PowerPoint Makeover: Shopify

Some of the greatest brands were born from an entrepreneur seeking a personal solution. When Shopify founders tried opening an online store for snowboarding equipment, they were dissatisfied with the e-commerce products in the then-current market. Instead, they built their own.

Since its 2006 launch, Shopify has grown into a global commerce operating system that enables merchants of all sizes to sell to any customer, anywhere. The innovative platform makes it easy for small businesses and entrepreneurs to start, run and grow their e-commerce companies. But like almost any other successful venture, Shopify needed funding to get started – and that meant founders Tobias Lutke and Scott Lake needed a stellar pitch deck to impress potential investors.

Before going public in 2015, Shopify raised more than $122 million across multiple funding rounds. We took a look at one of Shopify’s original pitch decks, and we decided to give it one of our famous PowerPoint makeovers. We recreated and redesigned the pitch deck using the power of artificial intelligence to dictate the design.

 What do you think of our Shopify PowerPoint makeover? Is the new Shopify pitch deck, “beautiful?”

The theme:

Beautiful.ai makes it simple for anyone to create a cohesive and professional design. We started our PowerPoint makeover by creating a custom theme, including specific typography and a color palette that automatically applies to every slide we add to the presentation. We reinforced Shopify’s brand style guide by selecting colors that match, and we even customized the slide deck by adding a footer to each slide that illustrates Shopify’s company logo, an image we easily applied using Beautiful.ai’s free library full of stock photos, icons and logos.

Slide 1: Shopify title

Every effective pitch deck needs its own title slide to introduce audiences to the topic. We made over the presentation with our Headline Smart Slide template, and we upped the level of engagement by including vivid images pulled from Beautiful.ai’s library of free stock photos, icons and logos.

Slide 2: Shopify data

Data tells a story, and numbers can play a convincing role in a pitch deck. The Shopify team included data illustrating its user base on its title slide, but we felt this important information deserved a slide of its own. The slide was easy to create using our Photo Grid Smart Slide template, and simply inserting the numbers into each field.

Slide 3: Shopify history

The Shopify pitch deck featured a slide showcasing the company’s humble beginnings, creating an e-commerce platform for the founder’s own shop. We recreated this important slide using our Product Screenshot Smart Slide template, then inserted an image of the Snow Devil site into the frame. We then animated the appearance of icons to bring the slide to life.

Slide 4: Integrations

The next two slides in the original Shopify pitch deck illustrate the platform’s integrations. We thought the original illustrations were cute, but an infographic would be more effective at pitching the brand. We chose our Cycle smart slide template, then highlighted the various integrations with Shopify with icons in the data visualization, which we animated to boost engagement.

Slide 5: Multi-channel commerce

Shopify is a multi-channel commerce platform, and the next slide in the original pitch deck illustrates that point. We redesigned this important slide using our Product Screenshot Smart Slide template against a deep green background. Inside the frame, we placed additional data to help cement the message.

Slide 6: Shopify market

Any good pitch deck will highlight current market conditions, and Shopify’s original presentation is no exception. Shopify illustrated this data using a pyramid infographic, which we easily were able to recreate using our Pyramid Smart Slide template. We just entered the data and watched as the AI transformed it into the perfect visualization.

Slide 7: Build-a-business

Who uses Shopify? The next slide in Shopify’s original pitch deck features five ultra-successful entrepreneurs and business people who have sold millions using the platform. We recreated this slide using Beautiful.ai’s Icons with Text Smart Slide template, then inserted photos of the entrepreneurs that we pulled from our free library of stock images. Designing the slide was a breeze: Each time we added content, we watched as AI adjusted the slide based on the principles of good design.

Slide 8: Headroom data

Shopify’s next slide featured more important data to support the company’s story of success. Shopify featured a Venn diagram in its slide, and we easily were able to recreate the infographic with another Smart Slide template. With the Venn Diagram template, we just entered the data and let AI take care of creating perfectly-proportioned circles.

Slide 9: Shopify partners

Who are Shopify’s partners? The next slide in Shopify’s original pitch deck highlighted major brands working in conjunction with the company. We showcased each of these brands using Beautiful.ai’s Stack Diagram Smart Slide template. The logos were easy to add by accessing our free library of stock images.

Slide 10: Shopify’s recipe

Shopify highlighted its business strategy in its original pitch deck by defining its recipe for success. We transformed this slide by entering the content into our Icons with Text Smart Slide template, then adding an engaging photo from our free library. Of course, the icons were also simple to illustrate by searching Beautiful.ai’s free stock images.

Slides 11-12: Financial highlights

No pitch deck is complete without plenty of financial data. Shopify opened this sequence with an introductory slide, simply stating the upcoming topic. We recreated this slide with our Headline Smart Slide template and placed the text against a bold green background in accordance with Shopify’s brand style. To showcase Shopify’s financial highlights, we again chose our Icons with Text template, complete with illustrations from our free icon library.

Slides 13-15: Shopify by the numbers

The original  Shopify pitch deck then featured a series of slides highlighting the company’s growth with engaging infographics. We kept these important data visualizations in our PowerPoint makeover, using our Compare Bars and Column Chart templates. We made sure to recapture the audience's attention by adding some engaging animations.

Slide 16: Growth vectors

The original Shopify pitch deck showcased the company’s various growth vectors using a data visualization. To redesign the next slide in the Shopify pitch deck, we chose Beautiful.ai’s Arrow Bars Smart Slide template, and we made sure to animate the appearance of the bars. We added an engaging image alongside the infographic to balance the design.

Slide 17: Investment highlights

The next slide in the original Shopify pitch deck listed several important investment highlights. Excellent information… but the presentation couldn’t be duller. We brought the information to life by placing it in our Icons with Text template, which we then animated for extra pizzazz. The engaging icons were simple to find using Beautiful.ai’s free image search feature, and the colors automatically coordinated with Shopify’s brand thanks to our custom theme.

Slide 18: Shopify closing

A powerful closing slide is essential to an effective pitch deck. The closing slide allows the presenter to wrap up any loose ends, take questions and even leave the audience pondering a compelling statement or question. We simply recreated Shopify’s closing slide using our Headline template, and we added engaging images from our library of free stock photos.