I have the privilege of getting see a lot of pitch decks, from seed to late round. Most of them are really, really bad.

I'm a founder and have two decks: one is 9 slides, the other is 3.

I think all seed and even Series A decks should follow a very similar format: problem, solution/product, team, traction, competition and the ask.

I think two really good examples are Guy's Kawasaki's pitch deck[0] and Sequoia's[1]. If you're veering off these paths, you had better have a damn good reason (hint: you probably don't). I especially like Kawasaki's "What's the underlying magic?" slide, and I really like Sequoia's "Why now?" Those two slides are underrepresented.

I just looked at three decks that were sent me this week: 26 slides, 23 slides, 17 slides. Unnecessary.

Lastly, I'm in the minority with this belief, but I think more founders should run their decks past designers. I'm not saying you need an elaborate and fancy design, but good typography and composition make it look like you care. But, as always, content is king.

[0] https://guykawasaki.com/the-only-10-slides-you-need-in-your-...

[1] https://www.slideshare.net/PitchDeckCoach/sequoia-capital-pi...

edit: removed my opinion of the HN seed examples after further reflection.