Square pitch deck (2011)
The Square pitch deck that circulates online is a 20 slide deck from 2011 about card payments for small merchants, taken through a reader that plugs into a phone. Its origin is disputed. It has been described as a student project rather than a deck Square used, and the cover lists four authors who are not Square's founders. Founders still study it for its clear structure.
- Company
- Square
- Year
- 2011
- Round
- Unverified
- Slides
- 20
- Type
- Origin disputed
ⓘ This is the version widely shared online as Square's pitch deck. Its origin is disputed: it has been described as a student project rather than a deck Square used.
Deck © Square. Shared for learning, credited to albusi.com.
What's in the Square pitch deck
All 20 slides, in order.
Slide 1 · Cover
The Square logo, the line The Simplest Way to Make Money, and four author names.
Slide 2 · Proposition
The pitch on one page, with pricing of 2.75% per swipe, no commitment, daily deposits and a free app and card reader.
Slide 3 · Team
Jack Dorsey, Keith Rabois, Bob Lee and Jim McKelvey with their past roles at companies like Twitter, PayPal, LinkedIn and Google, plus a list of advisors.
Slide 4 · Market
US mobile payments are shown growing from $16B in 2010 to a projected $214B in 2015, a 68% yearly growth rate from 2010 to 2014, citing Aite Group.
Slide 5 · Product
The reader plugs into the phone's headphone jack and turns a card swipe into an audio signal, and the flow runs from entering the amount to swipe, tip, signature and done.
Slide 6 · Value to User
A grid compares Square's free reader and flat 2.75% fee with traditional processors at up to 5% plus 30 cents and online processing at up to 3.5% plus 30 cents.
Slide 7 · Customer Acquisition
Targets small businesses and independent workers through social ads, traditional media and retail such as Apple stores, and claims 100,000+ new customers a month.
Slide 8 · Competition
Compares Square with direct rivals GoPayment and PAYware and with near field payments from Apple and Google, listing advantages like no credit check, no monthly fees and an Apple partnership.
Slide 9 · Financial Model
Projects payments of $1.1M a day in 2011 growing to $49.5M a day in 2015 and revenue from about $10.6M to about $476M, with a 55% IRR on a $20M investment for 20%.
Slide 10 · Why Invest Now
Shows a $10M Series A and a $27.5M Series B and proposes a $20M Series C to keep the first mover lead and lock in customers.
Slide 11 · Exit Strategies
Lists possible buyers such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Verizon, AT&T, Visa, American Express and eBay, alongside an IPO option.
Slide 12 · Appendix Index
An index of the ten presentation slides and the appendix slides that follow.
Slide 13 · Assumptions
Growth and valuation inputs, including 100,000 merchants signing up a month, $1M in payments a day and a $240M valuation after the January 2011 round, with press sources.
Slide 14 · Model Detail
Best, base and worst case growth rates with the resulting EBIT, and an NPV of $79.95M at a 15% discount rate.
Slide 15 · Comparables
Margins and growth for payment companies such as eBay, Mastercard, Visa and VeriFone, with a median gross margin of 40.6%.
Slide 16 · Valuation Multiples
Revenue, EBITDA and earnings multiples for the same comparable companies.
Slide 17 · Concerns
Five investor concerns, including near field payments, big competitors, security, execution and no industry standard, each with a response.
Slide 18 · Partnerships
Current partners such as Sightglass, Zappos, Apple and JPMorgan next to possible future ones such as eBay, Visa, Cisco and Craigslist.
Slide 19 · Vision
Square aims to remove friction from payments for small businesses, summed up as 0 to $60 in under 10 seconds.
Slide 20 · Market Analysis
A growing market, a first mover position and a split between large competitors and small ones.
What the Square deck does well
- Slide 2 fits the whole pitch on one page, from 2.75% per swipe to a free app and card reader.
- Slide 6 compares Square with traditional card processors and online payments on ease, cost and benefit in one simple grid.
- Slide 17 names the obvious objections, like big competitors and security, and answers each one before an investor can ask.
What founders can learn from it
- Price your product in one number on an early slide, the way this deck repeats 2.75% per swipe.
- Compare yourself with what customers use today, not only with other startups, as slide 6 does with existing card processors.
- Add a concerns and responses slide so the hard questions get handled on your terms.
Questions about the Square pitch deck
- How many slides are in the Square pitch deck?
- It has 20 slides. The first 11 are the main presentation and the rest are an appendix with financial detail, comparables, concerns and partnerships.
- What's in the Square pitch deck?
- It covers the proposition, the team, the market, the product, value to users, customer acquisition, competition, a financial model, why invest now and exit options. An appendix adds assumptions, comparables, valuation, concerns, partnerships, vision and market analysis.
- Is this Square's real pitch deck?
- Its origin is disputed. It is the version widely shared online as Square's pitch deck, but it has been described as a student project rather than a deck Square used.
- Can I download the Square pitch deck?
- Yes. The full 20 slide deck is available as a free PDF on this page.
- What revenue does the Square pitch deck project?
- Slide 9 projects annual revenue growing from about $10.6M in 2011 to about $476M in 2015. Treat these as the author's projections, not Square's reported results.
Get your deck reviewed the same way.
Comments on every slide, the words to change highlighted, and the 3 fixes that matter.
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