The Weekdone pitch deck, used during their winning 2013 Slush competition appearance, is a prime example of a 'stage deck' designed to support a live speaker rather than serve as a standalone document. With only 12 slides (6 provided here), the deck avoids the common trap of over-explaining features. Instead, it uses stark visual contrasts to highlight the gap between consumer tech and management tools. The deck's strength lies in its team slide, which showcases significant prior exits and experience at scale, and its clear, simple pricing model of $2 to $10 per employee per month. While it l…
Key takeaways
- The deck uses a visual contrast on slide 2 to show the abundance of consumer apps versus the lack of modern tools for managers.
- Product accessibility is emphasized on slide 1 and slide 6, highlighting support for browser, e-mail, tablet, and mobile.
- Pricing is stated as a simple range of $2 to $10 per employee per month on slide 4.
- The team slide (slide 5) highlights a founder with a successful exit in 2012 from CV-Online, where Esther Dyson was an investor.
- Slide 5 notes that the core team has a long history, with two founders sharing 12+ years of working together.
- The product UI is showcased on slide 3, demonstrating a 'score' system and progress tracking for team members like James and Mike.
- The deck relies heavily on pop-culture imagery and minimalist text, typical of high-stakes startup competition formats.
- There is no mention of current revenue, total addressable market (TAM), or a specific funding 'ask' in the provided slides.
Introduction: The Competition-Winning Aesthetic
The Weekdone pitch deck from the 2013 Slush competition is a masterclass in brevity. In a live pitch environment, the audience's attention is split between the speaker and the screen. Weekdone’s strategy was to use the slides as visual punctuation rather than a technical manual. With a focus on the 'Manager' as the neglected user in the tech revolution, the deck builds a narrative of simplicity and necessity.
Slide 1: Title and Platform Ubiquity
The opening slide sets the stage with the tagline 'Insights into your team.' The background image shows a laptop, but the bottom of the slide features a series of icons: an envelope, a desktop monitor, a tablet, a smartphone, and a printer. This immediately communicates that Weekdone is not just a web app; it is a cross-platform service that integrates with existing workflows like email and even physical reporting. The branding is clean, utilizing a bright orange color palette that remains consistent throughout the presentation.
Slide 2: The Consumer vs. Manager Gap
Slide 2 is the 'Problem' slide, executed through visual metaphor. On the left, under 'Consumers,' is a dense cloud of logos including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Skype, and Dropbox. This represents the modern, hyper-connected world of the individual. On the right, under 'Managers,' there are only two icons: an envelope (email) and a bar chart. A thought bubble reads, 'I wish there was a better way...' This slide effectively argues that while consumer tech has evolved, management tools have remained stagnant, creating a market opportunity for a modern solution.
Slide 3: The Solution in Action
Slide 3 moves directly into the product. It shows the 'Manager gets the report' view on an iPad and an iPhone. The UI is clean, featuring a 'Weekdone Score' (a 5 in this example) and color-coded progress bars for team members like James and Mike. The slide also notes that the app is 'Available on the App Store.' By showing the product on multiple devices, the founders prove that the 'Insights' promised on slide 1 are delivered in a mobile-first, accessible format. The use of green, orange, and red status bars suggests an intuitive, traffic-light system for project management.
Slide 4: Business Model and Social Proof
Slide 4 is remarkably simple, focusing on pricing: '$2...10 per employee per month.' This transparency is rare in early-stage decks but works well in a competition setting to show that the business is ready to scale. Below the pricing is a quote: 'We really love this service and found it to be interesting for the Asian market.' While the source of the quote isn't explicitly named on the slide, it serves as a placeholder for validation. The inclusion of a whimsical 'mustache and eyes' graphic adds a touch of personality, which is common in European startup culture like that at Slush.
Slide 5: The Powerhouse Team
Slide 5 is arguably the strongest slide in the deck. It lists five key team members with specific, high-value credentials. Jüri Kaljundi (Business & Product) is credited with a 2012 exit of CV-Online, notably mentioning that Esther Dyson was an investor. Janek Hiis (Development) is noted as a team lead from Playtech, an AIM-listed company with over $200m in revenue. The slide also highlights '12+ years of common history' between the founders. For an investor, this slide mitigates the two biggest risks: 'Can they build it?' and 'Will the team break up?'
Slide 6: The Vision and Accessibility
The final slide in this set features a pop-culture reference (Dr. Evil) and a closing statement: 'The single tool in any manager's pocket: browser, e-mail, tablet and mobile.' This reinforces the core value proposition one last time. It emphasizes that Weekdone isn't trying to replace every tool; it's trying to be the 'single tool' that aggregates data from everywhere a manager already works. The repetition of the platform icons from slide 1 brings the presentation full circle.
What Works in This Deck
Visual Storytelling: The deck avoids 'death by bullet point.' By using icons and large-scale imagery, it allows the speaker to tell the story while the slides provide the emotional or logical anchor. The contrast between the consumer app world and the manager's world is a particularly effective way to frame a problem.
Founder Credibility: The team slide is exceptional. It doesn't just list titles; it lists outcomes (exits, revenue scales, and famous investors). This builds immediate trust that the team knows how to handle growth and institutional capital.
Pricing Clarity: Many startups hide their pricing behind 'Contact Us' buttons. By putting a per-seat price range directly in the pitch, Weekdone signals that they understand their unit economics and their target customer (SMEs and teams within larger enterprises).
What Is Missing
Market Size (TAM): There is no mention of how many managers exist globally or the total dollar value of the team management software market. While the problem is clear, the scale of the opportunity is left to the imagination.
Traction Metrics: Aside from a single quote, the deck does not list current user counts, MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue), or growth rates. In a fundraising context, these are usually mandatory, though they may have been omitted for the public version of the Slush pitch.
Competitive Landscape: The deck implies that the competition is 'email and charts,' but in 2013, tools like Asana, Trello, and even early Slack were already gaining ground. The deck does not explain how Weekdone wins against these specific rivals.
Lessons for Founders
Founders should copy the way Weekdone handles the 'Team' slide. Instead of just listing where you went to school, list the most impressive number or name associated with your past work. If you worked at a company that went public, say so. If you worked for a famous founder, name them.
Additionally, the 'Problem' slide (Slide 2) is a great template for anyone building B2B tools. If you can show that your target user is 'living in the dark ages' compared to the rest of the world, you have already won half the battle in convincing an investor that a solution is necessary.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the primary problem Weekdone is solving?
- Based on slide 2, Weekdone addresses the 'tool gap' for managers. While consumers have a vast array of social and productivity apps (represented by logos like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram), managers are depicted as having only email and basic charts, leading them to 'wish there was a better way' to gain insights into their teams.
- How does Weekdone justify its team's ability to execute?
- Slide 5 provides deep credibility by listing specific achievements: Jüri Kaljundi had a job board exit in 2012 and experience at a 60m EUR firm; Janek Hiis led a team at Playtech ($200m+ revenue). Crucially, it notes the founders have worked together for over 12 years, reducing 'founder conflict' risk.
- What is the pricing model for the software?
- Slide 4 explicitly states a pricing model of '$2...10 per employee per month.' This suggests a tiered SaaS model based on seat count, which is standard for B2B productivity tools, though the specific features included in each tier are not detailed in the slides.
- Is there a clear product demonstration in the deck?
- Slide 3 provides a high-fidelity mockup of the interface on both a tablet and a smartphone. It shows a dashboard where a manager can see a team score (e.g., 'Your score is 5') and individual progress bars for employees, indicating the tool is designed for real-time performance tracking.
- What is missing from this pitch deck compared to a standard VC deck?
- This is a competition deck, so it lacks several 'due diligence' slides. There are no financial projections, no detailed go-to-market strategy, no competitive landscape matrix, and no specific 'Ask' slide detailing how much capital they are raising or how they will spend it.
