photo of Astrid Moullé-Berteaux, investor at VC firm Headline

Analysis

January 20, 2025

The Series A pitch deck template founders need in the AI era

Customer retention, long-term defensibility and team are key

Amy Lewin

4 min read

A few years ago, SaaS was king. Now AI is queen of the jungle — but not all founders have adapted their pitch decks accordingly.

“There’s a discrepancy between what VCs want to see and what founders are showing,” says Astrid Moullé-Berteaux, investor at VC firm Headline, who receives around 5-10 pitch decks every day. “Everything is AI right now.” 

To help founders pitch what VCs want to see — and why, she’s created a new pitch deck template for Series A companies in the AI era.

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It’s relevant for just about every startup, she says — even those that don’t consider themselves an “AI company”. “If you want to raise successfully, you should think about your AI strategy and about the architecture of your product. 

“This isn’t AI-washing, it isn’t to have a good story to tell to investors. You have to show solid data points about your AI strategy.” 

Key pitch deck slides for the AI era

There are several key points to emphasise in your deck, says Moullé-Berteaux: customer retention; long-term defensibility; and your AI-specific competitive advantage. 

1. Defensibility

Founders have to think about how to be defensible in the long term, she says. “How will you win in your market, in comparison to new players, incumbents and adjacent players?” 

In a market in which new developments and new companies seem to be announced every day, going slow might seem like a bad idea. But Moullé-Berteaux says she prefers AI native companies that are “going a bit slower than the other players and building healthy foundations”. 

“I really like the companies that are trying to understand pain points of customers — and figuring out business models suited to that, such as usage-based or outcome-based billing, rather than monthly subscriptions.”

Headline AI pitch deck

2. Retention

Talking about customer retention is key. “Previously founders would include maybe one sentence on retention in the metric parts,” says Moullé-Berteaux. “Now it needs to be at least one full slide. 

“We’re seeing an exponential creation of new startups,” she says. “Some companies have crazy growth metrics, but the churn is also crazy. A lot of companies are competing, so it’s becoming a race to the bottom; the switching cost is super low.” 

That means startups that are demonstrating real value to customers — and holding onto them — should shout about it. “In your deck, emphasise how you provide ROI [return on investment]. Customers want it quickly, in just a few months.”

Headline AI pitch deck retention

3. Team 

Founders who work really hard to build a great team should also make that clear in their decks. 

“Some companies aren't putting their focus on recruiting AI talent, but are instead tinkering and taking a DIY AI architecture approach,” says Moullé-Berteaux. 

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Others are putting the time aside to recruit the best AI talent out there from day one, and Moullé-Berteaux thinks it’s an investment worth making.

Headline AI pitch deck team

4. Compliance

Another long-term investment that will impress investors: building relationships with regulators.

“Compliance is usually two sentences in the data room, not even in the deck,” says Moullé-Berteaux. “I think it should be in the core of the deck: which authorities are regulating your market, and how close are you with them?  

“From one day to another your startup could be wiped out of the game because of this new law you’ve ignored.” 

Headline AI pitch deck competitive advantages

How will it all pan out?

With a new AI startup launching every second, there will be plenty of casualties in the months and years to come. 

“In some verticals, it’s crazy how crowded it is. Some companies will die, and I think there will be some consolidation — either to acquire the best teams, or go deeper into the stack to sell something less shallow.

“I think a lot of good founders will recognise that some verticals are too crowded, and will spend more time on underserved verticals and building products.” 

Amy Lewin

Amy Lewin is Sifted’s editor and host of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast . Follow her on X, LinkedIn and Bluesky