Board Deck Templates for Seed Stage Startups: Tips from the VCs

1. FOR SEED-STAGE STARTUPS FOR SEED-STAGE STARTUPS BOARD DECK BOARD DECK TEMPLATES TEMPLATES Customizable Slides Customizable Slides & & Tips from the VCs Tips from the VCs at at

2. A few things to keep in mind to put this deck to proper use for your startup: Use these slides to make board deck creation simpler and easier. While each situation is different, we included the key pieces you should use, along with our opinions on what makes a great board deck. Use this directionally, but dont simply copy/paste this resource. This was built for seed-stage startups. Its not intended for use by later-stage startups but rather younger companies who have just raised their first round of funding. For some sections, weve offered multiple options to select. Weve used green splats (shown below) to indicate when one section has multiple options to choose from. Be sure to delete the options you dont use. (Note: To remove slide background elements, go to View > Master > Slide Master) How to Use This Resource 1 1 Option 1 Option 1 Lee Hower Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures Throughout this resource, my partners and I offer some light commentary and opinions via these sticky notes. Youll find them along the margins of a given slide.

3. Growth Guides are part of NextViews series of seed-stage resources intended to help founders and their teams get more done. This series includes tactical playbooks and templates such as this one. Visit ViewFromSeed.com for more. Our goal in creating Growth Guides is to help startups make progress more quickly and more confidently, so we make strong recommendations for how, exactly, one should execute. We espouse the belief that its better to be done than perfect as you launch, learn, and iterate on your startup. About Growth Guides About NextView Ventures Were a seed-stage venture capital firm investing in internet and mobile startups in primarily Boston and New York (though we invest throughout the US). Co-founders and partners Rob Go (eBay, Spark Capital), David Beisel (About.com, Venrock), and Lee Hower (LinkedIn, Point Judith Capital) focus exclusively on seed in order to better fulfill the firms mission, which is also the mission of this Growth Guide: Help founders give their companies the best possible start.

4. 1 1 Board Decks 101 Board Decks 101 Understanding the Basics Understanding the Basics

5. Important Board Deck Basics Content Generally speaking, a good board deck is divided into housekeeping and major issues/topics. 20-30% of your meeting time should be housekeeping (at most). These are general updates that the board should know about or need to quickly discuss/approve. 50%+ of your meeting time should be major issues. These are the 1-3 key obstacles, priorities, or initiatives at your company that require more in-depth discussion. Your deck should include more than you plan to discuss in person, especially as your company scales and more data can be reported. The expectation is for all parties to read the deck in advance. As such, your deck is not a presentation aid but a more complete document that can be read and understood without much commentary. Design Keep things simple. Decks should be presentable, clean, and clear, but dont agonize over beauty. Your board wants to focus on forward progress, not scrutinize your slide design. Many directors and observers prefer all information sent in one file, so be sure to include screen shots from any spreadsheets or product mockups/features youll discuss. Its best to send via PDF, but if you have to send via PowerPoint for some reason, use basic fonts and slide dimensions that all PPT versions and operating systems can cleanly read. Remember to circulate your deck 1-2 days in advance.

6. MAJOR DISCUSSION TOPICS how change

7. Board Discussion Over Time Seed Round Series A Series B Pre-Product Product-Market Fit Revenue Scale 1 2 3 4 6 5 1. Product direction; key first hire(s); early discussion on Series A 2. Go-to-market plans for product 3. Product-market fit data/traction; Series A fundraise 4. Sales and marketing (process, value prop language, hiring, etc.) 5. Sales and marketing pipeline; product improvements; Series B fundraise 6. Efficiencies; vertical growth; channels Lee Hower Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures The major issues should be the bulk of the agenda time. Topics usually depend on the stage of the startup. This slide is a rough approximation of how the topics might change.

8. 2 2 Templates to Use Templates to Use Building Your Deck Building Your Deck

9. Option 1: Full Slide Deck Lee Hower Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures Since the goal is to eventually scale into a larger business, at which point you more or less have to create board decks, I advise founders to start early and create full decks, even if theyll be lean early on.

10. BOARD MEETING MM.DD.YY Company Logo David Beisel Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures While you should feel free to use some unique branding and layout of your own, dont spend tons of time designing and re-designing your board deck. The goal is clarity.

11. Housekeeping & Board Updates High-Level Progress Dashboard Team Update Current Priorities/Major Issues Agenda

12. Item Context if needed 2 Item Context if needed 3 Item Context if needed Housekeeping

13. Examples of Housekeeping 1. Finance (often included in dashboard) 1. Cash out date and burn 2. 409A valuation 3. Cap tables 4. Common/preferred stock dashboard 2. Hiring (use dedicated slides early on) 1. Current org chart 2. Openings and request for help 3. Office and Logistics 1. Potential moves and cost (rent + $/sq.ft. + lease length) 2. Insurance, healthcare, legal, and other service providers 4. Meeting Minutes 1. Approve last meetings minutes (if in use) Remove This Slide Remove This Slide Rob Go Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures Housekeeping doesnt mean not important. Finance is critical it just appears on a recurring basis. Same with hiring, which fluctuates in volume and urgency.

14. Finance Cash: $N Burn Rate: $N Runway: X-Y months (worst case, assuming no revenue contribution) Product Key Update #1 Key Update #2 Key Update #3 Other Core Metrics* Key Update #1 Key Update #2 Key Update #3 *as needed for your specific business Other Core Metrics* Key Update #1 Key Update #2 Key Update #3 Option 1 Option 1 Progress Dashboard David Beisel Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures Finance updates should report similar data each meeting. Product should be ever-changing, but as a post-seed fundraise startup, youre urgently seeking product-market fit.

15. KPIs Product: Description of project. Biz Dev: Description of project. Sales/Marketing: Description of project. Ops: Description of project. Team: Description of project. Option 2 Option 2 Progress Dashboard Last Month This Month Next (Projected) KPI #1 X Y Z KPI #2 X Y Z KPI #3 X Y Z Lee Hower Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures There are many metrics you can and should report, but these change depending on your business and growth stage. Be sure to get your boards input on important metrics. Top Projects

16. Team Update Amy Co-Founder, CEO Bob Co-Founder, CTO Matt Lead Developer Tyler Web Developer Jim Sales Manager (Next Hire) Demand-Gen Marketer (Intern Hire) Graphic Designer Lee Hower Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures This can go in the front or back of the deck. I prefer front because its easier to get through quickly and focus the rest of the discussion on the 1-2 most important issues.

17. Team Compensation Name Role Base Salary Equity Start Date Amy CEO $XK $X% M/D/Y Bob Head of Product $XK $X% M/D/Y Matt Lead Developer $XK $X% M/D/Y Tyler Web Developer $XK $X% M/D/Y Jim Sales Manager $XK $X% M/D/Y TBD Hire Demand-Gen Marketer To approve: $XK To approve: $X% M/D/Y TBD Intern Graphic Designer $XK (small to none) M/D/Y Rob Go Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures Particularly for seed-stage startups, when every employee represents a large percent of the team, its important to get the boards quick approval on new hire compensation.

18. About the Next Section The following 3 slides are for Current Priorities. There are countless factors that alter the specifics of your Current Priorities slide, both in terms of content and layout. Because of this, we decided against proposing a single template version. Instead, weve included 3 different versions across specific situations: 1. A pre-launch startup. 2. A post-launch, pre-revenue consumer mobile startup. 3. And an early-revenue SaaS startup. These are illustrative only! Theyve been vetted by the partners at NextView and thus can be used to get a general sense of direction and level of detail, but DO NOT simply copy and paste them into your own deck. Remove This Slide Remove This Slide

19. Current Priorities Pre- Launch Startup Pre- Launch Startup Design, build, and ship initial product Identify alpha customers/users Collect and analyze feedback Improve feedback loop time/yield David Beisel Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures If your product is pre-launch, focus on the biggest possible levers to pull, and dont invent priorities for the sake of the board meeting. Good investors know how raw this can be.

20. Current Priorities Early B2C Mobile Early B2C Mobile User engagement by cohort Day 1, Day 7, Day 30 Acquisition channels Early results by channel Planned experiments Target/new partnerships Initial app updates Viral features

21. Current Priorities Early- Revenue SaaS Early- Revenue SaaS Determine ideal/target customer persona Accelerate customer acquisition Hire/train sales leadership/BDRs Top of Funnel: Double down on top lead-gen channels Middle of Funnel: Optimize conversion rates via email, website Watch revenue churn closely Product enhancements to meet customer requirements

22. Key Concerns/Help Wanted Concern/request #1 Concern/request #2 Concern/request #3 Lee Hower Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures Its crucial to be as transparent as possible early on. It both sets the tone for your board relationship and helps you gain valuable advice and support. Early board meetings arent simply investor updates.

23. Option 2: Running List Rob Go Co-Founder & Partner NextView Ventures This approach helps you avoid overly formalized slides while keeping your board current on the business and the most pressing needs and priorities. Because the doc can be marked by all parties, it helps CEOs and board members have a productive, iterative discussion rather than a one-way information dump.

24. About the Next Section Some seed-stage startups opt not to send slides. In fact, some investors prefer this approach. Instead of a full deck, you can opt to compile a running log of important updates, with a summary at the top, for investors to read and/or print. In some cases, your board may opt to annotate different sections before the meeting and flag various topics to discuss or clarify further. Imagine the next few slides were one scrolling doc. (Microsoft Word, Google Doc, etc.) Note that multiple board meetings can be contained in the same doc, with the most recent placed at the top. Remove This Slide Remove This Slide

25. (Company Name) Board Meeting MM.DD.YY. High Level Summary Summarize some of the major progress made and/or challenges uncovered. Include both positives and negatives for a more productive board conversation especially critical in the seed stage. You should also include 3-5 important bullets for certain critical updates and data points. (Create in Microsoft Word or Google Docs.) (Create in Microsoft Word or Google Docs.) Option 1 (delete this) Option 1 (delete this) Option 2 (delete this) Option 2 (delete this) Highlights & Big Wins List a few major accomplishments and/or data points showing positive traction. Challenges & Setbacks List a few disappointments or difficulties. Plan to discuss these candidly, ask for help, and review strategies for overcoming these together with your board.

26. Housekeeping (Refer to previous section on housekeeping for ideas of what should be included.) Item 1: context Item 2: context Item 3: context Core Metrics Metric Name (e.g. Monthly Active Users) Explain the data in a few short sentences above a screen shot of relevant charts, graphs, or tables. (Include 3-5 similar sections one per metric depending on the specifics of your business, your goals, and your current KPIs.)

27. Product Roadmap 1. Milestone #1 1. Context if needed 2. Milestone #2 1. Context if needed 3. Milestone #3 1. Context if needed Hiring Recent hires: (job functions) New openings: (job functions) Recent departures: (if any) Current Priorities/Discussion 1. Major Issue #1: (Include a few sentences to describe it.) 2. Major Issue #1: (Include a few sentences to describe it.) 3. Major Issue #1: (Include a few sentences to describe it.)

28. Burn, Budget, and Runway Link to a Google spreadsheet you use to track finances. (This section will be a recurring item in each board meeting, so linking to a shared spreadsheet is an easy way to provide this information. In most cases, this will be an FYI more than a discussion point.) Cash: $N Burn Rate: $N Runway: X-Y months (worst case, assuming no revenue contribution) Key Concerns/Help Wanted Item #1 Item #2 Item #3 * * * Option 1 (delete this) Option 1 (delete this) Option 2 (delete this) Option 2 (delete this)

29. GET MORE RESOURCES, ADVICE & INSIGHTS FOR SEED-STAGE STARTUPS GET MORE RESOURCES, ADVICE & INSIGHTS FOR SEED-STAGE STARTUPS Visit ViewFromSeed.com Visit ViewFromSeed.com Follow @NextViewVC Follow @NextViewVC