| name | sequoia-structured-bp |
| description | Sequoia Capital-style structured business plan / pitch deck framework. 10-slide data-driven format with slide-by-slide writing guides, examples, and checklists. Best for Series A+ and institutional investors. Trigger when users need a rigorous, investor-grade BP structure. |
| license | MIT |
Skill: Sequoia Structured BP
Meta
- Style: Data-driven, investor-grade, modular
- Best For: Series A and beyond; institutional investors; due-diligence-heavy rounds
- Source: Sequoia Capital pitch framework
- Output Length: 10–12 slides
- Tone: Confident, evidence-based, no hype
Core Philosophy
The investor has 3 minutes. Every slide must either (a) reduce risk or (b) increase upside. No decoration.
"If you can't explain it with data, you don't understand it well enough." — adapted from Einstein
Slide-by-Slide Guide
Slide 1: Company Purpose (1 sentence)
Goal: Make the investor "get it" in 5 seconds.
Formula:
[Company] is a [category] that helps [target customer] [solve problem] by [unique mechanism].
Good Example:
"ChainLedger is a compliance settlement network that helps cross-border B2B traders reduce settlement time from 7 days to 4 hours through real-time sanction screening."
Bad Example:
"ChainLedger is a blockchain-based fintech platform leveraging AI and machine learning to disrupt the payments industry."
Check:
Slide 2: Problem
Goal: Prove the problem is real, urgent, and valuable.
Structure:
- Scene-setting (1 sentence): What world do your customers live in?
- Pain quantification: Use a number. $18B/yr in fines. 3–5 intermediaries. 4–7 day delay.
- Who feels it most: Define your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) narrowly.
Good Example:
"Cross-border B2B payments involve 3–5 intermediaries, 4–7 day settlement, and compliance gaps that cost enterprises $18B/yr in fines globally. The pain is most acute for mid-market manufacturers importing from Asia — they have 2-person finance teams and zero compliance expertise."
Bad Example:
"Cross-border payments are broken. They're slow, expensive, and non-compliant."
Check:
Slide 3: Solution
Goal: Show your solution is inevitable once the problem is understood.
Structure:
- The insight (1 sentence): What did you see that others missed?
- How it works (2–3 sentences): Mechanism, not architecture.
- Before/After: One sentence contrasting old way vs. your way.
Good Example:
"We built an end-to-end compliance settlement network using real-time sanction screening, automated KYC/KYB, and instant settlement rails. Instead of routing through 3 correspondent banks over 7 days, we settle directly in 4 hours with full audit trails."
Bad Example:
"Our platform uses a microservices architecture with PostgreSQL, Redis, and Kubernetes on AWS."
Check:
Slide 4: Why Now?
Goal: Convince the investor the timing is non-negotiable.
Structure:
List 2–3 market tailwinds that make this business possible now but not 5 years ago.
Examples:
- Regulatory: "PSD2 + open banking APIs made real-time settlement legally possible in EU"
- Technology: "Cloud compliance tools dropped KYC cost from $50 to $5 per check"
- Behavior: "Post-COVID, 73% of CFOs now prioritize cash flow visibility over relationship banking"
Check:
Slide 5: Market Size
Goal: Show the prize is worth the investor's time.
Structure:
TAM: $X billion (top-down, industry report)
SAM: $Y billion (bottom-up, reachable in 5–7 years)
SOM: $Z million (what you can capture in 2–3 years)
Good Example:
"TAM: $180B cross-border B2B payments
SAM: $12B mid-market Asia-Europe trade corridor
SOM: $840M Chinese manufacturers with <500 employees"
Bad Example:
"The fintech market is $300T. If we capture 0.01%..."
Check:
Slide 6: Competition
Goal: Show you understand the landscape and have a differentiated position.
Structure:
- 2x2 matrix: X-axis = speed, Y-axis = compliance depth (pick axes relevant to your market)
- Where you sit: Explain why you're in the top-right.
- Moat preview: Hint at what's hard to replicate (don't fully reveal yet).
Good Example:
"Legacy banks (bottom-left): 7 days, high compliance but manual. Fintechs (top-left): 1 day, low compliance. We're the only player in top-right: 4 hours + full automated compliance."
Check:
Slide 7: Product
Goal: Show the product is real and differentiated.
Structure:
- Screenshot/demo: One image or 30-sec Loom.
- Key differentiator: One feature no one else has.
- Integration: How customers adopt (API, dashboard, Slack bot, etc.).
Check:
Slide 8: Business Model
Goal: Show how you make money and that the economics work.
Structure:
- Pricing: Simple, transparent. One primary model.
- Unit economics: CAC, LTV, gross margin if available.
- Expansion revenue: How customers grow over time.
Good Example:
"SaaS: 0.15% per transaction + $2k/mo platform fee. Enterprise: custom pricing.
Unit economics: CAC $4,200 (inside sales), LTV $48,000, gross margin 82%."
Check:
Slide 9: Traction
Goal: Prove momentum. This is the most important slide for early-stage.
Structure:
- The one metric that matters: Pick the metric that best shows product-market fit.
- Trend line: Show growth over time (6–12 months).
- Logo wall: 3–5 customer logos (with permission).
Metric Selection Guide:
| Stage | Best Metric |
|---|
| Pre-launch | Waitlist size + engagement rate |
| Post-launch | MAU/DAU + retention curve |
| Revenue | MRR + MoM growth rate |
| Scale | Net revenue retention + expansion rate |
Good Example:
"120+ enterprise customers, $50k MRR, 12% MoM growth last 6 months. Core vertical renewal 90%+."
Check:
Slide 10: Team
Goal: Answer "Why you?" — why this team will win.
Structure:
- Founders: Relevant experience, not credentials.
- Key hires: Who you've recruited that validates the vision.
- Advisors: 1–2 credible names if available.
Good Example:
"CEO — ex-Ant Group payments lead (8 yrs, built $2B settlement product). CTO — ex-infrastructure architect at Stripe. COO — ex-HSBC compliance director."
Bad Example:
"Team has degrees from MIT, Stanford, and Harvard."
Check:
Slide 11: Financials
Goal: Show you understand the financial trajectory.
Structure:
- Historical (if any): Revenue, burn, runway.
- Projections: 3-year forecast. Conservative, base, optimistic.
- Use of funds: Where the new money goes.
Rule: Never show a hockey stick without explaining what changes to make it happen.
Check:
Slide 12: The Ask
Goal: Make it easy to say yes.
Structure:
We're raising $X on a $Y pre-money valuation.
Use of funds: [specific allocation]
Milestones with this round: [3 measurable goals]
Good Example:
"Raising $1.1M on $8.3M pre-money.
Use: 40% engineering (compliance automation), 30% sales (2 senior AEs), 30% operations.
Milestones: $200k MRR, 3 enterprise pilots, EU regulatory approval."
Check:
Self-Review Checklist
Before sending, run through this:
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
- The "Everything Deck": >15 slides. Cut to 10.
- The "TAM Fantasy": Top-down market size without SAM/SOM.
- The "No Competition" Claim: Every market has competition. Acknowledge it.
- The "Team of Geniuses": Credentials without relevant experience.
- The "Hockey Stick": Exponential growth projections without mechanism.