🪴 How storytelling can fix your pitch deck

Lessons from Chronicle’s $7.5M raise on nailing YOUR narrative..

Jul 16, 2025

You’re sitting across from an investor, your pitch deck glowing on the screen. You’ve got ten minutes to make them believe in your startup as much as you do.

Numbers? They’re there.

Traction? You’ve got it.

But what makes that investor lean in, eyes wide, ready to write a check? The story you tell.

At Chronicle, where they raised a $7.5M seed from Accel, they learned that a clear, sticky story in your pitch deck isn’t just nice, it’s what differentiates you from every other startup. The storytelling transfers to other areas of business as well, like their ProductHunt success.

First of many reader’s notes: If you're a visual learner, check out the bottom of the post where I break down pitch decks, highlighting what works and what could use some tweaking.

Your pitch deck is your origin story

Think about the last time you aced a job interview. Chances are, you didn’t just rattle off your resume. You told a story, maybe about the moment you knew you were meant for this path.

Your pitch deck needs that same vibe: an origin story that reveals why you’re the one that’s going to solve this problem.

For early-stage startups, raising $500k to $5M, your story is about the spark. Why does your startup exist? Take Nikolay Storonsky, the founder of Revolut. He didn’t just build a fintech app to “disrupt banking.” His pitch deck told the story of a frustrating weekend in Las Vegas, stuck with awful exchange rates and hidden fees making him not want to exchange (and gamble :D) as much money as intended. That personal pain (felt by millions) was the seed of Revolut’s mission to make money move effortlessly.

Investors didn’t just buy into the product; they bought into Nikolay’s relentless drive to fix a broken system. That’s the power of a personal story. It’s not about slick design; it’s about making investors feel the problem in their bones.

Make it simple, silly

Even if your story is as good as Homer’s Odyssey no one will give a flying f, if you bury it in business jargon or cluttered slides. Investors spend about 2.5 minutes on an average deck (if I’m being optimistic).

Take Jobs’ iPod launch. He was advised to showcase all the futuristic didn’t specs, the enormous memory and the way it is going revolutionise music industry (reader’s note: I’m using words revolutionise/disrupt as a satire. Never use it in your pitch deck. Or anywhere at all. Please.)

Instead, he just said “1000 songs in your pocket”. Your deck should do the same. Just the essentials. One clear problem, one clear solution, one clear vision.

At Chronicle, they tell founders to aim for these exact three beats:

the pain (why this problem sucks),
the fix (how you solve it),
and the dream (what’s possible if you win)

Treat the pitch as a conversation

A pitch deck shouldn’t be treated as a lecture, it’s a dialogue. Investors aren’t just judging your slides; they’re judging you. Make them feel part of the story. Start with a question that grabs them:

“How many times have you been burned by bad exchange rates?” (Nik probably asked something similar)

Or try a quick poll: “Raise your hand if you’ve seen a pitch deck that bored you to death.” It might break the ice and sets a collaborative vibe (reader’s note: first question that came to my mind, probably don’t use this one — it’s too cheesy)

Anticipate the tough questions

Investors are skeptical, they’ll definitely poke holes in your story. The best of founders don’t just tell a great tale; they’re ready for the “So what?” and “Why now?” questions. When crafting your deck, think like an investor.

What’s the biggest risk they’ll see?

What’s the one number they’ll question?

Are there concerns around your team, you should address?

Have answers ready, but don’t cram them into your main slides. Keep your deck lean, with backup slides or a quick story to address any doubts.

For example, if an investor asks, “Why can’t competitors copy your product?” share a quick anecdote about your unique edge, like how your team’s obsession with the problem gives you a head start no one can match.

Reader’s note: If you are working on yet another social media platform, raising money is going to be super difficult (apart from guys from Ditto, i guess?).

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Share The Founders' Fuel

Okay so what should I do?

So, to condense this down — how do you craft a pitch deck that investors can’t stop thinking about?

Start with why.
Maybe it’s a moment that broke your heart or lit a fire under you. For me, I started Unicourn as an AI agent to teach founders what the next steps are. Similar to this newsletter, but more. However, we hit a wall — there was no quality data to train it. That made us realise there’s not enough quality synthetic data and made us pivot.

Your “why” makes the problem real and you the hero to solve it.
Keep it tight with 3 beats.
Strip your story to its core: the problem (make it sting), the solution (make it obvious), and the vision (make it massive). Investors give your deck about 2.5 minutes.

At Chronicle they advise to make your problem hurt, your solution shine, and your vision inspire.
Make it a conversation.
Hook them early, and keep the room engaged. End with a clear ask. Create FOMO. Investors are indeed attracted to founders who project a "with or without you" mentality.

Bonus: Test your deck by reading it aloud to a friend. If they’re not hooked, no one will.
Prep for tough questions.
Anticipate the hard questions: “Why now?” or “What’s your edge?”. Prepare backup slides to address any question you’d ask yourself if you were in the investor’s shoes.
Your pitch deck is your startup’s first handshake.
Make it clear, make it human, make it stick. Test it by reading it aloud to a friend — if they’re not hooked, neither will be the investors.
Clarity sticks.
Craft a story that makes investors want to stick around and feel like they’re already part of your journey. And if they choose not to work with you, make them feel FOMO. Very badly.

Now for some good/bad examples

Everything up to this point was theoretical. I’ll switch to practice to help you spot the good/bad examples of pitch decks across certain metrics.

Problem

Glambook (Bad example)
(deck)
2022: Raised $2.5M Seed Round
$3.1M in Total Funding

Revolut (Good example)
(deck)
2015: Raised $4.8M Seed Round
$1.7B+ in Total Funding
Solution

Square (Bad example)
(deck)
2011: Raised $100M Series C
$590.5M in Total Funding

Zestful (Good example)
(deck)
2019: Raised $5M Seed Round
$8.2M in Total Funding
Market

Intercom (Bad example)
(deck)
2012: Raised $1M Seed Round
$240.8M in Total Funding

Revolut (Good example, again :c)
(deck)
2015: Raised $4.8M Seed Round
$1.7B+ in Total Funding
Competition

lunchbox (Bad example)
(deck)
2019: Raised $2.1M Seed Round
$92M in Total Funding

ChronicleHQ (Good example)
(deck)
2023: Raised $7.5M Seed Round
$7.5M in Total Funding
Clarity

Foursquare (Bad example)
(deck)
2009: Raised $1.35M Series A
$207.3M in Total Funding

Claim Compass (Good example)
(deck)
2016: Raised undisclosed seed round
Undisclosed total funding