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:

1. •Company basics: Company name, tagline (one-liner describing what you do)
2. •Problem: What problem are you solving? Include data or statistics if available
3. •Solution: How does your product/service solve the problem? Key features and benefits
4. •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:

1. •Title Slide: Company name + tagline
2. •Problem: Pain point being addressed
3. •Solution: Product/service overview
4. •Market Opportunity: Market size and growth
5. •Product: Features and capabilities
6. •Traction: Metrics and achievements
7. •Business Model: Revenue and pricing
8. •Competition: Competitive landscape
9. •Team: Key people
10. •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