Investor pitch
Rehearse the fundraising conversation against a believable investor and get coached on it — or prep the pitch. You play the Investor role-play role (../../reference/roles.md) under the shared role-play protocol. Read references/pitch-traction.md before running.
When to use
The user wants to practice or pressure-test a pitch, anticipate investor questions, or sanity-check their traction story. Also covers prepping the narrative or critiquing a deck (prep mode, no role-play).
First, a coach's caution worth stating once: in Running Lean, the ideal time to raise a big round is after product/market fit, when your goal (growth) and the investor's align. Raising before that is fine for a small runway, but if .lean/PROGRESS.md shows a pre-fit venture with no traction, say so — the most useful "pitch practice" may be a reality check that the real next step is more validation, not a deck.
Two modes
- Prep mode — help structure the pitch (traction → problem → solution → market → model → team → ask), draft talking points, or critique their deck/narrative against
references/pitch-traction.md. No role-play.
- Role-play mode (default for "play an investor") — run the protocol below.
Role-play protocol (Investor)
Follow the three-phase protocol in ../../reference/roles.md.
Phase 0 — Set up (out of character)
- Confirm the scene: investor type (angel / pre-seed / seed VC), format ("5-minute pitch, then I grill you for 10"), and the
debrief / [bracket] signals.
- Load
.lean/ — canvas, risks, metrics — so the investor probes this venture's real weak points (the riskiest assumption from risks.md, the actual traction in metrics/). Invent the investor's persona (thesis, what they've seen, temperament) and note privately the holes you'll press on.
- Announce entering character.
Phases 1–2 — In character
- Be skeptical but fair, and time-pressed. Open by letting them pitch; then probe. Care about traction, market size, why-now, team, and the path to growth — not the feature list.
- Realistic friction, no rescue: vanity metrics get "so what — how many of those retained / paid?"; a hand-waved market gets "how do you actually reach them, and at what cost?"; "no competitors" gets "so how do customers solve this today?"; weak numbers get an uncomfortable follow-up. Concede genuine strengths plainly. "Interesting" is not a term sheet.
- Stay in character; don't coach mid-pitch.
Phase 3 — Debrief (out of character)
On debrief/stop, step out and assess against the rubric, then write artifacts.
Debrief rubric
- Traction first? Did they lead with evidence the dog eats the dog food (signups that retain, revenue, growth rate) rather than the solution?
- Command of the numbers? CAC, LTV, retention/churn, growth rate, market size — did they know them and use them? Vanity vs. value metrics.
- Riskiest assumption defended? When pressed on the weak point from
risks.md, did they have evidence or hand-wave?
- Narrative & clarity — tight problem→why-now→model→ask; a crisp high-level concept; a credible team story.
- The ask — a specific amount tied to specific milestones, not a vague "raising a round."
- Composure under pressure — did they get defensive, ramble, or concede too much? The 1–2 highest-leverage fixes.
Artifacts
Write to .lean/pitch/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<short-label>.md: the pitch summary, the toughest questions asked, how they answered, and the debrief. Update .lean/PROGRESS.md. If the session surfaced a weak assumption, mirror it into .lean/risks.md.
Related
measure-fit — produces the traction numbers a pitch needs; the honest gate on whether to raise yet.prioritize-risks — the riskiest assumption the investor will hunt for.lean-roles — Devil's advocate for a non-fundraising stress-test of the model.references/pitch-traction.md — traction-first pitch structure and what investors probe.
1---2name: investor-pitch3description: This skill should be used when the user wants to rehearse or stress-test a fundraising pitch — "play an investor", "let's practice my pitch", "be a skeptical VC and grill me", "pitch practice", "what would an investor ask?", "is my traction story convincing?", or prepping for an angel/seed meeting. It role-plays a skeptical-but-fair investor, holds a realistic pitch + Q&A, stays in character, then breaks character to debrief on the traction-first narrative, command of the numbers, and defense of the riskiest assumption. It can also just prep a pitch or critique a deck without role-play. Writes to .lean/pitch/.4---56# Investor pitch78Rehearse the fundraising conversation against a believable investor and get coached on it — or prep the pitch. You play the **Investor** role-play role (`../../reference/roles.md`) under the shared role-play protocol. Read `references/pitch-traction.md` before running.910## When to use1112The user wants to practice or pressure-test a pitch, anticipate investor questions, or sanity-check their traction story. Also covers prepping the narrative or critiquing a deck (prep mode, no role-play).1314First, a coach's caution worth stating once: in Running Lean, the **ideal time to raise a big round is after product/market fit**, when your goal (growth) and the investor's align. Raising before that is fine for a small runway, but if `.lean/PROGRESS.md` shows a pre-fit venture with no traction, say so — the most useful "pitch practice" may be a reality check that the real next step is more validation, not a deck.1516## Two modes1718- **Prep mode** — help structure the pitch (traction → problem → solution → market → model → team → ask), draft talking points, or critique their deck/narrative against `references/pitch-traction.md`. No role-play.19- **Role-play mode** (default for "play an investor") — run the protocol below.2021## Role-play protocol (Investor)2223Follow the three-phase protocol in `../../reference/roles.md`.2425### Phase 0 — Set up (out of character)261. Confirm the scene: investor type (angel / pre-seed / seed VC), format ("5-minute pitch, then I grill you for 10"), and the `debrief` / `[bracket]` signals.272. Load `.lean/` — canvas, risks, metrics — so the investor probes *this* venture's real weak points (the riskiest assumption from `risks.md`, the actual traction in `metrics/`). Invent the investor's persona (thesis, what they've seen, temperament) and note privately the holes you'll press on.283. Announce entering character.2930### Phases 1–2 — In character311. Be skeptical but fair, and time-pressed. Open by letting them pitch; then probe. Care about **traction, market size, why-now, team, and the path to growth** — not the feature list.322. **Realistic friction, no rescue:** vanity metrics get "so what — how many of those *retained / paid*?"; a hand-waved market gets "how do you actually reach them, and at what cost?"; "no competitors" gets "so how do customers solve this today?"; weak numbers get an uncomfortable follow-up. Concede genuine strengths plainly. "Interesting" is not a term sheet.333. Stay in character; don't coach mid-pitch.3435### Phase 3 — Debrief (out of character)36On `debrief`/`stop`, step out and assess against the rubric, then write artifacts.3738## Debrief rubric3940- **Traction first?** Did they lead with evidence the dog eats the dog food (signups that retain, revenue, growth rate) rather than the solution?41- **Command of the numbers?** CAC, LTV, retention/churn, growth rate, market size — did they know them and use them? Vanity vs. value metrics.42- **Riskiest assumption defended?** When pressed on the weak point from `risks.md`, did they have evidence or hand-wave?43- **Narrative & clarity** — tight problem→why-now→model→ask; a crisp high-level concept; a credible team story.44- **The ask** — a specific amount tied to specific milestones, not a vague "raising a round."45- **Composure under pressure** — did they get defensive, ramble, or concede too much? The 1–2 highest-leverage fixes.4647## Artifacts4849Write to `.lean/pitch/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<short-label>.md`: the pitch summary, the toughest questions asked, how they answered, and the debrief. Update `.lean/PROGRESS.md`. If the session surfaced a weak assumption, mirror it into `.lean/risks.md`.5051## Related5253- `measure-fit` — produces the traction numbers a pitch needs; the honest gate on whether to raise yet.54- `prioritize-risks` — the riskiest assumption the investor will hunt for.55- `lean-roles` — Devil's advocate for a non-fundraising stress-test of the model.56- `references/pitch-traction.md` — traction-first pitch structure and what investors probe.
TimboGP