AnyGen
What is a pitch deck and what should it include?
A pitch deck is a short presentation that explains what your company does, why now is the right time, what proof you have, and what you are asking for. The simplest reliable structure is 10 slides: company, problem, solution, traction, business model, market, competition, team, financials or milestones, and the ask, based on Sequoia and Y Combinator guidance still widely used in June 2026.
Use the deck to win the next conversation, not to answer every possible question. Aaron Harris at Y Combinator wrote in its seed deck guide that founders should focus on narrative and keep slide sets tight, ideally one slide per topic and rarely more than three on any topic. That makes the job simple: one deck, one story, one clear ask.
The minimum job of a pitch deck
- State the company in one sentence.
- Show a painful problem that real users have.
- Explain the product in plain language.
- Prove demand with traction, revenue, usage, or pipeline.
- Show how money is made.
- Explain market size and timing.
- Show why this team is the right team.
- State the amount you are raising and what it funds.
What slides should a pitch deck have?
A practical 10-slide sequence comes from Guy Kawasaki's 10/20/30 rule, Sequoia's business-plan structure, and Y Combinator's seed-deck order. You do not need to copy any template slide for slide, but you do need to cover the same decision points investors use: what it is, why it matters, why now, why you, and what proof already exists.
| Slide | What to show | Copy-and-do prompt |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Company | Company name plus one-sentence description | Write one line a customer would understand in 5 seconds. |
| 2. Problem | Specific pain, who has it, and current workaround | Name the user, the pain, and the cost of doing nothing. |
| 3. Solution | What the product does and what changes after using it | Describe the before state and after state in plain English. |
| 4. Why now | Market shift, tech shift, regulation, or behavior change | Explain why this works in 2026 and did not work as well 3 years earlier. |
| 5. Traction | Revenue, growth, retention, pilots, or active users | Lead with the strongest proof you already have. |
| 6. Business model | Price, customer, sales motion, margin logic | Show who pays, how much, and how often. |
| 7. Market | Beachhead market first, then expansion path | Start with who you can win now, not the whole world. |
| 8. Competition | Alternatives and why you win | Compare against the status quo and direct competitors. |
| 9. Team | Why this team has unusual fit for the problem | Show founder-market fit, not a long résumé. |
| 10. Ask | Amount, runway, and milestones after funding | State how much you are raising and what 12-18 months of capital buys. |
Sequoia's structure adds one idea many weak decks skip: why now. Its pitch guide places company purpose, problem, solution, why now, market potential, competition, business model, team, financials, and vision in that order. If your deck feels generic, adding a crisp why-now slide usually fixes the problem because it turns a product story into a timing story.
How many slides should a pitch deck be?
For a standard investor meeting, 10 core slides is still the safest default. Guy Kawasaki's rule is 10 slides, 20 minutes, and no font smaller than 30 points. That rule dates back years, but it remains useful in 2026 because it forces compression: fewer ideas, more discussion, less reading.
If you are pitching in a fast format, compress even further. Kevin Hale's Y Combinator design talk recommends 5 to 7 slides for a Demo Day-style presentation and notes that you may have only 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The lesson is not that every deck must be 5 slides. The lesson is that every extra slide must earn its place.
A simple timing model
| Scenario | Slides | Talk time | What to cut first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm intro or partner meeting | 10 | 15-20 minutes | Long market history and extra screenshots |
| First email deck | 10-12 | Read asynchronously | Deep appendix content from the main deck |
| Demo Day or short stage pitch | 5-7 | 2:30 to 5 minutes | Detailed competition and financial detail |
| Follow-up deep dive | 10 core plus appendix | 20-30 minutes | Nothing from core; move detail to appendix |
Use large type because your deck is scanned before it is studied. Kawasaki's 30-point floor is still a good stress test. If a sentence needs 18-point type to fit, it is usually two thoughts pretending to be one thought.
What numbers should you put in a pitch deck?
Investors spend their attention unevenly, so your numbers need to be easy to find. DocSend's startup fundraising research reported that in 2023 seed investors spent 20 percent less time evaluating seed decks than in 2022, averaging 1 minute 56 seconds. The same research said investors spent 88 percent more time on competition sections and 33 percent more time on traction sections in seed decks. In short: your proof and differentiation need to be obvious fast.
Put these numbers in the deck if you have them
| Slide | Best number | Second-best number | What the number should prove |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traction | MRR or ARR | Active users or pilots | Demand already exists |
| Business model | Price per customer | Gross margin or payback | Revenue logic works |
| Market | Beachhead customer count | Annual contract value times reachable accounts | You can build a large business from a focused start |
| Competition | Win rate, speed, or cost delta | Retention or conversion delta | You beat the current alternative |
| Ask | Round size | Runway months and milestones | This capital gets the company to the next proof point |
Use real operating numbers before big market numbers whenever possible. Y Combinator's seed-deck guide says traction numbers should be clear and meaningful, and notes that revenue is the preferred metric when available. That means 420 paying customers at 92 percent gross retention is stronger than a vague TAM slide with no customer evidence.
Write the ask in milestone language, not only dollar language. A better ask is: raising 2 million dollars to fund 15 months of runway, ship enterprise security, hire 4 account executives, and grow from 120 thousand dollars MRR to 350 thousand dollars MRR. Investors can disagree with the plan, but they can evaluate it.
How do you write each slide fast?
The fastest reliable way is to write the deck as a series of answers, not as design. Draft the 10 slide headlines first, then add the single proof point under each headline, then add one visual per slide. This three-pass method keeps you from polishing a weak story.
A 7-step writing workflow
- Step 1: Write a one-line company purpose in 15 words or fewer.
- Step 2: Write the problem as one sentence about one customer segment.
- Step 3: Write the solution as one sentence starting with a verb.
- Step 4: Pick your strongest proof metric and put it on the traction slide first.
- Step 5: Write the business model as customer, price, and sales motion.
- Step 6: Write the ask as amount, runway, and milestone list.
- Step 7: Delete every sentence that repeats what a chart or mockup already shows.
| Weak slide line | Stronger slide line |
|---|---|
| We are revolutionizing team productivity | AI agents cut onboarding time from 14 days to 3 days in 6 pilot accounts |
| Huge market opportunity | We start with 18,000 US logistics brokers and expand into carrier operations |
| Best-in-class platform | Customers replace 4 tools with 1 workflow and save 7 hours per rep each week |
| Raising to scale growth | Raising 1.5 million dollars for 15 months to reach 100 live SMB accounts |
Design comes after clarity. Kevin Hale's Y Combinator design advice is blunt: slides should be legible, simple, and obvious. Use bold type, high contrast, and captions that state the takeaway directly. If a chart needs a long explanation, rewrite the chart or replace it with one number.
What mistakes make a pitch deck fail?
Most bad decks fail in one of three ways: too much text, no proof, or no clear ask. Guy Kawasaki warns against tiny font because it lets founders cram too much onto a slide. Y Combinator warns against complicated or subtle slides. DocSend's 2023 data adds the operational version of the same warning: investors are moving faster, so hidden proof might as well be missing proof.
The common failure patterns
- Starting with vision statements before saying what the company does.
- Using screenshots that require a spoken demo to make sense.
- Putting team before traction when traction is your strongest proof.
- Using a giant TAM number with no beachhead segment.
- Listing competitors without naming the current workaround or status quo.
- Asking for money without saying what milestones the round buys.
Another mistake is treating the deck like a full memo. Aaron Harris at Y Combinator says the deck should not be a treatise on your market or world philosophy. If you need more context, add an appendix after the core 10 slides. Keep the main deck clean enough that it can be read quickly on email and presented live without edits.
How to create a pitch deck with AnyGen
If you want to create a pitch deck faster, use AnyGen after you have the raw inputs: company sentence, customer problem, proof metrics, pricing, market segment, team facts, and fundraise ask. Give AnyGen those inputs slide by slide and ask it to build a 10-slide investor deck with one idea per slide, 16:9 layout, large type, and editable output.
What to feed into AnyGen
- One-line company purpose.
- Problem, customer, and current workaround.
- Product explanation in plain language.
- Traction numbers with dates.
- Business model with pricing and buyer.
- Beachhead market definition.
- Competition and why you win.
- Founder-market fit and the funding ask.
A practical prompt is: Create a 10-slide pitch deck for seed investors. Use slides for company, problem, solution, why now, traction, business model, market, competition, team, and ask. Keep one idea per slide, minimum 30-point type feel, and make each headline state the takeaway. Use charts only for traction and business model. Output editable slides. That keeps AnyGen focused on the real job of how to create a pitch deck, not generic presentation fluff.
Frequently asked questions
How do you create a pitch deck step by step?
Write the company sentence first, then problem, solution, why now, traction, business model, market, competition, team, and ask. Draft headlines before design, add one proof point per slide, then add one simple visual per slide.
How many slides should a pitch deck have?
Use 10 core slides for most investor meetings. For shorter stage pitches, compress to 5 to 7 slides, following Y Combinator's Demo Day style guidance.
What should be on the first slide of a pitch deck?
Put the company name and a one-sentence description of what you do. The first slide should make sense to someone who has never heard of the company.
What numbers should I include in a pitch deck?
Lead with traction, revenue, active users, retention, pilots, pricing, runway, and milestone targets. Use real operating numbers before large top-down market claims whenever possible.
How long should a pitch deck presentation be?
Aim to present the core deck in about 20 minutes so there is time for questions. That matches Guy Kawasaki's 10/20/30 rule and works well for partner meetings.
What font size should a pitch deck use?
Use large type and treat 30-point text as a strong minimum test for body copy. If the slide only works with small text, it is usually overstuffed.
What is the most important slide in a pitch deck?
Usually the traction slide, because it proves demand. If you are pre-traction, the why-now and problem-solution slides become more important because they must carry the logic of the opportunity.
Can I create a pitch deck with AI?
Yes, if you already know your story and numbers. AI can speed up slide structure, wording, and layout, but it cannot invent credible traction or a believable ask for you.