David Sacks’s Board Deck Template: What to Include, What to Cut, and a Free Capitaly.vc Template

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David Sacks’s board deck is the go-to framework founders ask me about when they want a board meeting template that actually moves the business forward.

I’ve built and reviewed hundreds of decks, and the same questions keep coming up.

What belongs in the board deck, what should be cut, how do I set a metrics cadence, and how do I streamline executive updates without losing signal.

In this guide, I’ll walk through the core structure of a Sacks-style board deck, share a free Capitaly.vc template you can use today, and show you how to run a board meeting your investors will appreciate and your team will thank you for.

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David Sacks’s Board Deck Template: What to Include, What to Cut, and a Free Capitaly.vc Template

1) Why David Sacks’s board deck works for operators and investors

I like David Sacks’s board deck because it balances narrative and numbers.

It forces clarity by limiting slides and putting decisions at the center.

It also matches how investors read: top line first, unit economics second, risks and asks last.

Here’s why it works.

It’s short. You can deliver it in 45–60 minutes with time left for discussion.
It’s comparable. The structure mirrors what other top startups present, so board members can benchmark quickly.
It’s decision-oriented. It highlights issues, decisions, and asks, not vanity metrics.

When I use this board meeting template, meetings get calmer, sharper, and more productive.

Everyone sees the same scoreboard and the same plan.

2) What to include on the title and agenda slide

Your first slide sets the tone.

I keep it simple and useful to anyone who opens the deck later.

Company, date, stage (e.g., Series A, post-seed).
Headline or one-liner that states the strategic theme since the last board.
Agenda with timeboxes and owners for each section.
Consent agenda for routine approvals that don’t need live time.

Example headline: “Crossed $3.2M ARR, extended runway to 19 months, PLG signup-to-paid improved to 6.9%.”

Set expectations early and the meeting runs itself.

3) The metrics cadence that boards actually read

I run a consistent metrics cadence so no one scrambles at quarter’s end.

I use a simple rhythm: weekly ops metrics, monthly investor update, quarterly board deck.

Each layer rolls up to the next.

Weekly: pipeline add, win rate, cash balance, burn, new logos, net retention.
Monthly: ARR bridge, CAC payback, gross margin, hiring plan vs plan.
Quarterly: strategic progress, decisions, risks, and forward plan.

If you want a deeper dive into cadence design, see our blog post: Metrics Cadence: The OS for Startup Reporting.

A predictable cadence reduces debate and increases action.

4) Revenue and pipeline slides: the right level of detail

I keep revenue and pipeline tight and comparable quarter to quarter.

One slide for the ARR bridge, one for pipeline coverage, and one for forecast vs plan.

ARR bridge: starting ARR, new, expansion, contraction, churn, ending ARR.
Pipeline coverage: next two quarters, by stage, with win-rate assumptions.
Forecast vs plan: what changed, why, and what you did about it.

Avoid 20-stage sales funnels.

Show what drives outcomes and where risk lives.

For pipeline hygiene tactics, see our blog post: Pipeline Hygiene: The Simple System That Saves Quarters.

5) Product and roadmap updates without the fluff

Product slides can balloon.

I cap them at two.

Roadmap now/next/later with outcomes tied to metrics.
Launch impact with adoption, activation, and revenue influence.

Replace feature lists with outcome statements.

Example: “Shipped Slack app.

Activation +18% for PLG users within 14 days.”

If you track a North Star metric, say it clearly.

For more on choosing the right product metric, see our blog post: Find Your North Star Metric.

6) GTM efficiency: CAC, LTV, and payback the simple way

Investors care about unit economics more than ever.

I show CAC payback, LTV/CAC, and the sales magic number with definitions on the slide.

CAC payback: months to breakeven on gross margin basis.
LTV/CAC: use conservative churn assumptions.
Magic number: quarterly change in ARR divided by prior quarter’s sales and marketing spend.

Call out changes in channel mix and efficiency.

If you’re experimenting, flag sample size.

For benchmark context, see our blog post: SaaS Metrics Benchmarks That Matter in 2025.

7) Cash, runway, and hiring plan alignment

Your cash slide is where strategy meets reality.

I show cash balance, burn multiple, runway months, and hiring against plan.

Burn multiple: net burn divided by net new ARR.
Runway: months at current and planned burn.
Hiring plan: planned vs actual headcount by function.

If you need to extend runway, state the levers and decisions required.

Boards value candor over optimism.

8) Executive updates that inform, not perform

Executive updates are not status theater.

I ask each functional leader for one slide with three bullets.

One metric that reflects progress.
One unblocker they handled.
One risk where they need help.

I keep these as executive updates in the deck but spend time only if there’s a decision or risk.

That’s how you avoid the 90-minute show-and-tell.

9) Red-Amber-Green issue tracking that drives decisions

I maintain a simple RAG page with the five biggest issues.

Each issue has an owner, a due date, and a decision request.

Red: behind, needs board help now.
Amber: at risk, plan in place, watching.
Green: on track, no live discussion needed.

Boards love this because it sets priorities instantly.

Running a company is managing a queue of issues.

This makes the queue explicit.

10) Cohorts, retention, and NRR for different models

Retention tells the truth.

I present cohort and net revenue retention differently for SaaS, PLG, and marketplaces.

SaaS: logo and dollar retention, expansion mix, and gross churn trend.
PLG: activation, PQL to paid, team expansions, and seat growth per customer.
Marketplace: buyer and seller retention, take rate stability, GMV concentration.

Show the retention engine, not just the snapshot.

For a how-to on cohorts, see our blog post: Cohort Analysis Guide for Founders.

11) Customer health and churn: your early warning system

Every churn story starts months before it’s logged.

I track a simple customer health score with leading indicators.

Usage trends vs baseline.
Support tickets severity and time to resolve.
Executive engagement and champion changes.

Color-code the top 20 accounts by ARR and show actions.

Don’t bury churn in totals.

Name the risk and the plan.

12) KPI deep dive: one slide per function

I use one slide per function with three KPIs max.

Marketing, Sales, Product, Engineering, Success, Finance.

Marketing: pipeline created, CAC by channel, conversion to SQL.
Sales: win rate, cycle length, quota attainment distribution.
Product/Eng: deployment frequency, cycle time, escaped defects.
Success: gross churn, NRR, time-to-value.
Finance: burn multiple, gross margin, cash runway.

Use sparklines and arrows to show directionality.

If a KPI is red, attach an action and owner.

13) The narrative memo that frames the meeting

I open with a one-page narrative memo.

It’s written, not bullets, and it answers three questions.

What changed since the last meeting.
Why it changed, in plain language, with data.
What decisions we need to make now.

The memo tells the truth faster than slides.

It sets context and reduces back-and-forth.

If you send pre-reads, your memo is the anchor.

14) Pre-reads, live review, and timeboxing the meeting

Great board meetings are set up in advance.

Here’s the cadence that works for me.

T-72 hours: send deck, memo, financials, and draft resolutions.
T-48 hours: collect questions asynchronously and cluster them.
Live: 15 minutes recap, 30 minutes metrics and plan, 30 minutes key decisions, 15 minutes executive session.

Timebox each section.

Use a parking lot for non-critical topics.

Everyone leaves with clarity on next steps.

15) What to cut from your board deck (and why)

What you remove matters as much as what you include.

Here’s what I cut by default.

Endless roadmap slides that don’t tie to metrics.
Vanity metrics like social followers unless they drive pipeline.
Raw JIRA exports and internal dashboards without context.
Unbounded risks with no owner or plan.

Less is kinder to your board and to your team.

Decisions beat detail.

16) Asks to the board: how to be specific

Your board can’t help if you don’t ask clearly.

I always list asks on one slide with a crisp verb and a due date.

Intro to target partner or candidate.
Feedback on pricing experiment.
Approval for option pool top-up.

Make the asks concrete and time-bound.

Attach owners on your side to close the loop.

17) Using the Capitaly.vc template: how to customize in 15 minutes

I built a free Capitaly.vc template that borrows the best of David Sacks’s board deck and adds practical touches for startup reporting.

It includes pre-wired slides for ARR bridges, RAG issues, unit economics, and executive updates.

You can drop in your numbers and be ready by end of day.

Start with the template as-is.

Then tweak for your model, stage, and metrics cadence.

18) Automating the deck with your data stack

Manual decks break.

I connect the board meeting template to the data sources the team already trusts.

CRM for pipeline and bookings.
Billing for ARR and retention.
Product analytics for activation and adoption.
HRIS for hiring and headcount.

I use a lightweight layer to refresh charts weekly so the board slide is always current.

That reduces errors and frees leaders to focus on decisions, not screenshots.

For a setup walkthrough, see our blog post: Startup Reporting Automation: From Chaos to Clean.

19) Governance hygiene: minutes, resolutions, and voting

Good governance is part of great operating cadence.

I include a consent agenda, draft resolutions, and a simple decision log.

Minutes that capture decisions and owners.
Resolutions written in plain language and attached to the deck.
Voting process laid out in advance.

Collect signatures within 48 hours.

Keep your cap table, options, and approvals tidy.

For a checklist, see our blog post: Board Governance Checklist for Founders.

20) Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

I see the same mistakes in board decks over and over.

Here’s how I avoid them.

Too many slides: cap at 20, put extras in appendix.
Ambiguous metrics: define every metric on the slide.
Late pre-reads: send at least 72 hours ahead.
No asks: always include a clear asks page.
Heroics over systems: show the process, not just last-minute wins.

Boards don’t expect perfection.

They expect honesty, clarity, and a plan.

What to include: the canonical Sacks-style board deck sections

When I build a Sacks-style board deck, these are my default sections in order.

Title and agenda with headline.
Narrative memo summary.
Company scorecard with top KPIs.
ARR bridge and forecast vs plan.
Pipeline coverage and risk analysis.
Unit economics and go-to-market efficiency.
Product outcomes and roadmap now/next/later.
Retention and cohort analysis.
Cash, burn, runway with hiring plan.
RAG issues with decisions and owners.
Asks to the board with due dates.
Executive updates one slide each.
Governance and resolutions.
Appendix for deep dives.

I keep this spine consistent across quarters.

Consistency creates trust.

What to cut: slides that drain attention

Here’s my no-go list.

I cut these unless there’s a decision tied to them.

PR and social vanity that doesn’t change pipeline or revenue.
Engineering burndown without business impact.
All-hands photos and culture slogans.
Competitive tear-downs that lack a concrete response plan.

If a slide doesn’t change a decision, it doesn’t need live time.

Put it in the appendix or a monthly update.

How I tailor the board deck by stage

Your stage changes your emphasis.

I adjust the board meeting template accordingly.

Seed: product-market fit signals, early retention, founder-led sales pipeline.
Series A: repeatability of acquisition, onboarding, and sales motion.
Series B: efficiency, org scalability, and predictability of revenue.

The skeleton stays the same.

The weights shift as you scale.

A simple story arc investors remember

Every great board deck has a story arc.

I use a three-act structure.

Act I: Where we are (scorecard, ARR bridge, runway).
Act II: How we got here (drivers, what changed, lessons).
Act III: What we’re doing next (decisions, plan, asks).

This arc is sticky because it mirrors how people reason.

It also helps with investor updates between board meetings.

For a template you can reuse monthly, see our blog post: How to Write Investor Updates That Get Replies.

How to prep your exec team in one hour

I run a one-hour prep with the exec team a week before the board meeting.

We rehearse the narrative and kill low-value slides.

15 minutes: align on headline and narrative memo.
30 minutes: review scorecard and red metrics.
15 minutes: finalize asks and owners.

We also assign who speaks when and set timeboxes.

No surprises in the room.

How to handle bad news without losing trust

Bad news happens.

When it does, I state it plainly on slide one, then show the response plan.

What happened in one sentence.
Why it happened with data, not excuses.
What we’re doing with owners and dates.

Boards reward clarity and ownership.

They punish spin.

Make the fix your headline.

Free Capitaly.vc board deck template

Grab the free Capitaly.vc template that follows David Sacks’s board deck structure and includes plug-and-play slides for ARR, unit economics, RAG issues, and executive updates.

It’s clean, minimal, and ready for your data.

Download the free Capitaly.vc board deck template.
Pair it with our fundraising data room checklist to be diligence-ready.

If you want us to tailor it to your model, reach out and we’ll help you wire it to your reporting stack.

Your next board meeting can be your best one yet.

FAQs

How long should a Sacks-style board deck be?

I aim for 15–20 core slides plus appendix.

That’s enough to cover metrics, decisions, and asks without losing the room.

How often should I update the board outside of meetings?

I send a monthly investor update with the same top-line KPIs as the board deck.

Consistency builds trust and reduces surprises.

What is the minimum KPI set to include?

ARR, growth rate, net and gross retention, CAC payback, burn multiple, runway, and pipeline coverage.

Everything else is a supporting actor.

Should functional leaders present their slides?

Yes for decisions, no for status.

Bring leaders in when there’s a choice to make or when the board can help unblock.

How do I show uncertainty in the forecast?

Use best, base, and downside cases with drivers and probabilities.

Explain the levers, not just the numbers.

What if my metrics are weak this quarter?

Tell the truth early and show the response plan.

Train your board to expect candor and action, not spin.

How do I handle new board members?

Send a primer with last quarter’s deck, your narrative memo, and a glossary of KPIs.

Book a 30-minute pre-brief to level-set.

What’s the right pipeline coverage ratio?

It depends on win rate and cycle length.

As a rule of thumb, 3x–4x for enterprise and 2x–3x for velocity motions.

Should I include a competitive analysis?

Yes if it leads to a decision on positioning, pricing, or roadmap.

No if it’s a slide museum of screenshots.

How do I track board decisions after the meeting?

Use a decision log with date, decision, owner, and due date.

Review it at the start of the next board meeting.

Conclusion

David Sacks’s board deck template works because it focuses on what matters most: the scoreboard, the story, the risks, and the decisions.

When you pair that structure with a disciplined metrics cadence and concise executive updates, you get board meetings that accelerate execution instead of slowing it down.

Use the free Capitaly.vc template, wire it to your data, and run your next board meeting like a pro.

If you remember one thing, remember this: clarity compounds.

Start simple, stay consistent, and ask for the help you need.

That’s how you get the most from your board and make your operators proud.

Download the Capitaly.vc template, adopt the cadence, and you’ll master the art of the david sacks board deck.

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