Don't skip the last slide

Hello friends,

This is it, we’ve reached the final slide of the Core 10 Pitch Framework!

After putting so much effort into Steps 1–9, from sharing your personal story to introducing your team, you might feel tempted to rush through this last part. Don’t!

Your final slide is where you sincerely thank investors for their time and establish clear next steps. It’s just as important as any other part of your pitch. Maybe even more.

There’s a quirk in behavioral psychology called The Peak-End Rule, where people tend to remember the last part of an experience more than the rest. So be sure to leave investors feeling good and confident in your business and your ability to lead it.

If you’re starting to worry about how to present your pitch, fear not; the next section of the book focuses on live interactions. Running the meeting, adapting your pitch for different lengths, handling feedback, and more.

Below is a preview of Chapter 15 from Fundraising for the Rest of Us. The full chapter goes into detail about your appendix, including financial projections, exit strategy, and making the all-important Ask. If you want to read more (and help shape the book), I’d love to have you join as a beta reader.

Let’s get into it!

The Final Slide: Thank You & Next Steps

Ending your pitch with a “Thank You” slide isn’t just a formality. This is your closing moment. Whether you’re in a live pitch and it stays up on the screen for a while during your discussion, or someone is flipping through your deck at 11:00 PM in bed (yes, investors do that), this slide is what lingers. Make it count.

Your Thank You slide should include:

• A sincere, human thank you.

• All the ways someone can contact you: website, email, and social links. Hyperlink them and spell them out in case the deck is viewed in a non-clickable format.

• Social media platforms where you actively post content or where someone can reasonably expect to reach you

• Any asks that would be helpful beyond money, like signing up for your newsletter, a specific type of introduction to an advisor or customer, etc.

Even if you’re sending the deck with no idea who’s looking, keep your sign-off gracious and confident. “Thank you,” or “Thanks for your consideration” are fine, but “Thank you for spending time with our story,” or “We appreciate your time” is warmer. Even better is something in your own voice that reflects your personality or your brand’s voice. Bonus points if it makes someone smile because they’ll remember you, and it will encourage them to book some time. 

• “We appreciate you spending time with our story. We know your inbox isn’t empty.”

• “Thanks for spending time with our deck. We hope it was more compelling than your last Zoom meeting.”

• “If you made it here, thank you. We don’t have a surprise prize for the last slide, but we should.”

• “Thanks for meeting us here. We’re building something that matters, and your time means a lot.”

How it’s Different for The Rest of Us

This is the final stretch of the pitch, and it might seem purely procedural, but this is often when bias creeps in the hardest, and confidence wobbles. You might be thinking:

• “I’ve never made a financial model before. What if they tear it apart, or I did it wrong?”

• “Exit strategy? I’m just trying to get customers!”

• “What if I’m asking for too little or too much? I don’t want to look like I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Let me say this clearly: you are not behind. You’ve just been outside the room where these things are casually explained.

 So, here’s your mindset shift:

• Financial projections don’t need to be fancy or perfect. They need to make sense. If you can walk someone through your logic, you’re doing it right.

• Exit strategy isn’t mandatory unless it’s strategic. 

• Be cautious about who you send your ask slide to. That’s legal literacy, not fear. There are many “expert” investors who give founders the wrong advice about including the ask slide all the time.

And yes, there’s still bias. The Rest of Us get more scrutiny, more doubt, and more pressure to have it all figured out. That’s unfair, but it’s real. The way you close out your pitch with grounded confidence, clear strategy, and a human thank you can be the thing that lingers. It can be the moment an investor decides they want to get to know you better.

You Did It!

You made it through all ten sections of your pitch deck! That’s no small thing. A lot of people never even get started.

In the next chapters, we’ll explore what happens around the deck:

• Adapting your pitch for different scenarios (the 1-3 minute, 5-10 minute, and 10+ minute pitches)

• Running the pitch meeting

• Handling feedback

• Creating a pitch video

• Tech and set-up tips

Your pitch deck isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning.

That’s it for this week! If you’ve enjoyed this series on the Core 10 Pitch Framework, you’ll love the beta reader community that’s formed around this book.

Here’s a recent quote from the community: “Loved both chapters. Could NOT put my phone down until I finished, which has been the case for all chapters, but communicating that value is important, according to the book!”

Apply to become a beta reader and join us.

Thank you, as always, for being here.

Allison