PowerPoint Makeover: SendGrid 

In a saturated market, how does one email provider stand apart from the competition? Is one email platform really any different from the rest? SendGrid made its mark by creating a platform that allows businesses to communicate with their customers through both transactional and marketing emails. The innovative, cloud-based software makes it easier for entrepreneurs and business owners of any size to scale their brands through email delivery.

Like any other organization, SendGrid had to start from the bottom. After founders Isaac Saldana, Jose Lopez and Tim Jenkins started the company in 2009, SendGrid relied on the Techstars accelerator program to launch its brand. In the years since, the company raised an impressive $81 million, going public in 2017.

In 2019, the communications software conglomerate Twilio acquired SendGrid for $2 billion, but not before the company secured investments during an impressive nine funding rounds. Like most other successful companies, that fundraising started with an effective pitch. We took a look at the original SendGrid pitch deck. While it was obviously effective based on results – the startup secured a pivotal $750,000 in its original seed round – we couldn’t help but wonder if we could improve it in another of our famous PowerPoint makeovers.

We started our pitch deck makeover by customizing a theme that automatically applied to every slide. We also condensed the slides to keep the presentation short, sweet and to the point, while adding plenty of interactive elements to keep audiences engaged.

What do you think of our SendGrid pitch deck makeover? Do you find it, “beautiful?”

The theme:

With Beautiful.ai, it’s simple to create a professional, unified and branded design. We customized a theme for this PowerPoint makeover that includes a specific color palette and typography which automatically is applied to each slide added to the deck. This unity not only saves time otherwise spent on minute design details, but it creates a cohesive and branded design that is sure to impress. For the SendGrid pitch deck makeover, we selected a color scheme consistent with the company’s brand style guide, and we customized the deck by adding a SendGrid logo to the footer area of each slide. Sourcing the proper image was a cinch by accessing Beautiful.ai’s free library of stock photos, logos and icons.

Slide 1: SendGrid title slide

Every effective pitch deck needs a powerful title slide to open the presentation. We designed the SendGrid title slide using Beautiful.ai’s Headline Smart Slide template, then we simply added The SendGrid title and an engaging image found in our vast library of free stock photos, icons and logos.

Slide 2: SendGrid purpose

Obviously, potential investors want to know a brand’s overall purpose. For the second slide in our PowerPoint makeover, we highlighted SendGrid’s primary objective to make email delivery easy. Creating the slide was simple using Beautiful.ai’s Headline Smart Slide template. We simply entered the text and let the power of artificial intelligence place it perfectly based on the professional principles of good design. Then we added another engaging picture from our library of free stock images.

Slide 3: Email categories

The next slide in SendGrid’s original pitch deck focused on various email categories. The slide was plenty informative, but it also was a little cluttered. We simplified this slide by using Beautiful.ai’s Icons with Text Smart Slide template. Then, all we had to do was find a few appropriate icons from our free image library and let the AI designer take care of the rest of the design details.

Slide 4: Transactional email problems

We skipped over a few slides from the original SendGrid pitch deck because in this day and age, potential investors already understand what makes a transactional email. Instead, we created the next slide to focus on transactional email problems that SendGrid planned to solve with its technology. We again selected our Icons with Text Smart Slide template since it’s perfectly designed to highlight a few key points. It was simple to add the corresponding icons from our vast image library, then we only had to enter the text in the perfectly positioned text boxes.

Slide 5: SendGrid market size

A successful pitch deck also presents information about existing market conditions. The original SendGrid pitch deck communicated the market using a basic infographic with bars, but the resulting slide was somewhat unclear and anything but exciting. We showcased the same information with our Compare Radial Bars Smart Slide template. All we had to do was enter the numerical data, and the AI Designer transformed it into perfectly portioned infographics for a clear comparison. We added some extra pizzazz to the slide by choosing another free image from Beautiful.ai’s library.

Slides 6-7: Competition and Revenue Model

Any effective pitch deck also communicates the brand’s competitive landscape. SendGrid’s original pitch deck showcased the ways it stands up against competitors with an easy-to-read and informative table. We recreated this table with ease by relying on Beautiful.ai’s Table Smart Slide template. We didn’t have to worry about formatting the chart, but instead let the AI designer create it for us. We used the same Smart Slide template for the next slide, which depicts SendGrid’s original revenue model. Once again, designing the chart was a breeze thanks to artificial intelligence and our preset theme.

Slide 8:  Customer acquisition strategies

A proper pitch deck details how the startup plans to acquire new customers. The original SendGrid pitch deck met that requirement with a slide highlighting its direct acquisition strategies, as well as its distribution channels. Our PowerPoint makeover recreated this slide by employing Beautiful.ai’s Icons with Text Smart Slide template. We only had to enter the text into the pre-designed boxes and add a couple of engaging icons to give the slide some visual flair.

Slide 9: SendGrid progress

SendGrid’s original pitch deck updated potential investors on its progress toward meeting its earliest goals, and it presented this information using a simple bulleted list. We decided to add some extra engagement to this portion of the slide deck and present the same information with an infographic. Using Beautiful.ai’s Arrow Bars Smart Slide template, we only had to enter the corresponding text and the AI designer took care of the rest. We even animated the arrows to capture any waning audience's attention.

Slide 10: SendGrid goals

No pitch deck would be complete without highlighting a company’s goals for the future. SendGrid’s original pitch deck described the company’s goals in a simple bulleted list. We decided to create a more beautiful slide that is more engaging to potential investors, so we presented the same information using a timeline infographic. Creating engaging data visualizations like timelines are easy with Smart Slide templates, and Beautiful.ai’s Timeline slide template was the perfect option. Artificial intelligence took care of designing the timeline itself, and we simply entered the text in the appropriate positions.

Creating this PowerPoint makeover was a breeze thanks to a little help from artificial intelligence and Beautiful.ai’s Smart Slide templates. How did we do? Is our redesigned pitch deck, “beautiful?”