---
name: pitch-deck
description: "Pitch deck writing: investor narrative, slide-by-slide structure, financial ask framing, market sizing (TAM/SAM/SOM), and traction slide best practices"
---

# Pitch Deck Skill

## When to activate
- Writing or refining an investor pitch deck (seed, Series A, B)
- Building a narrative arc for a fundraising story
- Calculating and presenting market size (TAM/SAM/SOM)
- Designing a traction slide that shows the right metrics
- Preparing for investor Q&A on the deck
- Reviewing a draft deck for structural or narrative gaps

## When NOT to use
- Financial modelling for the deck — use the dcf-model or financial-plan skill first, then summarise
- Creating investor update emails — different format and audience
- Internal strategy decks — different structure and goals
- Marketing decks or sales presentations — different persuasion logic

## Instructions

### Pitch deck structure

```
Build a pitch deck outline for [company].

Company: [name + one-line description]
Stage: [pre-seed / seed / Series A / Series B]
Raise amount: $[X]
Current traction: [ARR / users / key metrics]
Investor type: [VC / angel / strategic]

Deck structure (10-12 slides):

1. TITLE SLIDE
   - Company name + tagline (max 10 words)
   - Your name + date
   - Not: a list of features

2. THE PROBLEM (1-2 slides)
   - Who has the problem? (specific person, specific situation)
   - How do they solve it today? (the incumbent / workaround)
   - What's wrong with the current solution? (cost, friction, risk)
   Rule: make the investor feel the pain, not just understand it intellectually

3. THE SOLUTION (1 slide)
   - How you solve it differently
   - Product screenshot or demo GIF (if B2B SaaS)
   - One-line: "X for Y" or "We do X so that Y can Z"
   Rule: show, don't just tell

4. MARKET SIZE (1 slide)
   - TAM (total addressable market)
   - SAM (serviceable addressable market — your realistic reach)
   - SOM (serviceable obtainable market — your 3-5 year target)
   Rule: bottom-up is more credible than top-down; show your math

5. BUSINESS MODEL (1 slide)
   - How you charge (per seat / usage-based / commission / subscription)
   - Price point and unit economics (LTV / CAC ratio, payback period)
   - Revenue today: [ARR / MRR]

6. TRACTION (1-2 slides)
   - The metrics that show PMF: growth rate, retention, engagement
   - 3 "hockey stick" metrics, not 10 mediocre ones
   Rule: investors look for rate of change, not absolute numbers

7. GO-TO-MARKET (1 slide)
   - How you acquire customers today
   - What's working (unit economics on the channel)
   - What you'll do with the capital to scale acquisition

8. COMPETITION (1 slide)
   - 2x2 matrix: your differentiation axes
   - Named competitors + where you win
   Rule: "no one does what we do" is a red flag — shows poor market awareness

9. TEAM (1 slide)
   - Why this team, for this problem, right now?
   - Relevant experience (not full CVs)
   - Any advisors who add credibility

10. FINANCIALS (1 slide)
    - 3-year projection (revenue, headcount, burn rate)
    - Key assumptions (CAC, LTV, growth rate)
    - Path to profitability or next raise

11. THE ASK (1 slide)
    - Raising: $[X]
    - Use of funds (% by function: engineering / sales / marketing)
    - Milestones this funding achieves
    - What does success look like in 18 months?

Build the full slide-by-slide outline for my company.
```

### Market sizing

```
Calculate market size for [product/company].

What you sell: [describe product/service]
Who buys it: [describe the buyer — role, company type, geography]
Price point: [how much per customer per year]

Bottom-up TAM calculation (most credible):

Step 1 — Count the potential buyers:
[Number of companies/people who could be your customer]
Source: [LinkedIn Sales Navigator count / industry report / government census data]

Step 2 — Apply your price:
TAM = Number of potential buyers × Annual revenue per customer
Example: 500,000 US companies with > 10 employees × $2,400/year = $1.2B TAM

Step 3 — SAM (realistic reach with current GTM):
Apply filters: which geography, company size, and segment can you actually serve?
SAM = [filtered TAM] × price
Example: 50,000 US tech companies × $2,400 = $120M SAM

Step 4 — SOM (3-5 year capture):
Realistic market share given your GTM and competition
SOM = SAM × [X%] (typically 1-5% for early-stage)
Example: 10% of SAM = $12M SOM (your 3-year revenue target)

Top-down (for context only, not primary source):
Cite an analyst report (Gartner, IDC, etc.) for the total market
Then show your bottom-up calculation as validation
Rule: investors know top-down TAMs are inflated — bottom-up shows you've done the work

Calculate market size for my product with sources and specific numbers.
```

### Traction slide design

```
Design the traction slide for [company].

Stage: [pre-revenue / early revenue / growing]
Key metrics available: [list — ARR, users, growth rate, NPS, retention, etc.]
Best numbers: [what's most impressive?]
Growth story: [when did growth accelerate and why?]

Traction slide principles:

Show rate of change, not absolute numbers:
- Bad: "We have 500 customers" (no context)
- Good: "200% YoY growth — 500 customers vs. 167 a year ago"

3 metrics maximum:
Choose the 3 most compelling from this priority order:
1. Revenue or ARR (if > $100K ARR): shows real demand
2. Growth rate (MoM or YoY): shows trajectory
3. Retention (NRR or D30/D90 retention): shows value delivery

If pre-revenue, show leading indicators:
- Waitlist size + growth rate
- Pilot customers + quotes
- LOIs or signed contracts
- Usage metrics (DAU, MAU, sessions)

Presentation format:
- Chart 1: revenue/ARR over time (bar or line)
- Chart 2: month-over-month growth rate (shows acceleration)
- Supporting: 1-2 logos of notable customers
- Quote: 1 customer quote with name and company

Context lines (add to each metric):
"$1.2M ARR — 3x YoY growth"
"NRR: 127% — customers expand after first year"
"67 enterprise customers, avg contract $18K ARR"

Design my traction slide with the metrics I provide.
```

### Investor Q&A prep

```
Prepare for investor Q&A on [pitch deck].

Round: [seed / Series A]
Typical investor profile: [generalist VC / vertical specialist / angel]
Your weakest areas in the deck: [list — market size / team / traction / competition]

Top 15 investor questions and how to answer them:

1. "Why now?" → market timing: what's changed in the last 2 years that makes this possible?
2. "Why you?" → unfair advantage: founder-market fit, proprietary data, unique network
3. "What's your moat?" → defensibility: switching costs, data flywheel, network effects, brand
4. "Who else is doing this?" → competitive awareness: name them, show your 2x2
5. "What happens if Google/[big co] does this?" → moat again, plus "they already tried and failed / we serve a niche they can't"
6. "Walk me through your unit economics" → LTV, CAC, payback period — know these cold
7. "What's your go-to-market?" → first 100 customers → how do you get to 10,000?
8. "How did you get your first customers?" → shows hustle and early PMF signals
9. "What does your churn look like?" → be honest; explain the reason and the fix
10. "What are you going to do with the money?" → specific milestones, not vague categories
11. "What's your revenue model?" → how you make money, margins, expansion potential
12. "What does the team look like?" → who's missing (hire with the capital)?
13. "What's your burn rate?" → monthly burn, runway, when you'll need next round
14. "What are the risks?" → show you've thought about this; don't pretend it's risk-free
15. "What's the exit?" → don't say IPO for early stage; name 3-5 strategic acquirers

Prepare my specific answers for each question using my company's details.
```

## Example

**User:** I'm raising a $2M seed for a B2B legal contract review SaaS. Monthly growth is 15%, $80K ARR, 3 design partners paying. How do I frame the ask slide?

**Claude's ask slide:**

**Raising: $2M Seed**

**What this buys (18-month runway):**
| Function | % | Amount | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering (2 hires) | 50% | $1M | Ship v2 product — full NDA + MSA review coverage |
| Sales & GTM | 30% | $600K | First dedicated AE + demand gen → 10 paying enterprise customers |
| Operations | 20% | $400K | Runway + legal/compliance for enterprise pilots |

**Milestones at 18 months:**
- $600K ARR (from $80K today — 7.5x)
- 20+ paying customers (from 3 design partners)
- Series A ready: proven GTM motion in a defined ICP

**Why now:**
$80K ARR at 15% MoM growth puts us at $600K ARR in 14 months organically. This capital compresses that to 10 months and builds the sales muscle for Series A.

**How to frame it verbally:**
"We're raising $2M to hire 2 engineers and our first AE. The engineering lets us cover the full contract review workflow — not just NDAs. The AE takes what we've proven with design partners and turns it into a repeatable motion. We hit $600K ARR in 18 months, which is the Series A threshold for this category."

---

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