CONTEXT LOADING
Before executing, check for innov.local.md in the working directory. If found, extract:
- venture: name, stage, type, problem_statement, solution_hypothesis, unfair_advantage
- financial_model: unit_economics, current_state, milestones
- business_model_canvas: all blocks with evidence quality
- competitive_landscape: direct_competitors, differentiation, moat_building
- fundraising: current_round, investor_pipeline, data_room_status
- customer_profiles: personas, WTP, buying_process
If innov.local.md is not found: Continue with conversation context. After first substantive output, prompt: "I'm working without your venture context. Run Exercise 8 from Chapter 40 to build innov.local.md -- it will make every subsequent output specific to your venture rather than generic."
STAGE-AWARE CALIBRATION
Check venture.stage and calibrate:
- IDEA: Warning -- "You have no traction to pitch. Investors at the seed stage need at minimum discovery insights, a clear problem statement, and evidence of customer willingness to pay. Consider running /discovery and /hypothesis first."
- DISCOVERY: Warning -- "Pitching at the DISCOVERY stage is early. You can build the narrative architecture, but the traction slide will be weak. Focus on completing discovery and getting LOIs before pitching."
- VALIDATION: Pitching is appropriate if you have pilot results or LOIs.
- MVP: This is a strong pitching stage -- you should have real metrics.
- GROWTH: This is your focus stage for fundraising -- strong traction story.
DLA PROGRESSION CHECK
If no financial_model or business_model_canvas data exists in innov.local.md: "You are building a pitch without financial data or a business model canvas. Your Slide 6 (Business Model) and Slide 4 (Market) will be weak. Consider running /canvas and /financials first."
PITCH AND FUNDRAISING WORKFLOW
Task Types
TYPE 1: PITCH DECK NARRATIVE Purpose: Build the narrative architecture for a full investor pitch deck. Input: Venture context + traction + raise details + investor type Output: 9-slide structure with headline, content, verbal script, emotional job
TYPE 2: HARD QUESTIONS PREP Purpose: Prepare for the 15 hardest questions investors will ask. Input: Venture context + investor type + known weaknesses Output: Question + honest answer + what to do before the pitch if no good answer
TYPE 3: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Purpose: One-paragraph (100-word) venture summary for investor email intro. Input: Venture context Output: Problem, solution, traction, ask, why worth their time -- specific, no cliches
TYPE 4: INVESTOR RESEARCH BRIEF Purpose: Pre-meeting brief on a specific investor. Input: Investor name / firm Output: Portfolio, known thesis, past questions from public sources, 5 likely hard questions
TYPE 5: TERM SHEET ANALYSIS Purpose: Identify non-standard terms in a term sheet. Input: Term sheet (or key terms) Output: Standard vs. non-standard; what to push back on; what is acceptable
Pitch Deck Narrative Structure
9 SLIDES -- NARRATIVE ARC:
SLIDE 1: THE HOOK -- Why does this matter, and why now? Headline: [The most memorable one-sentence claim] Content: [The number that makes the problem real; or the striking contrast] Says: [30-second verbal; make the investor feel why this matters] Emotional job: Curiosity + urgency
SLIDE 2: THE PROBLEM -- Make the investor feel the pain Headline: [The specific, surprising, or counterintuitive problem framing] Content: [Journey map or pain stats from discovery; customer quote] Says: [Walk through how it actually works today -- the messy reality] Emotional job: Recognition; empathy with the customer
SLIDE 3: THE SOLUTION -- Your specific answer Headline: [What makes this different from the obvious solution] Content: [Screenshot or demo; 3 capabilities; key differentiator] Says: [What you built differently; why it works with existing behaviour] Emotional job: Relief; "this makes sense"
SLIDE 4: THE MARKET -- The size of the opportunity Headline: [Bottom-up market size -- specific and credible] Content: [TAM / SAM / SOM from bottom-up model; market timing reason] Says: [The math; why now; why this market] Emotional job: Scale calibration; serious but achievable
SLIDE 5: TRACTION -- Why should investors believe you? Headline: [Your strongest traction claim -- specific numbers] Content: [Paying customers; revenue; retention; usage; LOIs; growth rate] Says: [What you have built and proved without institutional capital] Emotional job: De-risking; this team can execute
SLIDE 6: BUSINESS MODEL -- How it makes money Headline: [Unit economics headline -- LTV:CAC or payback or margin] Content: [Pricing; unit economics; breakeven; 18-month ARR target] Says: [The math that shows this is a real business, not just a product] Emotional job: Financial conviction
SLIDE 7: THE TEAM -- Why this team Headline: [The founding team's specific unfair advantage for this problem] Content: [Relevant experience -- not generic CVs; why this problem, why now] Says: [Authentic; personal; why you are the right people] Emotional job: Trust
SLIDE 8: THE ASK -- What you need and exactly how you'll use it Headline: [$X to go from [current state] to [18-month milestone]] Content: [Use of funds in %; 18-month milestone; instrument + cap/rate] Says: [This is exactly what the capital buys; when we raise again] Emotional job: Clarity; the investor knows what they are buying
SLIDE 9: THE VISION -- Where this goes Headline: [The big picture -- what this becomes in 5-10 years] Content: [Product path; market expansion; comparable exit / category] Says: [The wedge is X; the real opportunity is Y] Emotional job: Ambition; this could be very large
PITCH QUALITY STANDARD
EVERY CLAIM must have a source:
- Customer data: "9 of 10 CFOs in our discovery interviews..."
- Pilot results: "In our 3 pilots, adoption was 71-89%..."
- Market data: "According to [source], there are X companies..."
- Your own metrics: "$X MRR; N customers; X% month-over-month growth"
NEVER USE THESE PHRASES (red flags for experienced investors):
- "Massive market opportunity" -- give the number
- "Disruptive technology" -- explain the specific disruption mechanism
- "First mover advantage" -- explain what makes the advantage durable
- "Proprietary AI" -- what specifically is proprietary about it?
- "Conservative projections" -- all projections are optimistic; say "base case"
- "We just need 1% of the market" -- this is not a strategy; it's math
- "No direct competition" -- if there's no competition, there's no market
TRACTION HIERARCHY (most to least convincing):
- Revenue + growth rate (paying customers; MRR; month-over-month)
- Pilot results with specific metrics (adoption rate; retention; NPS)
- Letters of intent with specific terms (amount; timeline)
- Waitlist with conversion rate
- Discovery interviews with specific insights and quotes
Investor Research Brief Format
INVESTOR BRIEF -- [Name / Firm] -- Pre-Meeting
================================================================
INVESTOR PROFILE:
Known focus: [Stage, sector, geography preferences]
Portfolio: [Relevant portfolio companies -- especially in your sector]
Investment thesis: [Any public statements about what they look for]
WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT (based on portfolio and public statements):
[2-3 specific themes this investor has shown pattern interest in]
LIKELY HARD QUESTIONS:
1. [Question they will almost certainly ask -- with recommended answer]
2. [Question based on known portfolio pattern]
3. [Question based on your known weaknesses]
4. [Question based on market conditions]
5. [The question that tests whether you know your numbers]
HOW TO APPROACH THIS MEETING:
Opening: [What to emphasise given their known focus]
Watch for: [Any sensitivity; portfolio conflicts; known preferences]
================================================================FINANCIAL REASONING STANDARD
For Slide 6 (Business Model) and any