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A buzzy startup raised $57 million from Peter Thiel and Y Combinator using these 19 slides

A buzzy startup raised $57 million from Peter Thiel and Y Combinator using these 19 slides

The next slide shows the people behind Brex and their credentials, as well as the Silicon Valley A-listers who previously backed Brex.

The deck lays out the problem Brex is trying to solve. These are real replies from credit institutions where Brex applied for credit cards.

Even if a startup secures a credit card, it doesn't have a ton of control over how much employees spend or where.

Let's pause. Look at this slide. It's hideous.

Dubugras said making the presentation "pretty" wasn't a priority.

He worked with Brex's chief financial officer, Michael Tannenbaum, to put together the pitch deck in two nights. They didn't spend too much time on it, Dubugras said, because he wanted to show investors that they were too busy working on company priorities.

"At the end of the day, investors will see through any pitch deck. I think that the important thing is to be super clear and objective," Dubugras said.

This chart shows the size of the market opportunity.

Then Brex explains how it's going to solve credit cards for startups.

Brex aims to provide a quick and effective credit card option.

Each slide has one message only to avoid overloading the audience.

The deck gets into some of the coolest features.

A startup can mandate that large transactions on an employee's credit card require approval before spending. They can also set credit limits by employee, team, or merchant — like a monthly budget for Uber rides.

Employees can take a photo of a receipt, and Brex will use software to scan the image and match it to a transaction already in the system.

The employer can get a high-level view of where money is going.

I can't think of anything to say about this slide other than it's ugly.

Not all investors agree with Dubugras's assessment that looks don't matter.

I shared this story with a seed-stage investor based in San Francisco, and she doubted that an unattractive pitch deck leaves a good impression on a venture capitalist.

"You want people to make an effort. If you can't remember to even take the time to edit your pitch deck, and you want $500,000 from me, it's like, no thanks," the investor said.