Most founders send a deck when a one-pager would have done the job. A deck is the wrong artefact for a cold intro, a warm referral, an advisor onboarding, or a pre-call context note. The deck overshoots. The reader has to ignore most of it to find the point.

A one-pager is the artefact that respects the reader. One side of A4, eight fields, three minutes to read. Send it before any conversation where the other person needs context but does not need a sales pitch.

When to use it

Cold intro request. The one-pager is what you attach to the email asking for a warm intro to a specific person.
Warm intro follow-up. After someone agrees to introduce you, the one-pager is what they forward.
Advisor onboarding. New advisor needs context to be useful. The one-pager replaces the first hour of explanation.
Pre-call context. Sending it 24 hours before a call halves the call length and doubles its quality.
Customer prospect. Mid-funnel artefact for prospects who want to share you with a colleague before scheduling.

When NOT to use it

Fundraise. Investors expect a deck and a data room. A one-pager looks underprepared in that context. Use the one-pager as the cover note that the deck attaches to, not as the deck itself.

The eight fields

1. The headline

One sentence. What you do, for whom, with the specificity that lets the reader know whether to keep reading. "Appointment-reminder workflows for mid-market dental practices" beats "AI-powered scheduling for healthcare".

Headline: ______

2. The current bet

One sentence. The hypothesis you are testing right now, named with a date. "By July, we will know whether mid-market dental practices will pay $79/month." Specific, falsifiable, dated.

Bet: ______

3. The proof so far

Three lines maximum. The most concrete evidence you have that the bet is on the right track. Customer count, revenue, pilot signed, named reference. Receipts, not adjectives.

Receipt 1: ______
Receipt 2: ______
Receipt 3: ______

4. The team

Two lines per person, max three people. Name, role, one sentence on the relevant pedigree. No degrees unless the degree is part of the credibility (rare). No "passionate about" anything.

Person 1: ______
Person 2: ______
Person 3: ______

5. The funding situation

One line. Stage, runway, last raise. Honesty more than completeness.

Funding: ______

6. The thing that is hardest right now

One line. The honest answer. Most founders skip this because it feels weakening. It is the field that makes everything else credible.

Hardest right now: ______

7. The ask

Two lines maximum. What you want from the reader, named specifically. "An intro to the head of GTM at Bandit" beats "introductions welcome". A named ask gets answered. A vague ask gets a vague non-response.

Ask: ______

8. The contact

One line. The best way to reach you. Email, Calendly, or both. No phone numbers (asking for a phone number from a cold intro is friction the reader will not pay).

Contact: ______

Format and aesthetics

One side of A4. Hard limit. If it spills onto a second page, cut.
Single column. No multi-column layouts. The reader scans top-to-bottom; multi-column makes them work.
Headers at 12-14pt, body at 10-11pt. Larger and you signal "I am padding"; smaller and you signal "this is a wall of text".
No logos other than yours. No stock photography. No icons unless they earn their place.

A note on iteration

The one-pager rewrites itself every two months in the early years. The bet shifts; the proof catches up; the ask sharpens. Treat it as a living artefact, not a static brochure. The version you send a year from now should be unrecognisable from the one you send today.

A deck is what you send when you want the reader to do work. A one-pager is what you send when you want the reader to act. Most early-stage conversations need the second, not the first.

Template from Marga Haus · margahaus.com/resources · Adapt and use freely. Attribution appreciated, not required.

Founder one-pager template