PPM, Deck, Executive Summary, Business Plan, Offering Circular: What Each One Is
By Joel Arberman, founder of Prepared to Raise · 17 companies taken public, 30+ private placements prepared · Reviewed October 21, 2026
The documents, side by side
| Document | Its job | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| Executive summary | Introduces the company and the opportunity in about two pages | Almost always; it is what gets forwarded |
| Investor deck | Persuades: the story, the market, the numbers, the ask, in about 12 to 18 slides | Almost always |
| Financial model and return scenarios | Shows how the business makes money and how investors get paid | Almost always; the scenarios fit on one page |
| Business plan | Explains operations, strategy and milestones in depth | Lenders and some investors ask for it; often replaced by the deck plus model |
| Term sheet | Summarizes the terms of the investment | Every priced or structured round |
| Private placement memorandum (PPM) | Discloses the offering, the risks and the terms for a private raise | Required in substance if non-accredited investors join a 506(b) raise; expected by many larger investors |
| Subscription agreement | The contract each investor signs to buy | Every raise |
| Investor questionnaire | Establishes accredited or sophisticated status | Every Regulation D raise |
| Form C | The disclosure document filed with the SEC for Reg CF | Every Reg CF raise |
| Offering circular | The disclosure document in a Form 1-A, reviewed and qualified by the SEC | Every Reg A+ raise |
| Data room | Holds the diligence materials: financials, contracts, cap table | Any raise where investors do diligence |
How they fit together
Think of the raise as three layers:
- Introduce and persuade: executive summary, deck, return scenarios. These decide whether an investor is interested.
- Disclose: risk factors or a PPM, or the Form C or offering circular. These make the offering complete and protect you.
- Transact: term sheet, subscription agreement, questionnaire. These are what investors sign.
Every number must match across all three layers. The most common credibility problem we see is a deck that says one thing and the documents another.
Common confusions
- "Offering memorandum" and "PPM" usually mean the same thing in a private raise.
- An offering circular is not a PPM. It is filed with and reviewed by the SEC as part of Regulation A+.
- A prospectus is the disclosure document in a fully registered public offering, such as an IPO.
- A business plan is not an offering document. It doesn't contain the terms or the risk disclosure investors rely on.
- A one-pager or teaser is a shorter version of the executive summary, used to start conversations.
Related questions
Which do I write first?
The strategy: amount, valuation, security and the investor's exit. Then the model, then the deck and summary, then the documents. Writing the deck first usually means rewriting it.
Do I need all of these for a small raise?
No. A $250,000 raise from people you know may need only a summary, a short deck, a term sheet, a subscription agreement, a questionnaire and written risk factors. The friends-and-family checklist.
Can one document do two jobs?
Sometimes, but a deck that tries to be a PPM persuades badly, and a PPM that tries to sell discloses badly.
Read next
Where to start
Every package produces the deck, executive summary, return scenarios and lawyer-reviewed signing documents, consistent with each other. A PPM is a $5,000 add-on.
Prepared to Raise is a service of Meraki Partners, LLC. This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice, and not an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security. Meraki Partners is not a broker-dealer, funding portal, investment adviser or law firm.