When it comes to fundraising for your startup, it’s important to understand the difference between a pitch deck and a financial model. Both are important tools for presenting your business to potential investors, but they serve different purposes.

A pitch deck is a visual presentation that summarizes the key elements of your business, including your business model, market opportunity, team, and founder-market fit. It’s used to give an overview of your business to potential investors and to generate interest in your company. A pitch deck should be concise, visually appealing, and easy to understand. It should be used to tell a story and convey the key information that investors need to know about your business.

On the other hand, a financial model is a detailed projection of your startup’s financial performance, including income, expenses, and cash flow. It’s used to provide investors with a clear and detailed understanding of your startup’s financial performance, including how you expect to generate revenue and achieve profitability. Financial models can be complex and require a lot of time and effort to create, but they are crucial for investors who want to understand the financial side of your business.

The main difference between a pitch deck and a financial model is that a pitch deck is used to generate interest and create a visual representation of the key elements of your business, while a financial model is used to provide investors with a detailed understanding of your startup’s financial performance.

A pitch deck should be created to help you create a vision of your business, and then a financial model should be built to support the vision and provide numbers and evidence for your pitch deck. The pitch deck should be based on the assumptions and information included in the financial model, and it should be tailored to the specific needs of the investors you are targeting.

It’s important to note that while a pitch deck and a financial model serve different purposes, they should be used together to give investors a complete picture of your business. A pitch deck without a financial model may not be taken seriously, while a financial model without a pitch deck may be too dense and difficult for investors to understand.

In summary, a pitch deck is a visual representation of your business that is used to generate interest and create a visual representation of the key elements of your business, while a financial model is a detailed projection of your startup’s financial performance, including income, expenses, and cash flow. It’s used to provide investors with a clear and detailed understanding of your startup’s financial performance. 
Both a pitch deck and a financial model are important tools for presenting your business to potential investors, but they serve different yet complementary purposes. Don’t feel comfortable with building a financial model on your own? Not sure how to provide the numbers and evidence for your pitch deck? We’ve done it for hundreds of founders like you, check out numberly.io to learn more about how we can help.