YC Pitch Deck

Create a compelling startup pitch deck that follows the structure proven to raise billions from top investors. Master the YC and Sequoia formats that get founders funded.

When to Use This Skill

• Fundraising to create investor pitch decks
• YC application to structure your narrative
• Demo Day prep to craft your 2-minute pitch
• Angel investors to communicate your opportunity
• Partnership pitches to structure compelling asks
• Internal alignment to articulate your strategy clearly

Methodology Foundation

What Claude Does vs What You Decide

What This Skill Does

1. Structures your narrative - Proven slide sequence that works
2. Crafts compelling slides - What goes on each slide
3. Identifies what to include/exclude - Signal vs. noise
4. Tailors for stage - Pre-seed vs. Seed vs. Series A
5. Prepares you for Q&A - What investors will ask
6. Provides templates - Starting points for each slide

How to Use

Create a Pitch Deck from Scratch

Help me create a pitch deck for my startup:
[Description of company]
Stage: [Pre-seed/Seed/Series A]
Raising: [$X]
Key metrics: [if any]

Review an Existing Pitch Deck

Review my pitch deck against YC/Sequoia best practices:
[Paste slide content or describe]
What's working? What needs improvement?

Prepare for Demo Day

I have 2 minutes for Demo Day.
Here's my company: [description]
Help me structure the 2-minute pitch.

Instructions

Step 1: Understand the Standard Structure

## Pitch Deck Structure (10-15 slides)

### Core Slides (Required)

| # | Slide | Purpose | Time |
|---|-------|---------|------|
| 1 | Title | Who are you, what do you do | 5 sec |
| 2 | Problem | What problem are you solving | 30 sec |
| 3 | Solution | How you solve it | 30 sec |
| 4 | Why Now | Market timing | 20 sec |
| 5 | Market Size | How big is the opportunity | 20 sec |
| 6 | Product | Demo/screenshots | 45 sec |
| 7 | Traction | Proof it's working | 30 sec |
| 8 | Business Model | How you make money | 20 sec |
| 9 | Competition | Why you win | 20 sec |
| 10 | Team | Why you're the ones | 20 sec |
| 11 | Ask | What you need | 20 sec |

### Optional Slides (Based on Stage/Story)

- **Go-to-Market:** How you acquire customers
- **Roadmap:** Where you're going
- **Unit Economics:** LTV/CAC, margins
- **Vision:** 10-year view
- **Financials:** Projections (Series A+)

### What NOT to Include
- Detailed financial projections (too early stage)
- Technical architecture (unless deep tech)
- Advisory board (unless remarkable)
- Patents pending (rarely impressive)
- Long text blocks (nobody reads)

Step 2: Craft Each Slide

## Slide-by-Slide Guide

### SLIDE 1: Title
**Purpose:** First impression. Who are you?

**Include:**
- Company name and logo
- One-line description (what you do)
- Your name and contact

**Format:**
[Logo]
"[One-line description]"
[Founder Name] | [email]

**Example:**
"Stripe for healthcare payments"
"AI that writes sales emails that actually get responses"

**Don't:** Start with "We are..." or use jargon.

---

### SLIDE 2: Problem
**Purpose:** Make investors feel the pain.

**Structure:**
1. Who has the problem? (specific customer)
2. What is the problem? (concrete, relatable)
3. Why is it painful? (stakes, cost)

**Do:**
- Use a specific customer story
- Quantify the pain ($, time, frequency)
- Make it visceral/emotional

**Don't:**
- List multiple unrelated problems
- Use abstract language
- Describe your solution yet

**Example Template:**
"[Customer type] struggle with [problem].
Currently they [painful workaround].
This costs them [quantified impact]."

**Strong Example:**
"Marketing teams spend 6+ hours/week manually pulling data from 5 different tools to answer one question: 'What's working?'"

---

### SLIDE 3: Solution
**Purpose:** Your answer to the problem.

**Structure:**
1. What is your solution? (one sentence)
2. How does it work? (simple explanation)
3. What's the key insight? (why this approach)

**Do:**
- Start with the customer benefit, not features
- Keep it simple (if you can't explain simply, you don't understand it)
- Show, don't tell (visual if possible)

**Don't:**
- List features
- Use technical jargon
- Describe every capability

**Example Template:**
"[Product] is [category] that [key benefit].
Unlike [alternative], we [unique approach].
The result: [outcome]."

**Strong Example:**
"Databox pulls all your marketing data into one dashboard, automatically. No spreadsheets, no manual work. See what's working in 30 seconds."

---

### SLIDE 4: Why Now
**Purpose:** Why is THIS the moment?

**Market timing matters more than you think.**
Great ideas at the wrong time fail.

**Why Now Categories:**
- **Technology shift:** "AI/ML now makes X possible"
- **Regulatory change:** "New regulation requires X"
- **Behavior change:** "COVID changed how people X"
- **Cost inflection:** "Cloud costs dropped, now X is viable"
- **Platform shift:** "Mobile/AR/crypto created X opportunity"

**Structure:**
"[Recent change] has created [new reality].
This means [customers] now [new behavior/need].
We're positioned to [capture opportunity]."

**Don't:**
- Say "It's just time" without specifics
- Claim first mover advantage alone
- Ignore the "why not 5 years ago" question

---

### SLIDE 5: Market Size
**Purpose:** Is the opportunity big enough?

**The Hierarchy:**
- **TAM:** Total Addressable Market (everyone who could buy)
- **SAM:** Serviceable Addressable Market (who you could realistically reach)
- **SOM:** Serviceable Obtainable Market (what you'll capture in 3-5 years)

**How to Calculate:**
Bottom-up (preferred): # customers × price = market size
Top-down: Industry reports (less credible)

**What Investors Want:**
- Believable path to $100M+ revenue
- Clear logic in numbers
- SAM/SOM more important than TAM

**Example:**
"TAM: $50B (all SMB marketing software)
SAM: $5B (SMBs with marketing teams)
SOM: $500M (marketing teams using data tools)
We're targeting the SOM, growing SAM over time."

**Don't:**
- Throw out huge TAM with no logic
- Say "if we capture 1% of TAM..." (red flag)
- Ignore competition in market sizing

---

### SLIDE 6: Product
**Purpose:** Show what you built.

**Options:**
- Screenshots (annotated)
- Short demo video (30-60 sec)
- Before/After
- Product in action

**Do:**
- Show the core experience
- Highlight what's different
- Keep it simple

**Don't:**
- Show every feature
- Include UI-heavy screenshots with no context
- Use mockups if you have a real product

**For Pre-Product:**
- Show prototype/mockup
- Be clear it's not built yet
- Focus on the experience you'll create

---

### SLIDE 7: Traction
**Purpose:** Prove it's working.

**Best Traction Metrics by Stage:**

| Stage | Good Traction |
|-------|---------------|
| Pre-seed | Waitlist, LOIs, pilot customers |
| Seed | Revenue, users, growth rate |
| Series A | Revenue growth, retention, unit economics |

**Structure:**
- Lead with strongest metric
- Show growth trajectory (graph)
- Include context (timeline)

**What Investors Care About:**
1. **Growth rate** (MoM, WoW) > absolute numbers
2. **Retention** > new users
3. **Revenue** > free users
4. **Engagement** > signups