12 Pitch Deck mistakes that Kill startup’s fundraising in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is no longer a hidden corner of the global startup scene. In just a few years, it has become one of the fastest-growing venture capital markets in MENA, with more than $1.4 billion raised by Saudi startups in 2024 alone. Deals are getting bigger, international investors are flying into Riyadh, and success stories like Tamara, Jahez, and Foodics are proving that Saudi founders can build unicorns.

But for every startup that raises a big round, there are dozens that don’t even make it past the first investor meeting. Why? More often than not, the killer is not the idea, not the team, not even the traction — it’s the pitch deck.

A pitch deck is not just a slideshow. It is the first impression, the trust builder, the credibility test, and often the deciding factor in whether an investor agrees to a second meeting. In Saudi Arabia’s relationship-driven culture, where business still heavily relies on trust, reputation, and local context, a sloppy deck can shut the door forever.

So what are the mistakes that cost founders their chance at raising money in Saudi Arabia? Here’s a breakdown of the 12 deadliest pitch deck mistakes, explained in detail with local context, stories, and fixes.

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Saudi investors don’t want to be impressed by vocabulary; they want to be convinced by clarity. If your deck feels like a university thesis, you’ve already lost them.

Investor

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Where founders lose Investors in 10 Minutes

1. Overloading with Slides and Buzzwords

Many founders think fundraising is about “showing everything.” They pack 30–40 slides with technical jargon, endless charts, and all the buzzwords they can think of: AI-powered, blockchain-enabled, Web3, metaverse-ready.

Saudi investors don’t want to be impressed by vocabulary; they want to be convinced by clarity. If your deck feels like a university thesis, you’ve already lost them.

Investor’s perspective: They look at hundreds of decks a year. If yours takes too long to get to the point, they’ll mentally check out. As one angel investor in Riyadh told me: “If I don’t understand what you do in the first five slides, I assume you don’t understand it either.”

Fix for founders: Stick to 12–15 slides max. Use plain language. Imagine you’re explaining your business to a smart teenager. If they get it, so will your investor.

2. Weak Market Storytelling

Saudi Arabia is a unique market:

• 60% of the population is under 30.
• Smartphone penetration is over 95%.
• Digital payments adoption is among the fastest in the world.
• Vision 2030 is actively funding digital transformation.

Yet, many pitch decks present the product but completely skip the market story. They don’t explain why now is the right time, why Saudi Arabia is the right place, and how the product fits into this transformation.

Fix for founders: Use local data and stories. Show how your startup fits into Saudi’s growth narrative. For example, if you’re a fintech, highlight how SAMA’s open banking framework creates opportunity. If you’re in HR-tech, talk about Qiwa or Mudad integration.

3. Fantasy Financial Projections

This is one of the biggest red flags. Investors in Saudi are increasingly sophisticated. They’ve seen enough decks to instantly spot “fantasy numbers” — the classic hockey-stick graph where revenue suddenly explodes without explanation.

A founder once showed me a deck claiming they’d capture 10% of the Saudi e-commerce market in 2 years. That’s a SAR 20 billion market. Capturing 10% would mean outpacing Noon, Amazon, and Jahez combined. Unrealistic numbers don’t make you look ambitious; they make you look careless.

Fix for founders: Investors prefer realistic, transparent assumptions:

1. State your revenue model clearly.
2. Show your CAC (customer acquisition cost).
3. Show LTV (lifetime value).
4. Present 3-year projections, not fantasies of 10x in 12 months.

If you’re pre-revenue, highlight traction metrics: user signups, retention, engagement. Credibility matters more than “dream graphs.”

4. Ignoring Regulation and Compliance

Saudi Arabia is not Silicon Valley. You can’t just launch a fintech app and “move fast and break things.” Regulation here is serious — and investors know it.

For example:

• Fintechs need approval from SAMA’s sandbox.
• HR-techs must comply with Qiwa and Mudad systems.
• E-commerce startups must align with ZATCA VAT regulations.

If your deck doesn’t mention regulation, it signals ignorance.

Fix for founders: Dedicate one slide to compliance and regulation. Even if you’re still applying, show awareness:

• “SAMA sandbox application in progress.”
• “ZATCA VAT-compliant system.”
• “Integrated with Qiwa HR framework.”

This reassures investors you’ve done your homework.

5. Weak Team Slide

In Saudi, who you are often matters more than what you do. Investors bet on people. Too many decks simply list “CEO, CTO, COO” without substance.

A good team slide shows why you’re the team to win. Did you previously scale a product at Careem or HungerStation? Did you work at STC or Aramco? Do you have a regulatory advisor with connections at SAMA?

Fix for founders: Include:

1. Founder bios with logos of previous employers.
2. Relevant experience (fundraising, scaling, regulation).
3. Advisors with industry credibility.

Remember: investors in Saudi often invest in trust, networks, and proven execution.

6. Cultural Disconnects

Many founders use Western analogies that simply don’t land. Pitches like “we’re the Uber for dog-walking” feel irrelevant in Saudi. Some decks even show case studies from US or European markets without explaining how they apply locally.

Fix for founders: Localize your narrative. Use Saudi case studies. Reference Vision 2030. Highlight Saudi consumer behavior. If you’re the “Uber of something,” explain what Saudi equivalent problem you’re solving.

7. No Clear “Ask”

Surprisingly common: decks that never clearly say how much money they’re raising, what they’ll spend it on, and how much runway it buys.

Investors hate ambiguity. As one Riyadh VC said: “If a founder can’t ask me for money clearly, I don’t trust them to use it clearly.”

Fix for founders: End with a crisp ask slide:

• “We are raising SAR 10M (~USD 2.7M).”
• “40% for product, 30% for marketing, 30% for hiring.”
• “Runway: 18 months.”

8. Data Without Storytelling

Numbers are necessary, but they don’t inspire by themselves. In Saudi Arabia, storytelling matters. Investors are aligned with Vision 2030, which is about transformation and ambition. If your deck only shows charts without painting a bigger picture, it won’t resonate.

Fix for founders: Frame your startup as part of Saudi’s future. For example:

• “We’re digitizing SMEs, which aligns with Vision 2030’s SME growth target.”
• “We’re enabling cashless payments in a society moving rapidly toward 100% digital transactions.”

9. Ignoring Competition

The worst sentence you can write in a Saudi deck is: “We have no competitors.” Investors immediately think: either you didn’t do your research, or you don’t understand consumer habits.

Fix for founders: Acknowledge competitors and show your edge. For example:

• “Unlike Noon and Amazon, we’re focused only on perishables with guaranteed 2-hour delivery.”
• “Unlike global SaaS platforms, we are ZATCA-compliant out of the box.”

10. Poor Visual Design and Structure

This may sound cosmetic, but in Saudi culture, presentation equals respect. If your deck has bad fonts, walls of text, or cluttered charts, investors assume you’ll run your business with the same lack of discipline.

Fix for founders: Invest in design. Use clean layouts, readable fonts, and professional branding. A deck should look like you respect your investors’ time.

11. Over-Promising Global Expansion

Many founders rush to talk about global domination. “We’ll expand to MENA in six months, Europe in a year, the US by year two.” Saudi investors know execution at home is hard enough.

Fix for founders: Focus on dominating Saudi first. Investors prefer a startup that owns Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam before dreaming of London or New York.

12. Forgetting to Localize Metrics

Finally, too many decks present metrics in USD, reference US benchmarks, or ignore local dynamics. For example, showing CAC benchmarks from San Francisco SaaS startups doesn’t resonate with a Riyadh VC.

Fix for founders: Localize everything. Use SAR as your main currency. Use Saudi or GCC benchmarks when possible. Show you understand this market, not just global theory.

Fundraising in Saudi Arabia: Culture, Compliance, and Capital

These 12 mistakes aren’t just tactical errors — they reflect deeper misunderstandings about how fundraising works in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi fundraising is built on three pillars:

1. Clarity — Investors need to understand your business in 10 minutes.
2. Credibility — They need to trust your numbers, your team, and your compliance.
3. Context — They need to see you as part of Saudi’s Vision 2030 transformation.

Get these wrong, and you’ll be remembered as “the founder who wasted my time.” Get them right, and you’ll tap into one of the deepest pools of venture capital in the region.

As one Saudi investor told me after reviewing hundreds of decks: “We don’t invest in perfection. We invest in founders who know their reality. If your deck shows me you understand Saudi Arabia — the market, the culture, the regulations — I’ll take the next meeting.”