AnyGen
What is a pitch deck supposed to do?
A pitch deck is a short investor presentation designed to earn the next conversation. It does not need to answer every diligence question. DocSend’s 2025 Dropbox article says investors spend less than 3 minutes reviewing decks, so every slide needs one clear job.
The practical target is usually 10 to 20 slides, depending on stage. YC’s seed deck template uses a simple narrative: company, problem, solution, traction, insight, business model, market, team, and ask. DocSend’s pre-seed guide, accessed June 27, 2026, recommends about 20 pages because early decks need enough context for problem, product, team, and business model.
A good pitch deck should let a stranger answer 5 questions after one skim: what do you do, why does it matter now, who wants it, why will you win, and what are you asking for? If a slide does not help answer one of those questions, cut it or move it to a data room.
| Deck job | What the investor should learn | Best slide evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Clarity | What the company does in one sentence | Company purpose and product screenshot |
| Urgency | Why this problem matters now | Market shift, regulation, technology change, behavior change |
| Proof | Why the solution is working | Revenue, users, retention, pilots, LOIs, waitlist, case study |
| Scale | Why the outcome can be venture-sized | Market sizing, expansion path, pricing, unit economics |
| Trust | Why this team can execute | Founder experience, unfair insight, prior wins, customer access |
| Action | What funding gets done | Round size, runway, milestones, use of funds |
What slides should a pitch deck include?
Use 12 core slides: title, one-liner, problem, why now, solution, product, traction, market, business model, competition, team, and ask. This order combines YC’s seed structure with Sequoia’s business-plan outline and DocSend’s investor behavior research.
YC’s template starts with the company name and one-line description, then moves into problem, solution, traction, insights, business model, market, team, and fundraising ask. Sequoia’s outline adds why now, competition, financials, and five-year vision. For most founders in 2026, the cleanest deck is a 12-slide version of both.
| Slide | Title | Copy-and-do instruction | Visual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Company and one-liner | Write company name plus one declarative sentence: We help X do Y by Z. | Logo, product screenshot, or simple wordmark |
| 2 | Problem | Name the painful workflow, buyer, frequency, and cost of the current workaround. | Before-state diagram or 3-point pain list |
| 3 | Why now | Show the trigger that makes this moment different: AI capability, regulation, cost shift, platform change, or behavior change. | Timeline or market inflection |
| 4 | Solution | State the product promise in one sentence and tie it directly to the problem. | After-state diagram |
| 5 | Product | Show the actual product, prototype, screenshots, workflow, or demo frames. | 3-screen product walkthrough |
| 6 | Traction | Show the strongest proof you have: revenue, active users, retention, pilots, LOIs, pipeline, or customer quotes. | Line chart or KPI cards |
| 7 | Market | Define the first beachhead market, buyer, annual spend, and expansion path. | TAM/SAM/SOM stack or market wedge |
| 8 | Business model | Show who pays, how much, gross margin logic, sales motion, and payback assumptions. | Pricing table or unit economics card |
| 9 | Competition | Compare direct alternatives and status quo; show 2 to 4 real differentiators. | 2x2 matrix or feature grid |
| 10 | Go-to-market | Explain the first repeatable channel, sales cycle, conversion step, and early wedge. | Funnel or motion map |
| 11 | Team | Show founder roles, relevant proof, and why this team has unfair access or expertise. | Founder cards with short bios |
| 12 | Ask and milestones | State round size, runway, use of funds, and the 12 to 18 month milestones it unlocks. | Use-of-funds bars and milestone timeline |
Do not add a table of contents slide. Dropbox’s 2025 DocSend article notes that successful pre-seed decks in its dataset did not use tables of contents; they got to the point. A deck is not a report. Slide labels and narrative order should make navigation obvious.
How do you write each pitch deck slide?
Write each slide as a headline plus evidence. The headline makes the claim; the chart, quote, screenshot, or number proves it. If the headline says customers are switching, the slide needs switching proof, not a generic product screenshot.
Use a claim-first title for every body slide. Weak title: Traction. Strong title: Revenue grew from $12k to $48k MRR in 6 months. Weak title: Market. Strong title: 18,000 U.S. specialty clinics spend $9.6B a year on billing admin. The investor should understand the point before reading the small text.
Use this slide-writing formula
- Headline: one sentence that states the point, not the topic.
- Evidence: one chart, screenshot, customer quote, or table that proves the headline.
- Context: one short note explaining why the evidence matters.
- Next link: make the slide naturally lead to the next question.
| Slide type | Good headline pattern | Bad headline pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Problem | Finance teams lose 8 hours per week reconciling vendor data | The problem |
| Solution | Our workflow cuts reconciliation from 8 hours to 30 minutes | Our solution |
| Traction | $48k MRR, 14% monthly growth, 92% logo retention | Traction |
| Market | We start with 42,000 clinics already buying billing automation | Huge market |
| Competition | We win where spreadsheets and legacy RCM tools break | Competitive landscape |
| Ask | $2M seed funds 18 months and 3 milestones: SOC 2, 50 customers, $1M ARR run-rate | Fundraise |
Keep slide body copy short. Dropbox’s 2025 DocSend article says most pitch decks are roughly 20 pages with about 50 words per slide. That is a useful ceiling. Put deep financials, contracts, customer references, and technical architecture in the data room, not the first-send deck.
What numbers should you put in a pitch deck?
Use numbers that prove demand, quality, economics, and speed. For a pre-seed company, that may be 12 design partners or 5 signed LOIs. For a seed company, it may be MRR, activation, retention, gross margin, CAC, payback, and pipeline.
DocSend’s pre-seed guide, accessed June 27, 2026, gives useful benchmarks from successful pre-seed decks: 92% included problem and why now, 86% included product, 59% included traction, 93% included team, and 88% included business model. That does not mean every company has revenue; it means investors expect concrete proof in each section.
| Metric | Use it when | Deck-ready example |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Customers already pay | $48k MRR, up from $12k 6 months ago |
| Growth | Usage or revenue compounds | 14% average monthly MRR growth over the last 6 months |
| Retention | You need to show product-market pull | 92% logo retention across the first 25 customers |
| Engagement | Revenue is early but usage is strong | 18,400 weekly active users, 4.6 sessions per user per week |
| Pipeline | Sales motion is emerging | $620k qualified pipeline across 31 opportunities |
| LOIs | Product is early but buyer intent exists | 5 signed LOIs from clinics representing $180k potential ARR |
| Unit economics | You have a repeatable acquisition motion | $1,200 CAC, $9,600 first-year gross profit, 2.1-month payback |
| Market | You must prove venture scale | 42,000 target accounts × $18,000 annual spend = $756M beachhead TAM |
Use formulas only when they are simple enough to audit. For market sizing, use target accounts times annual spend per account. For runway, use cash raised divided by monthly net burn. For gross margin, use revenue minus cost of goods sold divided by revenue. Show assumptions in plain English next to the number.
What can you learn from real pitch deck examples?
Real pitch deck examples are useful when you copy the lesson, not the exact slide. Airbnb, Uber, Facebook, Buffer, Coinbase, and Postmates worked in their moments, but DocSend’s 2023 analysis says several famous decks would need more team, why-now, product, business-model, or ask detail today.
Airbnb’s early deck is still famous because it is short, direct, and easy to understand. DocSend’s example analysis says the deck was 11 slides and clear, but would need more categories today, especially why now and team. The lesson is not to make every deck 11 slides; the lesson is to make the core idea unmistakable.
Uber’s original deck had a clear problem and solution, but DocSend scored it 43% in a 2023-style review because it lacked a strong narrative, team section, why-now slide, and fundraising ask. The lesson is that big ideas still need sequence: pain, timing, product, market, economics, team, and ask.
Postmates scored 81% in DocSend’s 2023 example analysis, helped by a strong opening and a clear competition slide. The competition slide compared cost, time, and effort. That is the right pattern: compare the buyer’s actual alternatives, not just companies that look similar on a VC market map.
| Example | Concrete fact from source | What to copy | What not to copy blindly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbnb | DocSend says the original deck was 11 slides | Clear message, simple product explanation, deliberate slide choices | Missing why-now and team detail by current standards |
| DocSend says the deck was 24 pages and scored 50% in its 2023 review | Purposeful information and clear product slides | Too much traction space without enough current investor context | |
| Uber | DocSend scored the original deck 43% in its 2023 review | Clear problem, solution, and market ambition | Loose organization and missing ask/team/why-now |
| Postmates | DocSend scored the 2011 deck 81% in its 2023 review | Strong four-word opening and differentiated competition slide | Missing clear fundraising ask by current standards |
| Buffer | DocSend says Buffer used 2 solid traction pages | Use enough traction space when traction is real | Do not rush past product clarity |
How do you build a pitch deck with AnyGen?
Use AnyGen when you already know the business facts and need to turn them into a structured, editable pitch deck quickly. AnyGen is most useful for first drafts, slide sequencing, visual hierarchy, chart creation, and converting founder notes into a clean 16:9 investor deck.
Start by giving AnyGen the raw facts: company one-liner, customer, problem, why now, product screenshots, traction numbers, market assumptions, pricing, competitors, founder bios, raise amount, runway, and milestones. Do not ask for magic market numbers. Ask it to organize, challenge gaps, and format the deck.
Copy-and-use AnyGen prompt
Build a 12-slide seed pitch deck in 16:9. Use this slide order: title, problem, why now, solution, product, traction, market, business model, competition, go-to-market, team, ask. Keep each slide to one claim, use claim-first titles, turn metrics into charts, and flag any missing evidence instead of inventing it.
- Paste your raw business notes into the prompt before asking for design.
- Ask for an outline first if your story is unclear.
- Ask AnyGen to create editable slides after the outline is approved.
- Use AnyGen charts for real numbers such as MRR, active users, pipeline, use of funds, or market sizing.
- Review every number, source, customer quote, and assumption before sending the deck.
| Founder input | AnyGen output |
|---|---|
| Messy founder notes | 12-slide narrative outline |
| Monthly revenue table | Clean traction chart with headline |
| Competitor list | 2x2 matrix or comparison grid |
| Screenshots | Product walkthrough slide |
| Founder bios | Team slide with role-specific proof |
| Raise plan | Ask slide with use of funds and milestones |
How do you review a pitch deck before sending it?
Review the deck like an investor with 3 minutes, not like a founder with 3 years of context. Send yourself the PDF, open it cold, and check whether the business is understandable from slide titles alone.
Run a 10-minute skim test. Spend 15 seconds on each of 12 slides. After the skim, write down the company purpose, target customer, problem, solution, strongest proof, market wedge, business model, key competitor, team advantage, round size, and next milestone. If you cannot recall one item, the deck buried it.
Pre-send checklist
- The first slide says what the company does in one sentence.
- The problem slide names a specific buyer, pain, frequency, and cost.
- The why-now slide explains a current trigger, not generic importance.
- The product slide shows the actual product or prototype.
- The traction slide uses the strongest verified proof available.
- The market slide starts with a believable beachhead, not only a giant TAM.
- The business model slide says who pays, how much, and why margins can work.
- The competition slide includes status quo and direct alternatives.
- The team slide explains why this team is unusually suited to win.
- The ask slide states amount, runway, use of funds, and milestones.
| Failure | Fix |
|---|---|
| Investor cannot explain the company after slide 1 | Rewrite the one-liner as We help X do Y by Z |
| Problem sounds generic | Add buyer, frequency, current workaround, and quantified pain |
| Market looks inflated | Start with a narrow beachhead and show expansion path |
| Traction looks weak | Use proof appropriate to stage: pilots, LOIs, usage, retention, or revenue |
| Competition slide is defensive | Show why customers switch, not why competitors are bad |
| Ask is vague | State round size, runway, milestone targets, and use of funds |
Frequently asked questions
How do I build a pitch deck from scratch?
Start with a 12-slide outline: title, problem, why now, solution, product, traction, market, business model, competition, go-to-market, team, and ask. Fill each slide with one claim and one proof point before working on design.
How many slides should a pitch deck be?
Most investor decks should be 10 to 20 slides. YC’s seed template is intentionally concise, while DocSend’s pre-seed guide recommends about 20 pages because early-stage companies often need more context.
What is the best pitch deck structure?
The best structure follows investor questions: what is the company, what problem exists, why now, what is the solution, what proof exists, how big can it get, how does it make money, why will it win, who is building it, and what funding is needed.
What should be on the first slide of a pitch deck?
The first slide should include the company name and a one-line description. YC says the title page should state the company name and what you do in one line.
Should a pitch deck include financial projections?
Include financials if they clarify the business model, runway, or milestones. Sequoia’s outline says to include financials if you have any. Early decks can use revenue, burn, pipeline, pricing, or unit economics instead of long forecast tables.
What makes a pitch deck investor-ready?
An investor-ready deck is concise, evidence-based, and easy to skim. It clearly explains problem, product, market, traction, business model, competition, team, and ask, with verified numbers and no placeholder claims.
Can I build a pitch deck with AI?
Yes, if you provide real company facts. Use AI to structure the story, write claim-first slide titles, create charts, and design editable slides. Do not use AI to invent traction, customers, market size, or financials.
What is the biggest pitch deck mistake?
The biggest mistake is making investors decode the story. A deck with vague titles, too many claims per slide, unsupported market numbers, or no clear ask wastes the short review window.