Pitch Deck Builder
A pitch deck is not a document; it is the spine of a 30-minute conversation. It
must be skimmable in five minutes when forwarded without you in the room, and
expandable into a story when you present it. This skill builds both.
When to use this skill
Use it after [[fundraising-narrative]] produces the five-beat story and
[[fundraising-stage-selector]] fixes the ask. The deck renders the narrative; it
never invents it.
The 11 slides, in order
- Title - company, one-line positioning, the ask in the corner. The
one-liner is "we help [who] do [what] so they get [outcome]."
- Problem - the painful, specific, expensive status quo. One customer's
reality beats a market abstraction.
- Insight - the non-obvious truth you have that others miss. This is the
slide that separates fundable from forgettable.
- Solution / Product - what you built, shown not told. A real screen or a
10-second demo, not a feature list.
- Why now - the shift (tech, regulation, behavior) that makes this
inevitable today and impossible three years ago.
- Market - bottom-up TAM/SAM/SOM with the assumption visible. Pair with
[[market-sizing]]; never use a top-down "1% of a huge number."
- Traction - the hero metric with a denominator and a trend line. Lead
with retention or revenue, the metrics that reduce doubt fastest.
- Business model - how you make money, unit economics, CAC/payback.
- Competition - the honest landscape and your structural moat. Name
incumbents; explain why they cannot follow.
- Team - why this team wins this specific bet. See [[fundraise-team-hiring]].
- The ask - amount, the milestone it funds, and the use of funds. Close on
the future, not a thank-you slide.
Stage calibration
- Pre-seed/Seed: weight Insight, Why-now, Team. Traction can be qualitative.
- Series A: weight Traction, Business model, Market. Show the engine working.
Design rules
- One idea per slide. If a slide needs a paragraph, it is two slides or a verbal
point with a visual.
- Every number gets a denominator and a date.
- Build a tight 11-slide main deck and a fat appendix (cohorts, detailed model,
security, roadmap) you reveal on demand in diligence.
- The forwarded deck and the presented deck are the same file; design so it
reads both ways.
Anti-patterns
- The "no competitors" slide - reads as naive.
- A wall of logos with no metric attached.
- Burying traction at slide 9. If you have proof, it earns its way forward.
- A vision so grand there is no wedge. Show where you start.
Deliverable
An 11-slide main deck mapped to the narrative beats, a clearly separated
appendix, and a slide-by-slide note on the single point each slide must land.
Take it to [[pitch-practice-coach]] before any live meeting.
1---2name: pitch-deck-builder3description: Use when a founder needs to build or fix a fundraising pitch deck. Triggers on "build my pitch deck", "investor deck", "seed deck", "Series A deck", "what slides do I need", "fix my deck", "deck for VCs". Turns the narrative into the exact slides investors expect, in order.4---56# Pitch Deck Builder78A pitch deck is not a document; it is the spine of a 30-minute conversation. It9must be skimmable in five minutes when forwarded without you in the room, and10expandable into a story when you present it. This skill builds both.1112## When to use this skill1314Use it after [[fundraising-narrative]] produces the five-beat story and15[[fundraising-stage-selector]] fixes the ask. The deck renders the narrative; it16never invents it.1718## The 11 slides, in order19201. **Title** - company, one-line positioning, the ask in the corner. The21 one-liner is "we help [who] do [what] so they get [outcome]."222. **Problem** - the painful, specific, expensive status quo. One customer's23 reality beats a market abstraction.243. **Insight** - the non-obvious truth you have that others miss. This is the25 slide that separates fundable from forgettable.264. **Solution / Product** - what you built, shown not told. A real screen or a27 10-second demo, not a feature list.285. **Why now** - the shift (tech, regulation, behavior) that makes this29 inevitable today and impossible three years ago.306. **Market** - bottom-up TAM/SAM/SOM with the assumption visible. Pair with31 [[market-sizing]]; never use a top-down "1% of a huge number."327. **Traction** - the hero metric with a denominator and a trend line. Lead33 with retention or revenue, the metrics that reduce doubt fastest.348. **Business model** - how you make money, unit economics, CAC/payback.359. **Competition** - the honest landscape and your structural moat. Name36 incumbents; explain why they cannot follow.3710. **Team** - why this team wins this specific bet. See [[fundraise-team-hiring]].3811. **The ask** - amount, the milestone it funds, and the use of funds. Close on39 the future, not a thank-you slide.4041## Stage calibration4243- **Pre-seed/Seed**: weight Insight, Why-now, Team. Traction can be qualitative.44- **Series A**: weight Traction, Business model, Market. Show the engine working.4546## Design rules4748- One idea per slide. If a slide needs a paragraph, it is two slides or a verbal49 point with a visual.50- Every number gets a denominator and a date.51- Build a tight 11-slide main deck and a fat appendix (cohorts, detailed model,52 security, roadmap) you reveal on demand in diligence.53- The forwarded deck and the presented deck are the same file; design so it54 reads both ways.5556## Anti-patterns5758- The "no competitors" slide - reads as naive.59- A wall of logos with no metric attached.60- Burying traction at slide 9. If you have proof, it earns its way forward.61- A vision so grand there is no wedge. Show where you start.6263## Deliverable6465An 11-slide main deck mapped to the narrative beats, a clearly separated66appendix, and a slide-by-slide note on the single point each slide must land.67Take it to [[pitch-practice-coach]] before any live meeting.
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