Building your pitch deck
This event is for female founders.
Early-stage founders are often told that “every investor is different” — and that’s true. But after reviewing hundreds of pitch decks and sitting in countless investor conversations, a clear pattern emerges: there is a formula, and there are fundamentals that simply shouldn’t be missing.
In this practical, hour-long session, Dr. Kristen Weatherby, founder of Breakthrough Labs, will walk through what makes an effective early-stage pitch deck today.
Kristen reviews pitch decks regularly in multiple capacities:
as an angel investor, evaluating opportunities for her own portfolio
as a scout for an impact-driven VC, assessing founder readiness and clarity
as a judge at startup pitching competitions
and through her work supporting scores of Breakthrough Labs founders, many of whom are preparing for their first (or next) funding conversations
She also works closely with investors through Breakthrough Labs’ investor sessions, hearing first-hand what investors are responding to — and where founders are consistently losing them.
This session will cover:
the core structure investors expect to see in an early-stage pitch deck
the slides that are often missing or underdeveloped
common mistakes that weaken otherwise strong ideas
how to balance storytelling with evidence
what matters most right now in early-stage funding conversations
There will be time for questions, and you’ll leave with a clearer sense of how to approach your pitch deck — whether you’re starting from scratch or refining an existing version.
This session is ideal for:
early-stage women founders building or revising their first pitch deck
founders preparing for angel, pre-seed, or seed conversations
anyone feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure what investors actually want
Come along, ask your questions, and start your pitch deck process on solid footing.