Difference between a Professional and a Self-made Pitch Deck Design

Anchit Goel
Aug 20
2 min read

Your pitch deck is the doorway to funding, big-ticket clients, and strategic partnerships. Yet not all decks are created equal. While a self-made pitch deck, built with off-the-shelf templates or basic slide tools, might seem cost-effective, it often lacks the polish, coherence, and strategic structuring that truly convinces stakeholders. In contrast, a professional pitch deck, complete with custom templates, data-driven visuals, and tailored storytelling, can multiply your conversion chances exponentially.

What Makes a Professional Pitch Deck Design Stand Out

1. Custom Design & Visual Cohesion

Professional decks use branded visuals, consistent typography, and high-quality graphics that reflect your identity and values. This level of visual refinement communicates credibility and sophistication : qualities that self-made decks often fail to deliver.

2. Strategic Use of Research & Metrics

Including meaningful data like traction numbers, market validation, or financial highlights builds investor confidence. Only 58% of successful pitch decks include financials, yet they represent the slides investors spend the most time reviewing

3. Optimized Length & Structure

Expert-designed decks hit the sweet spot of 9-11 slides, which DocSend’s research shows are 43% more successful in raising funds

4. Storytelling That Resonates

This is the most important bit. Templates can make your deck look neat, but without strategic narrative flow - problem, solution, market, team, ask - they fail to move hearts and minds.

5. Measurable Engagement & Conversion

A professional pitch deck aims for real results, not just views. Metrics like “conversion rate” (how many investor meetings or client opportunities it generates) and “time spent on slide” are key indicators of performance

Professional vs Self-made Deck: A Comparison

Feature	Self-made Pitch Deck	Professional Pitch Deck (MGrow)
Design & Visuals	Basic, template-heavy, inconsistent	Custom-branded, polished, visually coherent
Structure & Length	Variable, often too long or vague	Precisely optimized for investor attention
Data & Metrics	Limited or generic	Research-backed, high-impact metrics (traction, ROI)
Storytelling Flow	Disjointed or rushed	Cohesive, persuasive narrative
Stakeholder Conversion	Often low, few follow-ups	High - more meetings, investor interest, client wins

At MGrow Consulting, We Deliver Decks That Convert

We don’t just design pitch decks - we craft them with purpose, precision, and persuasion:

Custom templates aligned with your brand and investor style.
Deep research to identify the right metrics, stories, and visuals for your business
Business Research plan to complement your deck for better understanding
Narratives that grab attention instantly, telling your story in the best way possible
Aiming to exceed the 89% of decks that fail to impress, ensuring yours stands out professionally while delivering measurable results.