Pitch Deck Creation

Pitch Deck Creation

Workspace Context

Read bootstrap context before asking questions: strategy/brand.md for brand, audience, offer, channels, tools, constraints, and metrics; about/me.md for personal voice; content/ideas.md and content/calendar.md for content planning. Use legacy product-marketing context files only as fallback. Save generated drafts to content/<platform>/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_short-topic-slug.md, and route durable learnings back to strategy/brand.md, about/me.md, or content/ideas.md.

Operating Contract

This skill is self-contained for its frontmatter scope: use its local instructions, references, scripts, and assets as the playbook; ask only for missing task-specific inputs; hand off to adjacent skills instead of expanding scope; and return an actionable artifact, decision, plan, draft, or diagnostic.

Generate professional investor-ready pitch decks. This skill covers both the narrative structure (what goes on each slide) and the visual design rules (how it should look), then produces a .pptx file via a bundled Python script.

Deck Structure

Use the 12-slide framework — total ~6 minutes. Never exceed 20 slides.

Detailed slide guidance: consult references/pitch_deck_best_practices.md for content rules, examples, and common mistakes for each slide type.

Step-by-Step Workflow

Step 1: Gather Information

Ask the user conversationally. Probe for specific metrics and data.

Required:

• Company name and tagline (one sentence)
• Problem being solved (with data/stats if available)
• Solution and key features

Recommended (include if available):

• Market size (TAM/SAM/SOM) and growth rate
• Traction: revenue, users, growth %, milestones
• Business model: pricing, revenue streams, unit economics
• Competition: competitors and your differentiators
• Team: founders and key hires with relevant background
• Financials & Ask: amount, use of funds, runway, milestones

For missing info, offer placeholder slides that can be updated later.

Step 2: Create pitch_data.json

Format collected information as JSON for the generation script:

{
  "company_name": "Company Name",
  "tagline": "One-line description",
  "problem": [
    "Problem statement with data",
    "Impact/urgency statement"
  ],
  "solution": [
    "How the product solves the problem",
    "Key feature 1 and its benefit",
    "Unique value proposition"
  ],
  "market": [
    "TAM: $X total addressable market",
    "SAM: $X serviceable market",
    "SOM: $X obtainable market"
  ],
  "product": ["Feature 1", "Feature 2", "Tech highlights"],
  "traction": ["Revenue: $X (YY% growth)", "Users: X,XXX active", "Key milestone"],
  "business_model": ["Revenue model", "Pricing: $XX/month", "CAC, LTV, margins"],
  "competition": {
    "our_advantages": ["Advantage 1", "Unfair advantage"],
    "competitors": ["Competitor 1", "Competitor 2"]
  },
  "team": [
    "CEO: Name - relevant experience",
    "CTO: Name - built X at Y"
  ],
  "financials": [
    "Raising: $X seed/Series A",
    "Use of funds: XX% eng, XX% sales",
    "Milestones with this funding"
  ]
}

Notes: all fields are optional except company_name; competition can be an object (two-column layout) or a plain array.

Step 3: Generate the PowerPoint

python3 scripts/create_pitch_deck.py pitch_data.json output_filename.pptx

Requires python-pptx: pip3 install python-pptx

The script produces a .pptx with consistent formatting, color scheme, and typography — ready for presentation or manual customization.

Step 4: Review and Iterate

• User updates pitch_data.json with new info, re-runs the script
• For design beyond the script, advise manual editing in PowerPoint
• PDF export: File → Save As → PDF (for sharing)
• Presentation timing: ~10–15 minutes for 10–12 slides

Visual Design Rules

Typography

The 1-6-6 Rule

• 1 idea per slide
• 6 words max per bullet
• 6 bullets max per slide

If you need more text, you need more slides.

Color

The bundled script defaults: Primary #2962FF (titles), Secondary #646464 (body), white background.

Layout

Chart Type Guide

For competition slides: use a 2×2 positioning map, not a feature matrix against competitors.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Tailoring for Audience

Seed/early-stage investor deck: emphasize problem, solution, market size, and team; show early traction; clear funding ask.

Growth-stage / Series A deck: lead with traction and revenue metrics; detailed unit economics; strong competitive moat story.

Sales / BD deck: de-emphasize fundraising; focus on customer ROI, case studies, and testimonials.

Product launch deck: highlight product features and market need; include demo screenshots; emphasize innovation.

Resources

• scripts/create_pitch_deck.py — generates PowerPoint from pitch_data.json
• references/pitch_deck_best_practices.md — comprehensive guide: slide-by-slide content rules, design best practices, audience tailoring, pre-pitch checklist