Hourly Pitch Deck: All 23 Slides + Teardown

The Convergence of Payroll and Insurtech

Hourly's Series A deck is a masterclass in vertical SaaS positioning. By the time they raised $27M in 2023 (as reported by Business Insider), the company had clearly moved past the 'idea' phase and into the 'scaling' phase. The deck focuses heavily on how their technology stack—comprising time tracking, payroll, and insurance—creates a moat that traditional insurers cannot easily replicate. The following teardown examines the 23-slide presentation, focusing on the strategic narrative and the data presented.

Slide 1-3: Introduction and Branding

The deck opens with a clean, professional aesthetic. Slide 1 establishes the context: a Series A presentation from Q1 2022. Slides 2 and 3 are minimalist branding slides featuring the 'H' logo. While these don't provide data, they set a tone of modern, tech-forward simplicity, which is a deliberate contrast to the often archaic and paperwork-heavy world of workers' compensation insurance.

Slide 4: The Market Opportunity

"The U.S. $50B workers’ compensation insurance market is ripe for disruption." This slide establishes the TAM (Total Addressable Market) immediately. By citing a $50B figure, Hourly signals to investors that even a small percentage of market capture represents a massive business. The slide also introduces the core thesis: that Hourly’s technology has the power to 'revolutionize' this specific niche. It’s a classic 'Big Problem' slide that justifies the need for a venture-scale solution.

Slide 7: The Differentiated Model

Slide 7 serves as a section header for 'Hourly’s Disruptive and Differentiated Model.' The use of high-quality lifestyle photography featuring a blue-collar worker (a carpenter or contractor) is a strategic choice. It grounds the abstract concept of 'fintech' in the reality of the people who actually use the product—small business owners and their hourly employees.

Slide 10: Product Mechanics and Value Proposition

This is arguably the most important slide in the deck. Titled "A complete workers’ comp and payroll platform," it breaks down the 'How it works' into four distinct steps: data gathering, employee clock-in via mobile app, real-time premium calculation, and the provision of claims/safety services. The slide features a mockup of the mobile interface, showing a map for geo-tracking and a clear dashboard. The inclusion of a US Bank/Visa co-branded card image suggests a fintech layer involving direct payments or disbursements, further integrating the company into the customer's financial workflow.

Slide 13: Go-To-Market Strategy

Hourly outlines a clear four-step distribution model on Slide 13. 1) Hourly forms partnerships with insurers to underwrite policies. 2) Hourly appoints a network of insurance agents. 3) Agents sell the workers' comp to their customers and refer them to Hourly for payroll. 4) Both Hourly and the agent win a loyal customer. This 'agent-first' strategy is a sophisticated way to bypass the high cost of direct customer acquisition in the insurance space, leveraging existing trust networks instead.

Slide 16: Insurance Strategy

Slide 16 acts as a transition into the deeper insurance mechanics. The imagery of a mobile phone inside a tool bag reinforces the 'mobile-first' and 'on-the-job' nature of the product. This section likely contained more detailed information about underwriting, risk pools, and the MGA (Managing General Agent) structure, though the summary slide later provides the high-level takeaway.

Slide 19: Growth and Traction

Slide 19 displays a chart for "Gross Written Premiums Sold - Quarter over Quarter Growth." The chart tracks 'New Business Produced by Effective Quarter' through 2021 and 2022. Although the specific Y-axis values are obscured in the public deck, the visual trend is one of exponential growth. The chart includes bars for 'Submissions' and 'New policies sold,' with a line representing 'New premiums written.' This slide is the 'proof of work' that justifies a Series A valuation, showing that the agent-based distribution model is functioning and accelerating.

Slide 22: The Summary

The deck concludes with a summary slide that hits five key pillars: the $50B opportunity, the unique end-to-end digital platform, the MGA-based go-to-market strategy, the 'best in class' team, and the financial momentum. This slide acts as a final pitch, consolidating the narrative into a single view for the investor to digest before the Q&A begins.

What Hourly's Deck Does Well

The primary strength of this deck is its clarity of purpose. Hourly does not try to be a general HR platform or a generic payroll provider. It focuses entirely on the synergy between payroll data and workers' compensation. By narrowing the focus, they make a compelling case for why they can win this specific $50B market.

The distribution strategy outlined on Slide 13 is also a highlight. Many startups fail because they underestimate the cost of customer acquisition (CAC). By positioning themselves as a tool for insurance agents rather than a competitor to them, Hourly creates a scalable engine for growth that aligns with existing industry incentives.

What is Missing from the Deck

The most glaring omission in the provided slides is a dedicated Team Slide . While Slide 22 mentions 'best in class management,' investors at the Series A stage typically want to see the specific pedigree of the founders—especially in a highly regulated industry like insurance. Experience at major carriers or successful fintech exits would be critical context here.

Additionally, there is no Unit Economics slide. While the GWP growth is impressive, investors would want to see the LTV (Lifetime Value) of a customer compared to the CAC, especially since they are sharing revenue with insurance agents. Finally, the Ask is missing. A standard pitch deck should explicitly state how much capital is being raised and how it will be allocated (e.g., 40% engineering, 30% sales, 30% operations).

Founder Takeaways: The Power of Vertical Integration

Founders should study how Hourly uses 'Step 2' of their product to solve 'Step 1' of their business model. By providing a free or low-cost time-tracking and payroll tool, they capture the data necessary to sell a high-margin insurance product. This is a classic 'Trojan Horse' strategy. If you are building in a crowded market like payroll, look for the adjacent, high-friction industry (like insurance or lending) where your data can provide an unfair advantage.

Another takeaway is the use of channel partners. If your product requires high trust to sell, don't try to build that trust from scratch. Find the people who already have it—in this case, insurance agents—and build a product that makes them look like heroes to their clients while increasing their own efficiency.