PitchMagic

Coinbase pitch deck (2012)

Coinbase's 2012 pitch deck is the seed deck Brian Armstrong showed at Y Combinator Demo Day, when Coinbase was a hosted bitcoin wallet, and later published himself. The company raised a $600K seed round. Founders study the Coinbase pitch deck because it makes a new, hard-to-explain idea clear in 11 sparse slides, with a few early growth charts doing most of the work.

Company
Coinbase
Year
2012
Round
Seed
Raised
$600K
Slides
11
Download the Coinbase pitch deck (PDF)Get your own deck reviewed

Deck © Coinbase. Shared for learning, credited to barmstrong.medium.com.

What's in the Coinbase pitch deck

All 11 slides, in order.

  1. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 1: Cover

    Slide 1 · Cover

    The Coinbase logo, the line your hosted bitcoin wallet, and screenshots of the web and phone app.

    How to write this slide
  2. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 2: What Bitcoin Is

    Slide 2 · What Bitcoin Is

    Bitcoin is a new digital currency that is instant, international and has no transaction fees.

  3. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 3: Global Currency

    Slide 3 · Global Currency

    The same title over an image of a globe showing bitcoin moving around the world.

  4. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 4: Bitcoin Growth

    Slide 4 · Bitcoin Growth

    A chart of rising bitcoin volume and the claim of $2 million USD per day in transaction volume.

    How to write this slide
  5. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 5: Early Adopters

    Slide 5 · Early Adopters

    A word cloud of early uses, including international payments, remittance, micro-transactions, virtual goods, games, e-commerce and the developing world.

  6. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 6: Too Difficult to Use

    Slide 6 · Too Difficult to Use

    Screenshots of the confusing bitcoin tools of the time next to the simpler Coinbase interface.

    How to write this slide
  7. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 7: Product

    Slide 7 · Product

    Coinbase, a hosted bitcoin wallet, shown on desktop and phone.

  8. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 8: Analogy

    Slide 8 · Analogy

    Coinbase is to bitcoin what iTunes is to MP3.

  9. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 9: Signups

    Slide 9 · Signups

    A chart of daily signups turning sharply up, labeled 20% daily.

    How to write this slide
  10. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 10: Transactions

    Slide 10 · Transactions

    A chart of transaction volume showing $65,000 USD in the first 5 weeks.

    How to write this slide
  11. Coinbase pitch deck, slide 11: Contact

    Slide 11 · Contact

    The logo and the tagline your hosted bitcoin wallet, a live chart of bitcoin transactions and trades, and a founders email address.

What the Coinbase deck does well

  • Slide 8 explains the whole company with one analogy, Coinbase is to bitcoin what iTunes is to MP3, which any investor in 2012 would get at once.
  • Slide 6 shows the problem instead of describing it, with screenshots of how hard bitcoin tools were to use.
  • Slides 9 and 10 put real traction, 20% daily signup growth and $65,000 in 5 weeks, near the end where it answers the obvious doubt.

What founders can learn from it

  • If your market is new, spend the first slides teaching what it is in three words or fewer per point before you pitch your company.
  • Use one familiar analogy to make a strange product feel obvious.
  • A short deck with one strong traction chart beats a long deck with many weak slides, especially for a Demo Day style pitch.

Questions about the Coinbase pitch deck

How many slides are in the Coinbase pitch deck?
The 2012 Coinbase seed pitch deck has 11 slides, as Brian Armstrong published it.
What's in the Coinbase pitch deck?
It explains what bitcoin is, shows bitcoin growth and early use cases, shows that existing tools were too hard to use, presents Coinbase as a hosted wallet, compares it to iTunes for MP3, and shows signup and transaction growth.
Can I download the Coinbase pitch deck?
Yes. The full Coinbase seed pitch deck is free to download as a PDF on this page.
How much did Coinbase raise with this deck?
Coinbase raised a $600K seed round in 2012 after Y Combinator Demo Day, according to Crunchbase.
What traction did Coinbase show in its seed deck?
The deck shows signups growing 20% daily and $65,000 USD in transactions in the first 5 weeks.

Get your deck reviewed the same way.

Comments on every slide, the words to change highlighted, and the 3 fixes that matter.

Review my deck free

More pitch decks

See all pitch decks