Pitch Teardowns
The decks that raised billions, taken apart.
We break down the legendary pitch decks slide by slide: what made them work, where they were weak, and exactly what you can steal for your own raise.
Airbnb
The deck that defined the seed template
Year
2009
Raised
~$600K seed
Stage
Seed
14 lean slides, a category created
Three air mattresses and a 14-slide deck turned a rejected idea into the template every seed founder now quietly copies.
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Uber
Selling a bold future, slide by slide
Year
2008
Raised
Seed (UberCab)
Stage
Seed
A vision deck that aged into an empire
Before the global brand, it was a 25-slide deck called UberCab pitching black-car service you summon from a phone. Here is what still holds up.
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Buffer
Traction-first, radically transparent
Year
2011
Raised
~$500K seed
Stage
Seed
The deck that proved traction sells itself
The seed deck Buffer published openly: plain slides, real revenue on the traction slide, and a founder who let the numbers persuade.
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The deck its founder graded in public
Year
2004
Raised
Series B (Greylock)
Stage
Series B
A masterclass in pitching network effects
Reid Hoffman published the actual 2004 deck, then annotated his own mistakes slide by slide. The rare teardown written by the founder.
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