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Rippling pitch deck (2019)

The Rippling pitch deck from 2019 is really an 11-page investor memo. Parker Conrad used it, with a separate metrics deck, to raise a $45M Series A led by Kleiner Perkins, and Rippling later published a lightly edited copy. Founders study the Rippling memo because it makes the whole case in prose, from why employee data matters to why the market will end up with one big winner.

Company
Rippling
Year
2019
Round
Series A
Raised
$45M
Slides
11

ⓘ This is a written memo, not a slide deck. Rippling also shared its metrics deck, with the real numbers replaced by placeholders.

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Deck © Rippling. Shared for learning, credited to rippling.com.

What's in the Rippling pitch deck

All 11 slides, in order.

  1. Rippling pitch deck, slide 1: Cover

    Slide 1 · Cover

    Rippling Memo, with the premise that businesses should have one system for employee information across every department, and that it doesn't work that way today.

    How to write this slide
  2. Rippling pitch deck, slide 2: Introduction and strategy, part I

    Slide 2 · Introduction and strategy, part I

    Most companies keep employee lists in dozens of systems that don't talk to each other, which the memo calls the hidden root of most admin work. Part I of the strategy says the system of record for employee data can build a very successful business, as Zenefits did with insurance.

  3. Rippling pitch deck, slide 3: Strategy, parts II and III

    Slide 3 · Strategy, parts II and III

    ADP and Microsoft already profit from being that system. Rippling wins it through onboarding, because the tool that collects a new hire's data becomes the source of truth, and onboarding cuts across HR, IT and other departments.

  4. Rippling pitch deck, slide 4: Onboarding sidebar

    Slide 4 · Onboarding sidebar

    A short note that most HR onboarding apps are task checklists with no connection to other systems, so they can't be the source of truth.

  5. Rippling pitch deck, slide 5: Product overview

    Slide 5 · Product overview

    Rippling is a mix of three categories, payroll and HR, identity and single sign-on like Okta, and device management like JAMF, which only makes sense because all three depend on employee data.

  6. Rippling pitch deck, slide 6: Product example

    Slide 6 · Product example

    Adding a whole department or all managers to an email list, and how one hire or promotion in Rippling changes app access, email lists and laptop software.

  7. Rippling pitch deck, slide 7: Competition

    Slide 7 · Competition

    Rippling competes with Gusto, Zenefits, Namely and ADP in HR, Okta and OneLogin in identity, and JAMF and Microsoft in devices, and argues each of them will stay in its lane.

    How to write this slide
  8. Rippling pitch deck, slide 8: Performance to date

    Slide 8 · Performance to date

    Benefits launched around May 2018, about 20% average monthly growth since January 2018, 25% over the last four months and 29% in January, with the ARR figure redacted.

  9. Rippling pitch deck, slide 9: NPS and R&D investment

    Slide 9 · NPS and R&D investment

    NPS of 70 in January and 66 on average, just over 40 engineers making up about two-thirds of the team, and a large total burn (redacted) to rebuild payroll, identity and device management.

  10. Rippling pitch deck, slide 10: Why now

    Slide 10 · Why now

    Conrad says Rippling could have been built seven years earlier, then gives reasons it's easier now, such as sales teams using many more SaaS tools and vendors that make payroll easier to build.

    How to write this slide
  11. Rippling pitch deck, slide 11: Network effects

    Slide 11 · Network effects

    Rippling calls itself an Employee Management System, not an HR system. Because it connects to so many other apps, the memo argues the leader will win far more of the market than ADP's 15% to 20% of payroll.

What the Rippling deck does well

  • Pages 2 and 3 build the strategy as a chain of three claims, own the employee record, win it through onboarding, and cover every department, so each part sets up the next.
  • Page 8 shows growth as month over month rates, 20% on average and 29% in January, which shows the growth was speeding up, not just going up.
  • Page 10 answers why now honestly, admitting the company could have existed years earlier, which reads as more credible than a forced timing story.

What founders can learn from it

  • If your pitch is an argument, write it as a memo. Investors can forward it to partners who never meet you, which Conrad gave as his main reason.
  • Explain the one feature that makes the rest work. For Rippling it is onboarding on page 3, because whoever collects the data owns the record.
  • Send the detailed metrics as a separate document up front, as Rippling did with its metrics deck, so interested investors don't wait on you.

Questions about the Rippling pitch deck

Did Rippling use a pitch deck for its Series A?
No formal pitch deck. Parker Conrad wrote that the centerpiece was an investor memo, sent with 46 slides of metrics, projections and footnotes.
How much did Rippling raise with this memo?
Rippling raised a $45M Series A in April 2019, led by Kleiner Perkins.
How many pages is the Rippling memo?
The published version of the Rippling investor memo is 11 pages, with some figures like total ARR redacted.
Where is the Rippling metrics deck?
Rippling shared a modified copy of its metrics deck with the memo. In that version the real numbers are replaced with placeholders, so it shows the structure but not the data.

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