Venn's deck is a unique artifact in the fundraising world: a consultancy pitching the 'science of design' by teaching others how to pitch. The 19-slide presentation, dated 2017, breaks down business risks into eight categories, including market timing and capitalization structure. It emphasizes a 'growth mindset' through four pillars: milestones, avoiding growth bias, experimentation, and the ability to pivot or exit. The second half of the deck serves as a tutorial, using Airbnb's original slides as examples to explain how narrative and content must work in tandem. While it lacks the traditi…
Key takeaways
- The deck identifies eight specific investor risk factors that businesses must address, ranging from market size to technology risk (Slide 3).
- Founders are encouraged to set milestone goals based on internal actions they control, such as sending 10 cold emails a day, rather than external events like website traffic (Slide 6).
- The presentation warns against 'growth bias,' suggesting that obsession with a single path can blind founders to nonlinear opportunities (Slide 7).
- A visual representation of the design process shows the transition from the 'uncertainty' of research to the 'clarity' of final design (Slide 8).
- The deck defines a 'Right Deck' as a balance between Narrative (the story) and Content (the proof) (Slide 11).
- Venn utilizes the original Airbnb pitch deck slides for Problem, Solution, and Product to illustrate effective communication (Slides 13-15).
- A specific 10-15-30 second elevator pitch template is provided to help founders articulate their service, customer segment, and unique value (Slide 17).
- The deck concludes with a contact slide for Venn Industrial Design Consultancy, located in Ankara, Turkey (Slide 19).
Introduction: The Meta-Pitch
The deck provided by Venn, an industrial design consultancy based in Ankara, Turkey, is not a traditional startup pitch. Instead, it is a 19-slide manifesto on 'Business Design.' Published in 2017, the presentation serves as a guide for founders on how to think about growth, risk, and storytelling. It functions as a portfolio piece for the consultancy, demonstrating their strategic approach to helping startups navigate the early stages of business development. By analyzing this deck, we gain insight into how a design firm views the intersection of product development and venture capital.
Slides 1-3: Defining Risk
The deck opens with a minimalist title slide, 'DESIGN NARRATIVE,' featuring the Venn logo. Slide 2 introduces the first major section: 'RISKS,' described as the 'Range of risks every business has to deal with.' This sets a sobering tone, moving away from the typical 'visionary' opening of most decks to focus on the pragmatic concerns of an investor.
Slide 3, titled 'RISK BOOK,' is one of the most useful slides for any founder. It categorizes investor risk into eight distinct blocks: Market timing risk , Business model risk , Market adoption risk , Market size risk , Execution risk , Technology risk , Capitalization structure risk , and Financial risk . By listing these, Venn signals that 'Business Design' is not just about aesthetics, but about mitigating these specific vulnerabilities through strategic planning.
Slides 4-9: The Four Elements of Growth
Slide 4 introduces the 'FOUR ELEMENTS,' defined as 'Four attitude concepts to pursue for rapid business growth.' Slide 5 lists these as: Goals for milestones, Stand outside growth bias, Make experiments, and pivot, exit and failure! This section shifts the focus from the business structure to the founder's psychology.
Slide 6, 'GOALS FOR MILESTONES,' offers a critique of common startup metrics. It argues that goals like 'Get 100 visitors a day' are flawed because they are events based on what other people choose to do, over which the founder has 'zero control.' Instead, it suggests focusing on actionable inputs: finding 10 potential customers a day, writing one piece of content, or running a new ad every week. This is a masterclass in shifting from lagging indicators to leading indicators.
Slide 7 addresses 'GROWTH BIAS,' warning that being obsessed with a single path can blind a team to nonlinear opportunities. It features a tree diagram showing the relationship between Core business value, Founders, Product, Team, and producers. Slide 8 uses the famous 'Design Squiggle' to illustrate 'MAKE EXPERIMENTS,' showing how research starts in uncertainty and moves toward the clarity of design. Slide 9 concludes this section with the mantra: 'Dream big, Start simple, Execute fast, Stay human.'
Slides 10-15: The Anatomy of a Pitch
Slide 10 transitions to 'PITCH RIGHT,' which the deck describes as 'Data about our collaborations and achievements.' However, rather than listing Venn's clients, the following slides act as a tutorial on deck construction. Slide 11 defines the 'RIGHT DECK' as a combination of Narrative (the story) and Content (the proof).
Slide 12 emphasizes that the narrative is the 'weave' that convinces an audience a company will be successful. To illustrate this, Slides 13, 14, and 15 use the actual slides from the original Airbnb pitch deck . Slide 13 shows the 'Problem' (Price, Hotels, No easy way to book), Slide 14 shows the 'Solution' (A web platform to save money, make money, and share culture), and Slide 15 shows the 'Product' (Search by City -> Review Listings -> Book It!). By using Airbnb as the gold standard, Venn aligns its design philosophy with one of the most successful startups in history.
Slides 16-19: Communication and Contact
Slide 16 returns to the 'NARRATIVE' theme, stating that a story needs relatable characters and must take the listener on a journey that appeals to both 'emotions and reasoning abilities.' Slide 17 provides a concrete tool: the '10-15-30 SECONDS' elevator pitch template. It follows a strict formula: Name + Service + Customer Segment + Problem + Unique Value .
Slide 18 focuses on 'CONTENT,' which it defines as the 'Proof to back your story.' It lists five requirements for this section: showing customer value, demonstrating high LTV (Life Time Value) relative to CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost), knowing sales metrics 'cold,' identifying ways to improve, and figuring out the sales model. This slide bridges the gap between the 'design' aspects of the deck and the hard financial realities of fundraising.
The deck ends on Slide 19 with the contact information for 'Venn Inc.' and 'Venn Industrial Design Consultancy,' providing an address in Ankara, Turkey, an email, and a phone number. The copyright is dated 2017.
What Works Well in This Deck
The primary strength of this deck is its educational clarity . By breaking down complex concepts like 'growth mindset' and 'investor risk' into simple, categorized blocks, Venn makes the daunting task of business design feel manageable. The 'Risk Book' on Slide 3 is particularly effective; it provides a checklist that founders can use to audit their own presentations before they ever meet an investor.
The distinction between inputs and outputs on Slide 6 is another highlight. Most early-stage founders focus on results they cannot directly control (like traffic). Venn’s advice to focus on controllable actions (like cold emails and content creation) is high-value coaching that adds credibility to their consultancy services.
Finally, the use of the Airbnb case study (Slides 13-15) provides immediate, recognizable context. It proves that the principles Venn is preaching—simplicity, clear problem/solution statements, and narrative flow—are the same principles used by billion-dollar companies.
What is Missing from This Deck
Because this is a meta-deck (a deck about decks), it lacks the traditional components of a fundraising pitch. There is no Team slide detailing the expertise of the Venn consultants, no Traction slide showing their past success with clients, and no Financials or Ask . While the deck claims to provide 'Data about our collaborations' on Slide 10, it never actually delivers that data, opting instead to continue the tutorial.
Furthermore, the deck is highly theoretical . While it tells founders what to do (e.g., 'Know your sales metrics cold' on Slide 18), it doesn't provide examples of how to present those metrics visually. For a design consultancy, the lack of original data visualization examples—beyond the Airbnb screenshots—is a missed opportunity to showcase their specific design talent.
What Founders Should Copy
Founders should immediately adopt the Elevator Pitch Template from Slide 17. It is a concise, effective way to ensure that the core value proposition is never lost in jargon. If you cannot fill in those blanks, you do not yet have a clear business narrative.
The Risk Categorization on Slide 3 should also be copied. When preparing for Q&A with investors, founders should create a 'defensive' slide for each of those eight risks. Being able to say, 'We have identified our market adoption risk and here is our plan to mitigate it,' demonstrates a level of maturity that most seed-stage founders lack.
Lastly, the minimalist aesthetic of the deck itself is worth emulating. Venn uses high-contrast black and white slides with large, bold headers and plenty of white space. This ensures that the text is the focus and that the presentation remains legible even when viewed on a small screen or in a dimly lit room.
Conclusion
Venn’s 'Design Narrative' deck is less of a pitch and more of a syllabus. It successfully argues that 'Business Design' is a rigorous discipline involving risk assessment, psychological positioning, and narrative structure. While it fails to provide specific proof of Venn's own successes, it establishes the firm as a thoughtful authority on the startup journey. For a founder, this deck serves as a valuable template for moving from a 'product-first' mindset to a 'business-first' mindset.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this a pitch for a specific startup product?
- No. This deck is a presentation by Venn, an industrial design consultancy. It functions as a 'how-to' guide for entrepreneurs, explaining the philosophy of business design and the mechanics of creating a pitch deck. It uses other famous startups, like Airbnb, as case studies rather than presenting its own business metrics.
- What are the 'Four Elements' mentioned in the deck?
- According to slide 5, the four elements of a growth mindset are: Goals for milestones, Standing outside growth bias, Making experiments, and the ability to Pivot, exit, and failure. These are presented as the 'attitude concepts' necessary for rapid business growth.
- How does the deck define a successful narrative?
- Slide 16 states that a narrative should include likable and relatable characters, take the listener on a journey, and appeal to both emotions and reasoning abilities. It emphasizes that the way slides are woven together is more important than the specific slides themselves.
- What specific risks does the deck suggest investors look for?
- Slide 3 lists eight specific risks: Market timing, Business model, Market adoption, Market size, Execution, Technology, Capitalization structure, and Financial risk. This 'Risk Book' is intended to help founders evaluate their own ventures from an investor's perspective.
- What is the '10-15-30' rule mentioned in the deck?
- Slide 17 refers to the 10-15-30 second elevator pitch. It provides a fill-in-the-blank template: 'Our startup (Name) / Is developing (Service) / letting (customer segment) / (Solve problem) / through (unique value).' This is designed to ensure founders can communicate their core value proposition quickly.
