Yesterday I helped a friend of mine raise his first seed round of $200k for a podcast series he's been working on for several years now.

I wanted to share the structure of our deck with you in case it was helpful:

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Problem

Define the problem clearly and concisely. Use a compelling statistic, anecdote, or image to underscore its urgency and importance. Frame it as a gap in the market or an unmet need, making the issue immediately relatable to your audience.

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What if? (The Opportunity)

Paint a vision of the ideal future without this problem. Show the tangible benefits of the solution. Use evocative language to help your audience imagine this better world and see the opportunity for impact and growth.

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Solution

Present your offering as the bridge to this better future. Highlight its uniqueness and effectiveness with a focus on results and why it’s the right answer. Keep it action-oriented and specific.

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Why us?

Showcase your belief and credibility. Share your unique insights, expertise, or personal connection to the problem. Explain why your team is best positioned to execute the solution effectively. Use this as a trust-building moment.

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Traction

Demonstrate evidence of momentum. Share key metrics, testimonials, partnerships, or other indicators of early success. Show that your solution is already making an impact and is ready for scale.

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Scaling Strategy

Outline your strategic roadmap for scaling. Present 3-5 clear, actionable steps that show how you plan to grow. Briefly describe each step in a few sentences.

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The Vision

Articulate your long-term vision and the broader impact your solution could have. Tie it to ambitious, yet achievable, financial projections or other indicators of success. Show investors the potential upside.

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Revenue Model

Detail how your offering generates revenue. Provide a high-level breakdown of pricing tiers, packages, or business lines. Ensure it aligns with your growth strategy and vision. In this case, since it's a podcast, we are planning to develop and sell a few sponsorship packages ranging from $5-100k, so we roughly outlined what each of those will look like.

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The Market

Include a slide for the total addressable market (TAM), serviceable addressable market (SAM), and serviceable obtainable market (SOM). Show how your offering fits into the larger ecosystem and where you see room for expansion. For us this includes possible viewership as well as an idea of how many possible sponsors there are.

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Potential Sponsors

List the key brands or organizations you’ve targeted. Highlight existing relationships or any traction with potential sponsors/partners. This adds credibility to your revenue model. We listed out a handful of brands that we saw as low-hanging fruit that we think will likely take us up on the sponsorship opportunity.

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Anticipated Guests

Since the notoriety of the guests themselves are a major driving force behind the success of this podcast, we listed out some of the guests that we anticipate having on. Some of them are already booked — others will take some more work.

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The Ask

Make a clear ask. For this series we were asking for $200k in exchange of 15% equity (based on our $1.5m valuation). You could also lead with this section to serve as a 'hook' for this whole pitch, but we opted to place it towards the end.

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The Ask (cont.)

Break down how the investment will be used. Categorize expenses (e.g., marketing, technology, talent) and show how each directly supports your growth plan. Use visuals for clarity. We outlined what specifically this investment was going to be used for and how it played into the strategy we looked at earlier.

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Closing Statement

Reiterate the problem, your solution, and the vision. End on a strong, inspiring note that appeals to their desire to be part of something impactful. Encourage further discussion and alignment. We mentioned how their alignment and involvement could help achieve this big vision.

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So that's it.

We kept it pretty short and simple.

And what do ya know.. it worked!

Excited to share more from this project as it develops over the course of 2025.