What is the primary product mentioned in the deck?

The deck focuses on the Canvas platform, which serves Higher Education, K-12, and International markets. It also introduces Bridge, a product aimed at the corporate sector for performance and workforce management. Slide 10 explicitly shows how these products were rolled out chronologically to expand the company's Total Addressable Market (TAM).

How does Instructure demonstrate financial health despite operating losses?

Instructure uses 'visibility' metrics. On Slide 16, they show deferred revenue growing from $19M to $52M and backlog growing from $73M to $152M over a three-year period. This suggests that even while reporting quarterly net losses, the company has a massive, contracted pipeline of future revenue that de-risks the investment.

What is the significance of the 'Bridge' product in their strategy?

Bridge represents Instructure's move into the corporate talent management space. Slide 7 identifies this as a $6.4 billion opportunity by 2018, covering performance management, recruiting, and compensation. This diversification allowed Instructure to move beyond the saturated academic LMS market into higher-margin corporate environments.

How does the company portray its management team?

The management slide (Slide 13) is unconventional, featuring executives in humorous, costumed, or messy poses (e.g., the CEO with a blowtorch, the CFO in a colorful apron). This approach humanizes the leadership while still listing serious credentials from companies like EMC, Mozy, Microsoft, and VMware.

What are the key unit economics highlighted?

The deck emphasizes a high Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) model. Slide 19 illustrates a standard SaaS breakeven curve where cumulative contribution eventually far exceeds acquisition costs. This is supported by the claim on Slide 22 that Net Revenue Retention is greater than 100%, meaning existing customers spend more over time.

Instructure Pitch Deck (2016): 28-Slide Breakdown

See all 28 slides of the Instructure pitch deck — a 2016 deck in EdTech — with a slide-by-slide teardown of what the deck does well and where it falls short.

The Instructure deck from November 2016 is a data-heavy presentation designed for a post-IPO or late-stage audience, focusing heavily on financial transparency and market expansion. The company effectively uses its 'Canvas' brand heritage in Higher Education to justify its move into K-12 and the corporate sector via 'Bridge.' Key strengths include the granular reporting of deferred revenue ($52M in 2015) and backlog ($152M in 2015), which provide the 'enhanced visibility' investors crave in volatile markets. While the deck lacks a traditional 'problem' slide, it compensates with a robust grow…

Key takeaways

The company reported a significant backlog of $152M as of December 31, 2015, representing future non-cancellable amounts to be invoiced (Slide 16).
Revenue growth remained strong, reaching $30.1M in Q3 2016, though year-over-year growth rates slowed from 71% in Q4 2014 to 44% in Q3 2016 (Slide 25).
The growth strategy relied on a sequential market entry: Higher Ed in 2011, K-12 in 2012, International in 2014, and Corporate (Bridge) in 2015 (Slide 10).
Gross margins showed steady improvement, climbing from 67% in Q3 2014 to 72% by Q3 2016 (Slide 25).
Instructure identified a combined market opportunity of $14.2 billion by 2018 across learning, performance, and workforce management (Slide 7).
The business model emphasizes high lifetime value, claiming net revenue retention greater than 100% (Slide 22).
Operating expenses remained high relative to revenue, though they dropped from 120% of revenue in Q3 2014 to 104% in Q3 2016 (Slide 25).
Free cash flow was highly cyclical, swinging from a $21.3M burn in Q1 2016 to a $20.1M positive flow in Q3 2016 (Slide 28).

Slide-by-Slide Analysis

Slide 1: Title Slide

The deck opens with a minimalist title slide featuring the company name, INSTRUCTURE , centered over a vibrant, multi-colored overlapping circle pattern. There is no tagline or mission statement present on this slide.

Slide 4: Product Overview Video

This slide is a placeholder for a PRODUCT OVERVIEW VIDEO . In a live presentation, this serves as the transition from the high-level brand to the functional reality of the software. For a static deck, it represents a missed opportunity to summarize the value proposition for readers who cannot play the media.

Slide 7: Substantial Market Opportunity

Instructure defines its Total Addressable Market (TAM) through two primary segments. The Learning Management market is projected to grow from $5.1 Billion in 2016 to $7.8 Billion in 2018. The second segment, encompassing Performance Management, Workforce Management, Recruiting, and Compensation Management , is valued at $5.5 Billion in 2016, growing to $6.4 Billion by 2018. The slide cites IDC and MarketsandMarkets as sources.

Slide 10: Growth Strategy

This slide uses a stepped bar chart to show how the company has expanded its revenue streams by entering new markets. The timeline shows Canvas Higher Ed launching in 2011, followed by Canvas K-12 in 2012, Canvas International in 2014, and the corporate-focused Bridge product in 2015. This visualizes the 'Expanded TAM' mentioned in the header.

Slide 13: Innovative Management

The team slide features eight executives, including Josh Coates (CEO) and Steve Kaminsky (CFO) . Notably, the headshots are playful and non-traditional (e.g., the CEO is wearing goggles and holding a blowtorch). The slide lists impressive former employers for the team, including EMC, Mozy, Microsoft, VMware, and GE .

Slide 16: Enhanced Visibility Into Future Periods

This is a critical financial slide showing two bar charts. Deferred Revenue grew from $19M in 2013 to $52M in 2015. Backlog , defined as future non-cancellable amounts to be invoiced, grew from $73M to $152M in the same period. This slide is designed to prove the predictability of the SaaS model.

Slide 19: High Customer Lifetime Value

A conceptual graph illustrates the SaaS business model. It shows Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) as an initial negative contribution, followed by a Breakeven point and a long-term Revenue line. The slide highlights the three stages of the customer journey: Acquire, Retain, and Renew .

Slide 22: Investment Highlights

This slide summarizes the bull case for Instructure with six icons. Key points include Rapid and Widespread Customer Adoption , a Native, Cloud-Based Platform , and Net Revenue Retention Greater than 100% . It also reiterates the Solid Revenue Growth and Multi-Year Contracts mentioned in earlier slides.

Slide 25: Non GAAP Income Statement

This slide provides a detailed quarterly breakdown from Q3 2014 to Q3 2016. Revenue increased from $12.4M to $30.1M . While Gross Margin improved to 72% , the company remained unprofitable, reporting a Net Loss of $9.5M in Q3 2016. However, as a percentage of revenue, the net loss improved from (53%) to (32%) over the two-year period.

Slide 28: Free Cash Flow Reconciliation

The final slide shown tracks Free Cash Flow . It highlights the extreme seasonality of the business; for example, Q1 2016 saw a negative $21.3M flow, while Q3 2016 was positive $20.1M . This is typical for EdTech companies that collect large annual payments at the start of the school year.

What Works Well

Revenue Predictability: By breaking out both deferred revenue and backlog (Slide 16), Instructure gives investors a clear view of 'locked-in' future growth, which is the most important metric for a scaling SaaS company. · Strategic Roadmap: Slide 10 clearly explains how the company moved from a niche (Higher Ed) to a platform (K-12, International, Corporate). It justifies the R&D spend by showing the resulting TAM expansion. · Financial Transparency: The inclusion of a full Non-GAAP income statement (Slide 25) with nine quarters of data is rare in pitch decks and demonstrates a high level of maturity and readiness for institutional scrutiny. · Humanizing the Brand: The management slide (Slide 13) uses humor to stand out. In a sea of corporate headshots, the 'mad scientist' and 'Mickey Mouse' themes suggest a unique company culture without sacrificing the credibility of the listed resumes.

What Is Missing

Problem/Solution Narrative: The deck assumes the audience already understands why legacy Learning Management Systems (LMS) are failing. There is no slide dedicated to the specific pain points of students, teachers, or corporate HR managers. · Competitive Landscape: There is no mention of Blackboard, Moodle, or D2L. For an investor, understanding how Instructure wins against these incumbents is vital, especially in the K-12 and Higher Ed sectors where displacement is the primary growth driver. · Unit Economics Specifics: While Slide 19 shows a conceptual LTV/CAC graph, it does not provide the actual dollar figures for CAC or the average contract value (ACV). Investors are left to guess the actual efficiency of the sales and marketing spend. · The 'Ask': As this appears to be an investor update or a late-stage roadshow deck, there is no specific funding request or 'use of proceeds' slide included in this selection.

Founder Takeaways

Sell the Backlog: If your business uses multi-year contracts, do not just report trailing revenue. Report your backlog. It is the strongest evidence you have of future stability. · Show the 'Staircase' of Growth: Use the format of Slide 10 to show how your product evolves. Don't just say you will expand; show the chronological sequence of how you have already successfully entered adjacent markets. · Embrace Seasonality: If your cash flow is lumpy due to industry cycles (like education or retail), be upfront about it. Slide 28 shows that being 'cash flow negative' in one quarter is acceptable if the annual cycle proves the model works. · Balance Margins and Growth: Instructure shows that you don't need to be profitable to be a 'solid' investment, provided your gross margins are high (70%+) and your losses are shrinking as a percentage of revenue (Slide 25).

Frequently asked questions

What is the primary product mentioned in the deck?: The deck focuses on the Canvas platform, which serves Higher Education, K-12, and International markets. It also introduces Bridge, a product aimed at the corporate sector for performance and workforce management. Slide 10 explicitly shows how these products were rolled out chronologically to expand the company's Total Addressable Market (TAM).
How does Instructure demonstrate financial health despite operating losses?: Instructure uses 'visibility' metrics. On Slide 16, they show deferred revenue growing from $19M to $52M and backlog growing from $73M to $152M over a three-year period. This suggests that even while reporting quarterly net losses, the company has a massive, contracted pipeline of future revenue that de-risks the investment.
What is the significance of the 'Bridge' product in their strategy?: Bridge represents Instructure's move into the corporate talent management space. Slide 7 identifies this as a $6.4 billion opportunity by 2018, covering performance management, recruiting, and compensation. This diversification allowed Instructure to move beyond the saturated academic LMS market into higher-margin corporate environments.
How does the company portray its management team?: The management slide (Slide 13) is unconventional, featuring executives in humorous, costumed, or messy poses (e.g., the CEO with a blowtorch, the CFO in a colorful apron). This approach humanizes the leadership while still listing serious credentials from companies like EMC, Mozy, Microsoft, and VMware.
What are the key unit economics highlighted?: The deck emphasizes a high Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) model. Slide 19 illustrates a standard SaaS breakeven curve where cumulative contribution eventually far exceeds acquisition costs. This is supported by the claim on Slide 22 that Net Revenue Retention is greater than 100%, meaning existing customers spend more over time.

Cover slide of the Instructure pitch deck — Late Stage / Public 2016 — Instructure pitch deck, slide 1 (2016)

Instructure pitch deck: the facts

Company: Instructure
Year: 2016
Stage: Late Stage / Public
Slides: 28
Sector: EdTech / SaaS
Deck type: Investor Presentation
Outcome: Active (Publicly traded at the time of this deck)
Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Instructure pitch deck PDF

The full Instructure deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the Instructure pitch deck was used for

This deck is Instructure’s November 2016 investor presentation, prepared for institutional investors following its 2015 IPO on the NYSE (ticker INST) and used in settings such as the Raymond James Technology Investor Conference in December 2016. The company, an EdTech/SaaS provider of the Canvas learning management system, was already public and focused on communicating its growth trajectory and revenue visibility rather than raising a new private round. The presentation highlights subscription-driven revenue, large contracted backlogs and deferred revenue, and multi-market expansion to position Instructure as a scalable platform with highly predictable future revenues, consistent with other 2016 IR materials.

Business model: Instructure is a software-as-a-service company that provides cloud-based learning management and talent development platforms such as Canvas, used by educational institutions and enterprises to deliver and manage online learning.

Round: Late Stage / Public (post‑IPO).
Headquarters: 6330 South 3000 East, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, Utah 84121, United States.
Industry: Educational technology (EdTech) and SaaS learning management systems.

What happened after the Instructure deck

The November 2016 investor deck reflects Instructure’s status as a recently public SaaS EdTech company following its 2015 IPO on the NYSE. It is used to communicate growth, recurring revenue, and contracted backlog to institutional investors rather than to announce a new private funding round.

Instructure completed its initial public offering in November 2015, listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the tic
By 2016, the company reported high recurring subscription revenue, thousands of customers across dozens of countries, an

What the Instructure deck got right

High proportion of recurring subscription revenue. The 2016 IR materials highlight that a large majority of Instructure’s revenue is recurring subscription income (2015 roughly mid‑80%), which is attractive to investors seeking predictable SaaS cash flows.
Strong backlog and deferred revenue supporting revenue visibility. Slides from 2013–2015 IR decks show steadily increasing backlog and deferred revenue, which the company uses to argue for enhanced visibility into future periods and a substantial portion of next year’s revenue already under contract.
Rapid customer adoption and global footprint. The “Instructure story” in 2016 emphasizes rapid customer adoption, with thousands of customers across many countries and millions of users, reinforcing that the platform has achieved meaningful market penetration.
Multi‑market expansion strategy. The deck frames Instructure as a multi‑segment platform serving education and corporate learning, illustrating diversified growth opportunities and a broader total addressable market.
Professional public‑company disclosure and IR framing. Use of forward‑looking statement and non‑GAAP measure disclosures reflects mature public‑company communication practices, signaling professionalism and alignment with investor‑relations norms.
Coherent, investor‑oriented growth and predictability narrative. The investor presentation builds a coherent narrative linking high recurring revenue, contracted backlog, and geographic and segment expansion into a single story that appeals to institutional investors evaluating long‑term growth.

What could have been stronger

Limited disclosure on churn and retention metrics. The 2016 investor materials place heavy emphasis on backlog and deferred revenue as indicators of predictable growth but, based on available 2016 IR content, provide limited detail on churn, cohort retention, or customer lifetime value, which some investors would want to see alongside contract metrics.
Sparse detail on profitability and unit economics by segment. While the IR presentations highlight strong revenue visibility, they provide less granularity on segment profitability (e.g., education vs. corporate) or unit economics for new markets, which can make it harder to assess the sustainability of expansion into multiple customer segments.
Heavy use of non‑GAAP framing without equal emphasis on GAAP results. The deck uses standard safe‑harbor language around forward‑looking statements and non‑GAAP measures but, like many SaaS IR decks, may rely on adjusted metrics without fully juxtaposing them with GAAP profitability trends, potentially obscuring near‑term margin or loss profiles for some readers.
Limited explicit competitive landscape analysis. Although Instructure’s story emphasizes multi‑market expansion (education and corporate learning), the available 2016 materials focus more on high‑level strategy than on specific competitive positioning against other LMS providers, leaving some competitive questions for investors to investigate separately.

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

High recurring subscription revenue as a share of total revenue (around mid‑80% of 2015 revenue), supporting a SaaS valuation framework.
Rapid customer adoption across thousands of institutions and millions of users, signaling strong market traction.
Large and growing backlog and deferred revenue balances, used to demonstrate enhanced visibility into future periods and revenue already under contract.
Multi‑segment expansion into education and corporate learning, suggesting a platform with multiple growth vectors.
Use of forward‑looking and non‑GAAP measures to frame the growth story while acknowledging standard public‑company disclosure practices.

Risks that stand out

Reliance on large contracted backlogs and deferred revenue could mask potential issues in renewal rates or pricing pressure if not accompanied by churn and retention data.
Expansion into multiple markets (education, corporate learning) may stretch resources and complicate focus, affecting execution quality if segment economics differ materially.
Heavy use of non‑GAAP measures in public presentations may obscure near‑term profitability challenges or cash‑flow constraints.
The learning management system market is competitive, with switching costs and procurement cycles that can be influenced by policy changes in education and corporate training budgets.

Questions this deck invites

How have Instructure’s backlog and deferred revenue trends translated into actual revenue growth and margin evolution in subsequent years beyond 2016?
What are the customer churn and retention metrics for key segments (higher education, K–12, corporate), and how do these compare with other leading LMS providers?
How profitable are newer markets and products relative to the core Canvas education business, and what unit economics underpin multi‑segment expansion?
How does Instructure’s competitive position and pricing compare against major LMS competitors, and how defensible is its market share?
To what extent do non‑GAAP adjustments materially change the interpretation of Instructure’s operating performance relative to GAAP results for the 2014–2016 period?

What founders can take from the Instructure deck

Public SaaS companies can effectively use backlog and deferred revenue metrics to demonstrate revenue visibility and reassure institutional investors about future growth, as Instructure does in its 2016 IR materials.
Emphasizing a high proportion of recurring subscription revenue and clear segmentation between recurring and non‑recurring streams helps investors value the business appropriately and understand the stability of revenues.
Combining rapid customer adoption metrics (number of customers, users, geographies) with contracted revenue measures creates a compelling narrative of both current scale and locked‑in future performance.
Standard forward‑looking statement and non‑GAAP measure disclosures are essential for public‑company decks, but the most effective presentations also contextualize adjusted metrics with GAAP results to maintain investor trust.
Positioning an LMS platform as serving multiple markets (education and corporate) can illustrate diversified growth avenues, but investors will expect follow‑up detail on segment economics and competitive differentiation.
Investor decks for already‑public companies often focus less on a specific fundraise and more on reinforcing the equity story—growth, predictability, and strategic expansion—which is the role this 2016 deck appears to play for Instructure.

Instructure pitch deck: common questions

What does Instructure do?

Instructure is a SaaS technology company best known for its Canvas learning management system, which is used by K–12 schools, higher education institutions, and corporate customers to deliver and manage online learning.

What is the context and timing of Instructure’s November 2016 investor deck?

This investor deck was presented in November 2016, about a year after Instructure’s IPO in November 2015, and targets institutional investors and analysts to explain the company’s business model, growth metrics, and revenue visibility.

What key metrics and themes does the Instructure 2016 deck highlight?

The deck emphasizes high recurring subscription revenue (2015 roughly mid‑80% of revenue), strong customer growth, international expansion, and enhanced visibility into future periods via large backlog and deferred revenue balances, building on figures shown in its May 2016 IR deck.

Was this deck used for a private funding round or public market investors?

The deck was designed for public‑market and conference investors rather than a private fundraising round; following its IPO where it raised roughly $75–$80 million in proceeds in November 2015, the 2016 deck focuses on performance and outlook rather than new capital raising.

How does this deck fit into Instructure’s broader funding and listing history?

Instructure completed its IPO in November 2015, listing on the NYSE under the symbol INST; the 2016 deck reflects its status as a late‑stage public SaaS company, using backlog and deferred revenue metrics common in public IR presentations.

Sources

Funding and outcome facts on this page were researched on 2026-08-22 from the pages below.

Instructure pitch deck slides

Instructure pitch deck slide 1 of 28 — Instructure pitch deck — slide 1 of 28

Instructure pitch deck slide 2 of 28 — Instructure pitch deck — slide 2 of 28

Instructure pitch deck slide 3 of 28 — Instructure pitch deck — slide 3 of 28

Instructure pitch deck slide 4 of 28 — Instructure pitch deck — slide 4 of 28

Instructure pitch deck slide 5 of 28 — Instructure pitch deck — slide 5 of 28

Instructure pitch deck slide 6 of 28 — Instructure pitch deck — slide 6 of 28

What each slide of the Instructure pitch deck says

Slide 2

FORWARDING LOOKING STATEMENTS & crructure NON-GAAP MEASURES This presentation and the accompanying oral commentary contain "forward-looking" statements, within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations and financial performance, business strategies, potential growth opportunities and the effects of competition. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and can be identified by terms such as "be…

Slide 3

INSTRUCTURE — that makes : PEOPLE SMARTER — 2 find import share or ——— mo Ray a or - ° EE = 1 Ey BEET

Slide 5

THE INSTRUCTURE STORY INSTRUCTURE I Recurring (2015 ~85%) I octerred Revenue Non-recurring (2015 ~16%) Ly Backlog Tg $73.2M Soi h 70% - EDU l 145M | saa.4m | 1 ! J 1 $92M $26.1M $838M 73m |] $5.1 Billion 2012 2013 201 2015 2013 01 2015 ® Headquartered in Salt Lake City with 800 employees worldwide >100% retention revenue Offices in London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Brazil ® >2,000 customers in 40 countries’ ® Flagship products Canvas & Bridge 93% Customer Support Satisfaction @) 100% native cloud 14s of September 30, 2016

Slide 6

BUILDING SUPERIOR SOFTWARE THAT INSTRUCTURE MEETS EVOLVING CONSUMER DEMAND nN a = 2 5 oO oS -® da AA Consumerized Collaborative ald Mobile Engaging _ 2 mh

Slide text above is read directly from the Instructure deck PDF embedded on this page.

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