Earlier this week, I wrote a story about EV charging company Orange and how it takes a different approach to putting chargers everywhere. Instead of a few high-speed chargers, it makes it easy for multi-family homes (think apartment buildings) to install charging points wherever there are electric cars, handle billing, and the like to turn power outlets into a revenue stream for building owners, while keeping the easy for EV owners to charge their car.

It is a smart model that replicates the benefits of home charging using a simple charging infrastructure. I asked the founders if they might be interested in sharing their pitch deck. Much to my delight, they said yes!

We’re looking for more unique pitch decks to break down, so if you’d like to submit your own pitch decks here’s how to do it.

Slides into this deck

1. Cover slide
2. Mission slide
3. Problem slide
4. Macroeconomic Market Shift (“Why Now?”)
5. Market size slide
6. Solution slide
7. Value proposition slide
8. Slide with product technical specifications
9. Product slide
10. Competitive landscape slide
11. Slide competitive advantage
12. Business model slide
13. Cash flow slider
14. Go-to-market slide
15. Team slide
16. Move advisors
17. “The Question” slide
18. Contact slider
19. Appendices cover slide
20. Appendix I: Product Installation Photos
21. Appendix II: Financial projections for 3 years
22. Appendix III: Personnel file slide
23. Appendix IV: Sources and references

Three things to love

Orange Charging’s pitch deck is one of the best decks I’ve seen in a long time – it looks good, it tells a cohesive story, and it hits all the parts investors want to see in a deck. It even includes great examples of slides that many startup founders get wrong. In fact, when I first scrolled through the deck, I wondered if I’d even use this as a teardown – what’s the point of criticizing something that’s close to perfect?

Let’s start by taking a look at some of the highlights.

Great overview slide

[Slide 2] Setting the tone. Image Credits: Orange

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and Orange’s second slide does that in several ways. Visually this is a stunning slide; the bright orange stripe running down the walls of the garage (it looks like it’s a Photoshop job rather than a paint or vinyl job, but that doesn’t matter for the purpose of a slide deck); the three cars and the bright orange charging boxes are all great visuals.

Then the text. It summarizes the problem the company is solving in a very simple and easy to understand way.

For a perfect score here I would have made this slide about the company. Make the text orange and change it to something like “We simplify install, scale, and manage ⚡️ charging electric vehicles in multi-unit properties.” That way it’s not about the problem, but about the company and the solution. A small box showing the company’s progress and the goal of this fundraiser (“500 chargers installed at 75 locations, raising $2.5 million up to 10x our install base”) would be even better.

Good overview of value propositions

[Slide 9] A good overview of Orange Charger’s win-win approach. Image Credits: Orange

In a world where people are very used to Tesla’s Supercharger network on the one hand and the general idea of ​​gas stations (where you fill up when you’re running low) on the other hand, Orange’s view differs from both.

Instead of occasionally fast-charging or filling up only when you’re empty, the company offers a solution people who charge at home are used to: when you get home, plug in your car and you’re ready to go when you get back to your car. Turning this charging paradigm into a business is essentially the core of what Orange does.

This slide explains why having a 110V or 240V outlet, charging at 16 amps, is actually enough for the vast majority of EV drivers. It also states that its lower installation costs (and the absence of a charging cable that can break) and ease of operation make its solution a great alternative to competitors.

That’s a fantastic setup for the two contest slides that follow.

Spectacular market slide

[Slide 5] Electric charging is of course going to be huge. Image Credits: Orange

It’s a rare opportunity to be in a world where you’re 100% sure that a huge shift in a major market is coming. This applies to electric vehicles and all associated infrastructure. No investor worth their money is going to argue with a company that says EV charging is a huge problem worth solving. However, it is reassuring and exciting to see it presented on a slide with this level of clarity for anyone who has been watching the rapid spread of electric cars.

On another slide, Orange makes the argument that electric cars will cost the same as petrol cars by 2025. I’m a bit skeptical, but the date is less important than the fact that this is ever going to happen. Add in government incentives (either punitive in the form of higher gas taxes or a more root-like approach with new incentives for electric vehicles), and you have a very interesting market indeed.

In the rest of this teardown, we take a look at three things Orange could have improved or done differently, along with the full pitch deck!