How many pounds of fresh beef does it take to make a pound of beef jerky?
It depends on how moist you like your jerky. A typical jerky loses half of its starting weight in moisture, so 2:1 is the proper ratio. "Low moisture" jerky can actually be 1/3 the starting weight, a 3:1 ratio.

So 2-3 pounds of beef will make 1 pound of jerky.