Financials / Ask
State the raise, the use of funds, and the milestones it buys. Close with a clear call to action.
Draft your slide, then click Mark complete to move forward. The checklist and quiz below are optional self-tests. You can mark complete anytime.
Include, tick each as you draft
Nothing checked yet. You can still mark this module complete and continue.
Cut
- ✕Hockey-stick projections with no assumptions
- ✕No specific ask at all
- ✕Ten years of spreadsheet detail on the main slide
- ✕'Raising $X at $Y valuation' without any milestone framing
Red flags investors call out
- !No dollar amount or timeline
- !Milestones untethered from the amount raised
- !Runway math missing (implied burn)
Common failure patterns
What experienced readers spot first when this slide is weak.
- 1The amount is stated but the runway it buys is not.
- 2Use of funds is a percentage pie with no link back to the story slides.
- 3The 'ask' asks for nothing specific, no meeting, no intro, no close date.
Run this against your own slide (60 seconds)
- ?Does the milestone name the metric the next round will price off?
- ?Is there a specific next step (first close date, intro request) the reader can act on this week?
If either answer is no, the fix is above in Include or in the Weak vs. strong block below.
Starter template
Raising $[X] to reach [milestone] in [N] months. Use: [%] team, [%] GTM, [%] infra. Runway: [M] months.
Weak vs. strong, the same slide, rewritten
“Raising a round to accelerate growth and capture market share.”
“Raising $2.5M seed to reach $1.8M ARR at 8% MoM in 18 months. Use: 55% engineering (4 hires), 25% compliance + licenses (12 new countries), 20% GTM (founder-led + 1 AE). 20 months runway. First close in 6 weeks.”
Amount, milestone, breakdown, runway, and a timeline the reader can act on, the same numbers Nimbus's ask slide commits to.
Check yourself
Sources
See the full methodology for how dwell seconds and scoring weights are derived.