Pitch Deck Generator

Overview

Generate professional PowerPoint pitch decks following industry best practices. This skill creates structured presentations for fundraising, sales, and business development using a proven 10-slide format.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when users request:

Investor pitch decks for fundraising
Sales or business development presentations
Product launch presentations
Startup pitch competition decks
Any structured business presentation following standard pitch deck format

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Information

Collect necessary information from the user to populate the pitch deck. Use a conversational approach to gather details across the following categories:

Required information:

Company basics: Company name, tagline (one-liner describing what you do)
Problem: What problem are you solving? Include data or statistics if available
Solution: How does your product/service solve the problem? Key features and benefits
Business model: How do you make money? Pricing, revenue streams

Recommended information (include if available): 5. Market opportunity: Market size (TAM/SAM/SOM), growth rate, market trends 6. Product details: Product features, screenshots, technology highlights 7. Traction: Key metrics, revenue, users, growth rate, milestones, customer testimonials 8. Competition: Competitors, competitive advantages, differentiation 9. Team: Founders and key team members with relevant background 10. Financials & Ask: Funding amount, use of funds, financial projections, milestones

Approach:

Ask open-ended questions to understand the business
Probe for specific metrics and data points when possible
For missing information, offer to create placeholder slides that can be updated later
Adapt the standard 10-slide structure based on available information

Step 2: Structure the Content

Organize the gathered information into the standard pitch deck structure:

Title Slide: Company name + tagline
Problem: Pain point being addressed
Solution: Product/service overview
Market Opportunity: Market size and growth
Product: Features and capabilities
Traction: Metrics and achievements
Business Model: Revenue and pricing
Competition: Competitive landscape
Team: Key people
Financials & Ask: Funding request and projections

Reference best practices: For detailed guidance on each slide's content and structure, consult references/pitch_deck_best_practices.md. Search for specific sections using grep:

grep -A 10 "### [Slide Number]. [Slide Name]" references/pitch_deck_best_practices.md

Step 3: Create the JSON Data File

Format the collected information as a JSON file that will be consumed by the pitch deck generation script. Create a file called pitch_data.json with the following structure:

{
  "company_name": "Company Name",
  "tagline": "One-line description of what you do",
  "problem": [
    "Problem statement 1 with data/statistics",
    "Problem statement 2 showing impact",
    "Problem statement 3 demonstrating urgency"
  ],
  "solution": [
    "How your product solves the problem",
    "Key feature 1 and its benefit",
    "Key feature 2 and its benefit",
    "Unique value proposition"
  ],
  "market": [
    "TAM: Total addressable market with $ figure",
    "SAM: Serviceable available market",
    "SOM: Serviceable obtainable market",
    "Market growth rate and trends"
  ],
  "product": [
    "Product feature 1",
    "Product feature 2",
    "Technology highlights",
    "User experience benefits"
  ],
  "traction": [
    "Revenue: $X (YY% growth)",
    "Users: X,XXX active users",
    "Key milestone 1",
    "Customer testimonial or social proof"
  ],
  "business_model": [
    "Revenue model (e.g., SaaS subscription)",
    "Pricing: $XX/month per user",
    "Unit economics: CAC, LTV, margins",
    "Sales channels"
  ],
  "competition": {
    "our_advantages": [
      "Advantage 1",
      "Advantage 2",
      "Unfair advantage/defensibility"
    ],
    "competitors": [
      "Competitor 1",
      "Competitor 2",
      "Alternative solutions"
    ]
  },
  "team": [
    "Founder 1: Name - Background and relevant experience",
    "Founder 2: Name - Background and relevant experience",
    "Key hire: Name - Background and why they matter",
    "Notable advisors"
  ],
  "financials": [
    "Raising: $X seed/Series A round",
    "Use of funds: XX% engineering, XX% sales, XX% ops",
    "Milestones with this funding",
    "Runway: X-X months to next milestone"
  ]
}

Notes:

All fields are optional except company_name
Use arrays for bullet points (will be rendered as bullet lists)
Competition can be either an object with our_advantages and competitors keys (for two-column layout) or a simple array
Keep bullet points concise (1-2 lines each)
Include specific numbers and metrics where possible

Step 4: Generate the PowerPoint

Execute the Python script to create the PowerPoint presentation:

python3 scripts/create_pitch_deck.py pitch_data.json output_filename.pptx

The script will:

Generate a professional PowerPoint file with proper formatting
Apply consistent color scheme and typography
Create slides based on available data (skipping sections if data not provided)
Output a .pptx file ready for presentation or further customization

Step 5: Review and Iterate

Present the generated pitch deck location to the user and offer to:

Add missing sections if information becomes available
Refine bullet points for clarity and impact
Adjust structure based on specific audience (investor vs. sales pitch)
Provide guidance on presenting the deck

Iteration approach:

User can update the JSON file with new information
Re-run the script to regenerate the updated presentation
For design customizations beyond the script's capabilities, advise manual editing in PowerPoint

Design Guidelines

The generated pitch deck follows these design principles:

Color Scheme:

Primary: Blue (#2962FF) for titles and emphasis
Secondary: Gray (#646464) for body text
Clean white background for readability

Typography:

Title slides: 54pt bold
Section titles: 40pt bold
Body text: 18-20pt with appropriate line spacing

Layout:

Consistent margins and spacing
One key message per slide
Bullet points limited to 3-5 items per slide
Two-column layouts for comparison slides

Visual Hierarchy:

Clear title at top of each slide
Content organized with proper spacing
Emphasis on readability and professional appearance

Best Practices Reference

For detailed guidance on pitch deck content, structure, and presentation tips, reference:

references/pitch_deck_best_practices.md - Comprehensive guide covering:
- Standard 10-slide structure with examples
- Content guidelines for each slide type
- Design best practices
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Tailoring for different audiences (investor, sales, product launch)
- Pre-pitch checklist

Load this reference when providing detailed advice on pitch content or structure.

Example Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: Early-stage startup seeking seed funding

Focus on problem, solution, market opportunity, and team
Emphasize founder expertise and early traction
Include clear funding ask and use of funds

Scenario 2: Growth-stage company creating sales deck

Emphasize product features and customer ROI
Include customer testimonials and case studies
De-emphasize fundraising, focus on value proposition

Scenario 3: Product launch presentation

Focus on product features and market need
Include demo or product screenshots
Emphasize innovation and competitive positioning

Customization and Extensions

After generating the base deck:

Users can manually add images, charts, and custom graphics in PowerPoint
Suggest creating appendix slides for detailed backup information
Recommend PDF export for sharing (File → Save As → PDF in PowerPoint)
Advise on presentation timing (typically 10-15 minutes for 10 slides)

Troubleshooting

Script errors:

Ensure python-pptx library is installed: pip3 install python-pptx
Verify JSON file is properly formatted (use JSON validator if needed)
Check file paths are correct and user has write permissions

Content issues:

If slides appear crowded, reduce bullet points to 3-5 per slide
For complex competition analysis, consider manually creating comparison tables in PowerPoint
For financial projections, consider creating charts in Excel and importing as images

Resources

scripts/

create_pitch_deck.py: Python script that generates PowerPoint presentations from structured JSON data

references/

pitch_deck_best_practices.md: Comprehensive guide on pitch deck content, structure, and design principles

pitch-deck