exactly how it addresses the problem you described]. Our [secret sauce] is unlike any other solution in market because [how you differentiate].
Slide:
This slide should introduce the product and claims succinctly and then show an image that either abstractly represents the solution or is a screenshot of the solution in a subtle way that does not make the slide busy.
Slide 5: Case Study (optional – could be hypothetical)
Copy:
Case Study: [use-case name or customer name]
Meet [Name and role]
Problem: [Describe the person’s pain]
Solution: [What your product did to solve the problem – specifically how it was done and with what features of your solution]
Outcomes: [list the outcomes]
Script:
Meet [a person’s name and title / role]. [Name] needed [pain or issue driving their need for a solution – make it personal if you can, tie it to an emotional outcome not just a business reality. For example, staying late to get work done means missing your kids at dinner – that’s a real emotional burden]. [Name] tried a few options to get there, [name some alternatives such as your competitors], but ultimately needed a solution that would [your solution’s outcomes]. [Name] found [your product name] and within [your typical time period to value] was able to [achieved outcomes]. We helped [name] achieve this outcome by [list what your product did or how the person used it to achieve the outcome].
Slide:
TBD
Slide 6: The Team
Copy:
[list team names, pictures, roles, and a brief line about experience or expertise for each]
[optionally, you can list advisors as well if they are relevant to your credibility here – but this can look crowded. Investors typically care most about the founders and operational team]
[any accelerators, studios, or similar groups helping drive your operations could be listed here as well]
Script:
Our team knows this space. We have [explain your experience broadly]. We are experts here, and we are the right team to solve the problem. [Take a moment and explain the background of your founders].
Slide:
TBD
Slide 7: Revenue
Copy:
[keep this simple, just explain how you make money and list tiers if there are more than one]
Script:
Our revenue model is simple: [explain how you make money – subscription, gain share, etc.].
Slide:
TBD
Slide 8: Market and Targeting
Copy:
[number of prospects] companies in the [region] in our ICP
[cost per customer] average revenue customer
We are focused on [attainable subset of the larger market]
In [# years], we will attain [# customers] at a projected revenue of [your revenue – also your SOM] at a margin of %[margin].
[Total TAM – calculated] TAM
[Total SAM – estimate] SAM
[Total SOM – calculated] SOM
Script:
There are [number of prospects] in [market region like US or the world] that have this problem. We think we can charge [average cost per customer] per customer on average, making our TAM approximately [total in-market prospects X cost per customer = TAM value]. We think we can get [# of customers] to pay this amount within the [tighter scoping of the market by region or other factor, for example a state or one sub-industry] over the next [# of years] for this solution, generating [# of customers X average price per customer = YoY revenue] in YoY revenue. Customer acquisition and operational costs on average will be [cost value] per customer, leading to %[percentage] margin.
Slide:
TBD
Slide 9: Competition
Copy:
Competition: [something about your differentiation]
[list of competitors and how they compare]
Script:
There are [some metric of quantity, exact or not] companies in this space. They range from [explain the various forms of competition] to [continued]. We stand out because [what sets you apart].
Slide:
A table or quadrant type slide is best for this. Try to let the graphic do the talking to avoid too much copy.
Slide 10: GTM & Projections
Copy:
Ideal Customer Profile is [describe characteristics of your ICP]
We will reach our customers through [channels you will use]
[data for a table with years showing revenue targets per year for the next 3 to 5 years]
Targeting $[ARR] ARR by year [# year] at a valuation of $[total valuation]
Script:
To gain traction, we will find our customers [where you plan to find them] through [your strategy, e.g., cold outreach, warm intros, paid ads, channel partners, or other form – be specific]. To validate our market hypothesis, we plan to target our ICP using the following characteristics and perform an outreach campaign and interview to test product market fit: [list of target attributes: company size, revenue, sector, industry, etc.].
As you can see, we are planning a [gradual or rapid or other] customer acquisition and revenue growth strategy over the next [# of years] years, culminating in a projected [preferably recurring] revenue of [amount of revenue] in year [final year]. At a [multiple number] multiple, which is fair in this market, that gives us a year [#year] valuation target of $[total potential exit value at that year].
Slide:
This slide has the potential to be very busy. Outside of the table, try to minimize copy verbiage.
Slide 11: Milestones & Evidence (Optional - If this is brand new, you can skip this or heavily modify)
Copy:
[List of all milestones in chronological order]
[# of people] Interviewed
[# of people] [Waitlisted, or registered, or onboarded]
Script:
We’ve had a busy [#] [weeks, months, or years]. You can see we are well on our way. [Discuss important milestones, not all of them – for example product releases or funding events.]. During this time we also spoke to [# of people] and [# of those people] [signed up for a waitlist, or signed a letter of intent, or some other evidence to show interest.]
Slide:
TBD
Slide 12: Opportunity & Ask
Copy:
Opportunity
[The ask] to [what the ask does for you – i.e. $250,000 to fine tune PMF and build the MVP]
[If raising, show how much you’ve already raised]
Together we can [list the outcomes] for [the ICP]
Script:
We think that [the problem] can be reimagined with [the solution]. Our customers will be able to [list outcomes]. We’re inviting you to be part of our journey. The opportunity is [whatever you need to be successful] to help [whatever you’re going to do]. Thank you!
Slide:
TBD