Frequently asked questions
Everything people ask before they hire me. Prices, timing, and how the work actually runs. If yours isn't here, ask.
About Overslide
What is Overslide?
Overslide is a specialist presentation design agency for funded startups. It was created by designer Max Marele alongside his digital design studio, Giant Particle. It designs sales decks, fundraising and pitch decks, investor and board reporting, and does information design and visual storytelling.
Is Overslide an agency or a one-person studio?
Both descriptions are accurate and neither is a hedge. Overslide is called an agency because that is the category the work sits in and the term clients search for, not because there is a team behind the name. The work itself is one designer: Max Marele designs every project himself, and there is no account layer between the client and the designer. The word describes the standard of the work; the one-person model is what gives a client direct access to the person doing it.
What kinds of decks does Overslide design?
Four areas: sales work (one-pagers, sales presentations, custom templates); fundraising work (pitch and fundraising decks, demo day presentations); reporting (investor updates, board decks); and information design and visual storytelling.
Who is Overslide for?
Funded startups at any stage that need a deck to carry real weight: raising a round, running a sales motion, or reporting to investors and boards. It suits founders who want to work directly with the designer rather than through an agency account layer.
Does Overslide work with VC funds as well as startups?
Yes. A fund raising its own vehicle is doing the same work as a startup raising a round, so the same services apply: LP fundraising decks, AGM presentations and quarterly LP update decks. Pricing is the same published ladder.
What is Overslide's approach to a deck?
Work out what you are actually trying to say, then make it happen fast. Every slide has to serve the story and support a business goal, so the work is strategic as well as visual: quick turnaround paired with real thinking about the argument the deck is making.
Deck types
What is a pitch deck?
A pitch deck is the presentation a founder uses to raise money: the problem, the product, the market, the traction and the ask. Overslide designs pitch and fundraising decks in two tiers. Deck, from $5,000, designs one from the material the founder already has and leaves the narrative alone. Story, from $10,000, reworks the narrative and structure first and then designs it end to end.
What is the difference between a pitch deck and a sales deck?
A pitch deck is aimed at investors and argues that the company is worth funding. A sales deck is aimed at customers and argues that the product is worth buying. The two often share a brand and a template, but they rarely share a narrative, because what is being asked for is different. Overslide designs both, and a System engagement can produce the shared template they run on.
What is an investor update or a board deck?
Both are the recurring reporting a funded company sends to the people who backed it: performance against plan, the numbers, what changed, and what is being asked of the board. They are the most repeated presentation a company makes, which is why they are usually the first thing a template or a retainer gets pointed at. Overslide designs both, under Reporting.
What is a one-pager?
A one-pager is a single page carrying the argument a whole deck would otherwise make: what the company does, who it is for, and why it matters. It is used as a leave-behind after a meeting, as an attachment to a cold email, or as the version a busy reader gets instead of the full deck. Overslide designs one-pagers under Sales.
What is an LP deck or an AGM presentation?
Both are fund-side presentations. An LP deck is what a venture fund uses to raise its own vehicle from limited partners, which is the same job as a startup raising a round. An AGM presentation is what the fund shows those limited partners at its annual general meeting, alongside the quarterly LP updates in between. Overslide designs all three, on the same published pricing as startup work.
Pricing
How much does a presentation design project cost?
Overslide publishes four prices, all in USD. Deck starts at $5,000: one deck of around 25 slides, designed from the content the team already has, with the narrative left as it is and a one-week turnaround. Story starts at $10,000: one deck rebuilt from the story up, with the narrative and structure reworked before anything is designed, over around two weeks. System starts at $30,000 and runs four weeks and up: a presentation system of templates, a modular slide library and a handover, which the team then runs itself. The Retainer is $8,500 per month: continuous presentation support for companies Overslide has already worked with, on a two-month minimum. Each figure is a starting point rather than a quote: every project is scoped to the team using it, and the final number is settled on a 30-minute call.
How much does a pitch deck cost at Overslide?
A pitch or fundraising deck sits in one of two tiers. Deck, from $5,000, designs one deck from the material the founder already has and leaves the narrative alone; turnaround is a week. Story, from $10,000, reworks the narrative and structure first and then designs the deck end to end, including its charts and diagrams; around two weeks. Both are starting prices in USD, and both are scoped on a call.
What does $5,000 actually buy?
One deck, around 25 slides. Deck, the $5,000 tier, takes the content the team already has and rebuilds the slides around it, with the narrative left as it is, in the tool the team already works in, whether that is Figma Slides, Google Slides, Keynote or PowerPoint, so the file stays editable in-house after handover. Turnaround is a week, and the work runs directly with Max over Slack or WhatsApp while it is live rather than through an account manager. It is a starting price rather than a quote: the deck is scoped to the team using it on a 30-minute call, and a project that needs the narrative rebuilt as well is a Story, from $10,000, instead.
What is included in the System tier?
System starts at $30,000 and delivers a presentation system the team owns and makes its own decks from. Every system is scoped to the team using it, and the range runs from one deck type to five or more, a modular slide library of 30 to 150 or more slides, illustration and data visualization from light to full, a brand system that is either extended or built from scratch, and a handover that runs from a written guide up to 30 days on Slack. Most System clients also keep a Retainer running alongside for high-stakes work.
Does Overslide offer a retainer or ongoing presentation support?
Yes. The Retainer is $8,500 per month and covers sales decks, investor updates, one-pagers and similar work on tap, with priority turnaround and direct access on Slack or WhatsApp. It runs on a two-month minimum and then month to month, and is available to companies that have already worked with Overslide once.
Timing and availability
How long does a deck take?
Deck turns around in a week. Story runs around two weeks. System runs four weeks and up, scoped per project, and Retainer work is handled at priority. Anything genuinely urgent is worth asking about directly rather than assuming it is impossible.
When is Overslide available to start a project?
Two separate things decide this. There is no onboarding process to work through: once a project is agreed, work begins the following Monday. What actually sets the date is the queue, because Overslide is one designer rather than a team, and it is taking new work from Q4 2026. There is no self-serve booking of a project slot: every project starts with a 30-minute call, and the date is agreed there. Urgent work can sometimes jump the queue at a priority rate, agreed up front, so it is worth asking directly rather than assuming.
Does Overslide take on urgent or rush projects?
Sometimes. Getting started is fast in itself, since there is no onboarding to work through, so the constraint is only whether there is a free slot. Urgent work can jump the normal booking queue. Clearing that space runs at a priority rate on top of the tier price, agreed before anything starts. Get in touch and explain the deadline rather than assuming it is impossible.
How many projects do you run at the same time?
Work is booked in advance rather than taken on as it arrives. Overslide is one designer, which is what creates the queue. It is currently taking new work from Q4 2026, and that is also why a start date is agreed in conversation rather than self-served. Urgent projects can sometimes jump that queue, at a priority rate agreed before anything starts, so a hard deadline is worth raising directly rather than assuming it rules the work out.
How do I start a project with Overslide?
Book a 30-minute call at cal.com/overslide/30min, or email max@overslide.com. That call is the only way in: there is no form or checkout that books a project, and the start date is agreed in conversation.
Working together
How is Overslide different from a presentation design agency?
Start with the word itself: Overslide is called an agency for the category the work sits in, not for a headcount, so what follows is a real difference rather than a positioning line. Agencies run a formal process: scheduled check-ins, slow revision cycles, rigid project phases and a long onboarding. Overslide runs collaborative sprints instead, with direct access to the designer over Slack or WhatsApp, fast feedback loops and rapid iteration. There is also no onboarding process to work through, where an agency can take weeks to get started: once a project is agreed, work begins the following Monday. The trade is scale for speed and directness: one designer, no account layer. Because it is one designer, the wait is the booking queue rather than the paperwork.
What does a presentation designer actually change about a deck?
Concretely: confusing metrics and bullet points become a clear narrative with focused numbers and a visual hierarchy that walks an investor through the growth story. Generic problem lists become a personal story an investor can picture happening at their own portfolio companies. Big market-size numbers without context become an impact-first narrative that explains why this moment matters and how the company wins. The deck's argument changes, not just its styling.
Do you work on the narrative, or only the design?
Both, and the tier decides which. Deck, from $5,000, is design: the narrative stays as it is and the slides are rebuilt around it. Story, from $10,000, is narrative first: the story and the structure are worked out with the client before anything is designed, and then the deck is designed end to end, including the charts and diagrams the argument needs. Either way this is not production work: every slide has to serve the story and support a business goal, and which of the two a project should be gets settled on the 30-minute call, before anything is scoped.
What do you need from us to start, and what comes back?
Whatever already exists. On a Deck, from $5,000, that is the current content in whatever state it is in, and the narrative stays as it is while the slides are rebuilt around it. On a Story, from $10,000, the starting material matters less, because the narrative and the structure are worked out with the client first and the deck is then designed from that. Not having brand guidelines is not a blocker either; most startups do not have them. What comes back is the finished deck built in the tool the team already uses, editable in-house after handover.
Which tools does Overslide design in?
Figma Slides, Google Slides, Keynote or PowerPoint, whichever the client's team already uses. Max prefers to build in Figma where the client can work that way, because it gives more design control.
Will my team be able to edit the deck afterwards?
Yes. Decks are built in the tool the team already works in, so the files stay editable in-house rather than locking the deck to a tool nobody uses.
Can Overslide work with our existing brand or build us a reusable template?
Yes. Custom templates are one of the listed sales services, so a project can produce a reusable system the team keeps using rather than only a single finished deck.
What if we don't have brand guidelines yet?
That is normal and not a problem. Most startups do not have them. Overslide works with whatever exists to create a coherent presentation style, and a full brand system can be built from scratch as part of a System engagement.
How does Overslide communicate during a project?
Direct access to Max over Slack or WhatsApp throughout the project, with regular sync calls. There is no account manager in between.
How many revision rounds are included?
Revisions are not counted. Overslide does not sell rounds: a project runs as a collaborative sprint with direct access to Max on Slack or WhatsApp, fast feedback loops and rapid iteration, and the deck keeps moving until it is right. What is fixed is the scope agreed on the 30-minute call, not a number of passes. That is the opposite of an agency model, where revision cycles are scheduled and counted.
Who you actually work with
Who actually works on my project?
Max Marele, on every project. He designs the work himself: Overslide is a one-person specialist studio rather than a large agency, so the person on the intro call is the person designing the slides, and there is no account layer in between.
Who is Max Marele?
Max Marele is a presentation designer and the founder of Overslide, the presentation design agency for funded startups. He designs pitch and fundraising decks, sales decks and one-pagers, investor updates and board decks, presentation templates and full presentation systems, and he does the design work himself. He also founded the digital design studio Giant Particle, and writes about building Overslide in public on Substack. He can be reached at max@overslide.com or booked for a 30-minute call at cal.com/overslide/30min.
Can I hire a presentation designer directly through Overslide?
Yes. Hiring Overslide means working directly with Max Marele, the presentation designer doing the work, rather than briefing an agency team through an account manager. Work is remote and worldwide, and starts with a 30-minute call at cal.com/overslide/30min.
How are Overslide and Giant Particle related?
Both are Max Marele's. Giant Particle is his digital design studio; Overslide is the specialist presentation design agency he created alongside it, and is described as part of Giant Particle.
Work samples and NDAs
Can I see examples of Overslide's work?
Yes. The site shows 28 sample slides taken from real client projects, with client names and sensitive figures redacted, and Overslide's own sales deck is downloadable as a PDF, a complete deck rather than a slide and the one piece of work that can be shown end to end, because it is the studio's own. Client decks are not published in full, and that is a deliberate standard rather than a gap in the portfolio: confidentiality is taken seriously here, the decks carry unreleased strategy and financials, and they stay private.
Can you show a deck that produced a measurable result?
Client names are not published, but the raises are real. Decks Overslide has worked on have gone into rounds that closed: a Series A above $30M, a $12M Series A and a $6M seed. A deck is never the only reason a round closes; the company, the numbers and the founder do most of that work. But it is the stage and the size of raise this work is built for. More detail on request.
Which clients can I contact?
References are available on request. Client names are not published on the site because most of the work is under NDA, and deck work usually involves unreleased strategy and financials. That is a decision about what goes on a public page, not a refusal to put a prospective client in touch with a past one. Ask on the 30-minute call.
Does Overslide sign NDAs?
Yes. Most of Overslide's work is under NDA, and confidential information stays confidential. It is the same reason client names and figures are redacted on the sample slides.
Why are client names not shown?
Because confidentiality is taken seriously, not because there is nothing to show. Deck work usually involves unreleased strategy and financials, so client names and sensitive figures are redacted on the sample slides and no client deck is published in full. The same rule is the reason a client’s own deck will never turn up on this site as a portfolio piece.
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