How media, sports and adtech founders show they can win audiences and sell advertising: named networks and leagues, ad sales records, prior exits.
Media Team Slide: Show Who Wins the Audience and Who Sells the Ads
A media company lives on two things: getting an audience and turning it into revenue, usually through advertising, sponsorship or subscriptions. Investors read the team slide to see who has done each before. This guide compares seven real team slides from decks tagged media in our library, from a slide that names the leagues and ad budgets each person has handled to one that lists four names and titles.
TL;DR
Name who brings the audience or content, who sells to advertisers, and what each has done, with a number where you can. BrandBoards pairs a former Anheuser-Busch sports marketing executive who "Spent $200 million/year in our space" with a CEO who took a company public and a VP who "Sold $Million dollar advertising PGA, NFL, Super Bowl". CanSport LIVE gives every leader years of experience and a named newspaper or media employer. Vibe shows founder exits, a team headcount by function and board members with $200m acquisitions. Holloway and Croma show strong builder histories. Tonies and Redakt are weaker: names and titles with no background.
Media team slides from real pitch decks
Each example shows the exact stored slide above its analysis and links to the full teardown. The clearest slides come first; weaker ones follow for contrast. Claims are as shown on the slides; comments are ours.
BrandBoards deck, slide 3. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: The founder has been the buyer this company sells to (a big brand's sports budget), and the team also covers ad sales, company building and ad technology.
Evidence and limitation: Named employers, leagues, an annual budget, an exit and an IPO; the subtitle names the three areas the company needs.
What a founder can adapt: Name the three areas your business needs in the subtitle and give each person one line that proves one of them.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: Tim Schoen [founder, chairman, cmo]: "Anheuser-Busch, Exec VP Sports and Entertainment", "Spent $200 million/year in our space", "NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA, MLS, NASCAR, NCAA, UFC". Kenny Hawk [ceo, co-founder]: "Built three companies as CEO", "NemeriX (sold to Qualcomm in 2009)", "iGo, founded, took public, over $1 billion in sales, 700X return to angel investor". Lance Aldridge [vp media ad sales]: "Sold $Million dollar advertising PGA, NFL, Super Bowl", "Launched independent sports TV network". Brian Carnell [vp product development]: "At Cisco Systems lead Product Strategy Digital Media & Advertising Platforms", "Built two successful digital display ad startups".
Presentation choice: Advertising businesses depend on relationships with buyers; a former buyer is strong evidence of access.
When it does not fit: "$Million dollar advertising" is vague; give the figure.
Canadian sports media and live streaming. Slide titled "Who is on The CanSport LIVE Team?".
CanSport LIVE deck, slide 3. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: Every function in the headline has an owner with a named media employer, and a dedicated advertising sales lead is shown.
Evidence and limitation: Years of experience and named employers for all five; one press recognition for the CEO.
What a founder can adapt: Add one result per person, such as revenue sold or audience grown, not just years.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: "The CanSport LIVE team is made up of experts in Sports Management, Technology Development, Media Management and Digital Advertising Sales." CEO Kevin Albrecht: "27 years in sports management as an agent, producer, business leader and entrepreneur. Named by the Globe and Mail as one of the top three most influential people in Canadian sports." COO Judy Sims: "15 years traditional and digital media experience: Former VP Digital Media at the Toronto Star". CIO Jason Nagy: "20 years media and advertising technology experience at Southam and the Globe and Mail". VP Advertising Sales Jeffrey Anderson: "13 years media and advertising experience at Microsoft, AOL, CanWest Mediaworks and Pattison". Director, Product Management Julie Messore: "8 years ... at the Toronto Star and Harlequin".
Presentation choice: A media start-up needs an ad sales owner early; this slide shows one with a track record at large sellers.
When it does not fit: Years of experience alone don't show what was achieved.
Advertising technology; Series A deck. Slide titled "Built by Product Driven, Growth Focused AdTech Veterans".
Vibe deck, slide 2. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: At Series A, investors want to see the whole team, not just founders; the headcount split and zero resignations show a team that is built and staying.
Evidence and limitation: Founder exits and a valuation, a headcount split by function, retention figures and board members with named acquisitions.
What a founder can adapt: Once past the founding stage, add a headcount by function and a retention figure.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: Founders: Arthur Querou, "CEO & CoFounder", "Ex-founder at MotionLead (YC W14, Acq. by Adikteev)"; Franck Tetzlaff, "CTO & CoFounder", "Ex-founder at Doctolib ($6B Valuation)". Team: "36 Total FTE", "20 Tech & Product", "11 Sales & Ops", "3 Marketing", "2 G&A", "3 Come Backs", "0 Resignation", "8y Average Experience". External board members: Ben Antier ("Acq. by IAS for $200m"), Ari Paparo ("Acq. by Comcast for $200m"), Pauline Roux ("Partner at Elaia").
Presentation choice: Showing where people sit (20 in tech and product, 11 in sales) tells investors how the company will spend the next round.
When it does not fit: Company logos with no names attached, as in the right-hand column.
Digital publishing of in-depth guides. Slide titled "Team".
Holloway deck, slide 2. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: It shows strong start-up and engineering history and a writing effort Josh led; the editorial staff line shows who produces the content.
Evidence and limitation: Dated roles at named companies, a staff list that includes editors, and named advisors.
What a founder can adapt: Put the publishing-relevant line (the open source writing work, the editors) first rather than at the end.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: Andy Sparks: "co-founded Mattermark ('13-'16) and was COO there until October 2016", "co-founded LaunchGram ('11-'13), a now defunct predecessor to ProductHunt". Joshua Levy: "led tech operations and infrastructure at Viv Labs, the next AI startup from the founders of Siri (acq. Samsung '16)", "founding engineer and engineering leader at BloomReach", "has led popular open source writing efforts". "Full-time & contract staff" including "10+ authors, editors, & copyeditors". "Advisors": Russell Power (early Google), Marcello Bastéa-Forte (early Siri), John Schmocker (former Greylock).
Presentation choice: For a publisher, investors want to know who makes the content; the staff list answers that.
When it does not fit: Long paragraphs; the strongest facts are hard to find.
Social TV analytics. Slide titled "Second Time Founders".
Croma deck, slide 2. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: The headline makes one strong claim, that the founders have built and sold a similar product, and the screenshot shows what it was.
Evidence and limitation: A prior company and exit year; no individual backgrounds or exit terms.
What a founder can adapt: Say who acquired comenta.TV and which of the five were involved.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: Juan Melano, "CEO"; Juan Schwindt, "CTO"; Nacho Harriague, "Sales"; Julian Ganzabal, "Engineering"; Tiffany Labanca, "Advisor". Beside them, a screenshot of comenta.TV and "Successfull exit in 2014".
Presentation choice: A previous exit in the same field is one of the strongest team signals; this slide leads with it.
When it does not fit: Leaving the exit unexplained; an investor has to look it up.
Children's audio player and figures. Slide titled "Highly experienced, founder-led team". (weaker)
Tonies deck, slide 2. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: Included for contrast: the titles show an international structure, but nothing says what anyone has done.
Evidence and limitation: Names and titles only; "highly experienced" is not supported on the slide.
What a founder can adapt: Add one line each: a prior employer, a result, or the market each person has built.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: Marcus Stahl, "Co-Founder"; Patric Faßbender, "Co-Founder"; Jan Middelhoff, "MD International"; Florian Drabeck, "CFO"; Christoph Frehsee, "US President".
Presentation choice: A claim of experience needs at least one fact per person to be believed.
When it does not fit: Adjectives in the headline that the slide doesn't back up.
Redakt deck, slide 3. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: Included for contrast: an investor can see the roles are covered but can't judge anyone's experience.
Evidence and limitation: Four names, titles and icons; no employers, years or results.
What a founder can adapt: Add each person's most relevant past work, such as publishing platforms or agencies they have built for.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: Jasper van der Sterren, "Managing Director & Technical Architect"; John van Aerle, "Marketing Director"; Arjan Lugthart, "Interaction Designer"; Trajche Shoposki, "Lead Developer".
Presentation choice: Without backgrounds, the slide doesn't help the investor decide whether this team can win.
When it does not fit: A slide that could belong to any company.
Whether an investor can see audience or content experience, advertising or sales experience, and something checkable about each person.
Example
Business
Audience or content experience
Ad or sales experience
Checkable facts
BrandBoards
Sports advertising
Leagues named
Yes (ad sales VP; brand budget)
Employers, budget, exit, IPO
CanSport LIVE
Sports media
Yes (newspapers, sports)
Yes (VP Advertising Sales)
Years and employers
Vibe
Adtech
Not stated
11 in sales and ops
Exits, headcount, retention
Holloway
Publishing
Editors on staff
Not shown
Dated roles, employers
Croma
Social TV analytics
Prior TV product
Sales role, no background
Exit year only
Tonies
Children's audio
Not shown
Not shown
Titles only
Redakt
CMS software
Not shown
Not shown
Titles only
Key Takeaways
Show who has built an audience and who has sold advertising or sponsorship.
Name the networks, publishers, leagues or brands each person worked with.
Add a number: budget managed, ad sales, audience, exit.
Show headcount by function once the team is larger than the founders.
A title alone tells an investor nothing about fit.
Build your media team slide
Cover audience and revenue, then add a number for each person.
Audience or content. Who has built an audience or produced content, and for which network, publisher or league?
Revenue. Who has sold advertising, sponsorship or subscriptions, and how much?
Product. Who builds the platform, and what have they shipped before?
Number. One figure per person: budget, sales, audience, exit.
Team size. If past the founders, how many people in each function?
Copyable framework: Headline: [the two or three areas you need]. [Name], [role]: [employer], [result with number]. Ad sales: [name], sold [amount] at [company].
Illustrative example 1 — written by us
Before: Jasper van der Sterren, Managing Director & Technical Architect. John van Aerle, Marketing Director.
After: Jasper van der Sterren, Managing Director: built [N] sites on [platform] for [publishers]. John van Aerle, Marketing Director: [result] at [company].
What improved: Our illustrative rewrite; the bracketed details are placeholders, not Redakt's facts. It gives each person a relevant track record.
What this guide adds
The general team slide guide covers any company. Media has a particular question: has anyone here built an audience and sold it to advertisers or sponsors? This guide looks at how real media, sports and adtech team slides answer it.
Our library's media tag is broad; it includes sports media, advertising technology, publishing, video, children's audio and content management software. We note each company's business in the examples.
How we read each slide
We quote the text on the stored slide images. We have not checked any employer, budget, sales figure, exit or valuation claim.
Common mistakes
No ad sales owner. If advertising pays the bills, name who sells it.
Vague sales claims. Replace "$Million dollar advertising" with the figure.
Unsupported adjectives. "Highly experienced" needs a fact per person.
Unexplained exits. Say who bought the company and who was involved.
Titles only. A role without background can't be judged.
Diagnostic checklist
An audience or content owner with a named track record.
An advertising, sponsorship or subscription sales owner.
One employer and one number per person.
Headcount by function if past the founding team.
Advisors and board labelled apart from staff.
Frequently asked questions
What should a media startup's team slide show?
Who brings the audience or content, who sells to advertisers or sponsors, and one checkable fact for each. BrandBoards names a former brand sports budget holder, an ad sales VP and a CEO with a prior IPO.
Should a media team slide show headcount?
Once past the founders, yes. Vibe shows 36 staff split into 20 tech and product, 11 sales and ops, 3 marketing and 2 G&A.
Is a list of names and titles enough?
No. Tonies and Redakt show names and roles only, so an investor can't judge anyone's experience from the slide.
How we chose these examples
Corpus: published pitch deck teardowns on StartupFundraising.com. Founder-uploaded private decks are excluded.
Selection (2026-09-27): we searched extracted slide text in decks tagged media for team, founders, founding or leadership together with CEO, CTO, COO or co-founder. About 40 slides matched; 26 unused ones had stored images and were reviewed as images.
Kept seven. Left out: slides that are not team slides (Major League Football p2 safe harbor, Muck Rack p6, GappBooks p6, Open Sponsorship p1 cover, Washington Commanders p5 football team overview); single-founder or duplicate decks (Opening Day p2; two other BrandBoards decks); and further team slides (Qortex, QualSights, MxMedia, Pixt, FlexyMovies, Team-Up Sports, Golfalong, Key2Cell, Rattle Radio, Barcoo, Canela, Founderflix) to keep the guide focused. Mivesta p3 is used elsewhere. No uploads were requested.
Review: stored slide text and images were checked on 2026-09-27 and matched to company, deck and slide number (editorial model review). No person has yet completed an editorial review of this page.
Claims are as shown on the slides; we have not verified them. We make no claim that any slide caused a fundraising outcome.
