| name | officecli-pitch-deck |
| description | Use this skill when the user is building a fundraising / investor pitch deck — seed, Series A / B / C, convertible note, SAFE round, strategic raise. Trigger on: 'pitch deck', 'investor deck', 'Series A deck', 'Series B deck', 'Series C deck', 'fundraising deck', 'seed pitch', 'VC deck', 'raising capital', 'term sheet presentation'. Output is a single .pptx. This skill is a scene layer on top of officecli-pptx — inherits every pptx v2 rule (visual floor, grid, palettes, connector canon, Delivery Gate). DO NOT invoke for a generic board review, sales deck, all-hands, or product launch — route those to officecli-pptx base. |
OfficeCLI Pitch Deck Skill
This skill is a scene layer on top of officecli-pptx. Every pptx hard rule — visual delivery floor (title ≥ 36pt / body ≥ 18pt / title ≥ 2× body), 12-column grid on 33.87×19.05cm, 4 canonical palettes, chart-choice decision table, connector canon (shape / from / to / tailEnd=triangle), shell escape, resident + batch, Delivery Gate 1–5a — is inherited, not re-taught. This file adds only what fundraising needs on top: stage diagnosis (A / B / C), 5 赛道 arc templates, 10 key-slide recipes (cover / problem / solution / market / product / model / traction / team / financials / ask), pitch-specific numbers convention, a VC ship-check, and a pitch-specific fresh-eyes Gate 6.
When the pptx base rules cover it, the text here says → see pptx v2 §X. Read skills/officecli-pptx/SKILL.md first if you have not.
Setup
If officecli is missing:
- macOS / Linux:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/main/install.sh | bash
- Windows (PowerShell):
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/main/install.ps1 | iex
Verify with officecli --version (open a new terminal if PATH hasn't picked up). If install fails, download a binary from https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/releases.
⚠️ Help-First Rule
This skill teaches what a fundraising deck requires, not every command flag. When a prop name, enum value, or preset is uncertain, consult help BEFORE guessing.
officecli help pptx
officecli help pptx <element>
officecli help pptx <element> --json
Help reflects the installed CLI version. When this skill and help disagree, help wins. Every --prop X= in this file has been grep-verified against officecli help pptx <element> — if help adds / renames a prop in a later version, trust help.
Mental Model & Inheritance
Inherits pptx v2. You should have read skills/officecli-pptx/SKILL.md first. This skill assumes you know how to: add slides + shapes + charts + connectors; address by @name= / @id=; quote paths; use batch heredocs; write --prop tailEnd=triangle on every flow connector; and run the 5-gate Delivery Gate. If any of those are unfamiliar, open a pptx v2 session before continuing.
Shell & Execution Discipline
Shell quoting, incremental execution, $FILE convention → see pptx v2 §Shell & Execution Discipline. Same rules verbatim — quote [N] paths, single-quote values containing $ (including $35M, $1.2B TAM in a cover or ask slide), never hand-write \$ \t \n in executable examples, one command at a time. Examples below use $FILE (FILE="deck.pptx").
Single-quote every shape text containing $. --prop text="Series B · $35M" (double quotes) is WRONG — zsh expands $35M → empty, deck renders Series B · M silently. --prop text='Series B · $35M' (single quotes) is right. This is the #1 pitch-deck shell-escape failure mode ($35M, $18M ARR, $1.2B TAM appear on cover/ask/financials/milestones). Gate 2 cannot detect a stripped $35M — no residue. Gate 2b catches common strip patterns; single-quoting PREVENTS them.
What "pitch deck" means here (identity)
A pitch deck is a pptx with a fundraising layer on top: VC-oriented narrative arc, verifiable metrics, stage-appropriate data density, founder-credibility surface. Slides are consumed at ~3 seconds per slide in a live room — the pptx v2 rule. Pitch decks add a second constraint on top: every slide carries one investable proposition. If a slide is "interesting background" that doesn't move the ask forward, cut it. VCs will not. The base pptx rules still apply; pitch decks add six deltas:
- Stage determines everything. Series A / B / C each dictates slide count, narrative weight, which metrics are must-haves, and tolerance for unit-econ sophistication. A Series A deck with 6 pages of CAC/LTV math reads as over-packaged; a Series B deck missing unit econ reads as incomplete. Pick the stage first — everything downstream follows.
- Narrative arc beats feature dump. 10 essential slides in a fixed order: cover → problem → solution → market → product → model → traction → team → financials → ask. Out of order = VCs disengage.
- Numbers are a contract. TAM/SAM/SOM must be clean three-layer; CAC/LTV must have a payback line; ARR ≠ revenue; Use-of-Funds must be a four-bucket pie. Sloppy numbers = round dies.
- Team slide carries prior companies. Avatar grid alone reads as a student project. Add prior-company logos / names + one-line role. Without this, first-time founders look exactly like first-time founders.
- Traction chart y-axis starts at 0. A "hockey stick" starting at
y_min = 80% of current is a visual lie — VCs who have seen 10,000 decks spot it in < 2 seconds.
- The ask is a slide, not a footnote.
$XX M hero + four-bucket Use-of-Funds + runway length. "We're raising some money" is not an ask.
Reverse handoff — when to go BACK to pptx base
Stay in pptx v2 base for board reviews, all-hands, sales decks, product launches, training decks — anything not tied to raising capital. Use this skill only when: (a) the user mentions a specific round (seed / Series A / B / C) or a VC meeting, AND (b) the deck needs at least 4 of {problem, traction, team with credentials, Use-of-Funds, stage-appropriate unit econ, financial projections}.
If the user says "fundraising deck" but the context is a corporate BU quarterly ask, that is a board review. Route to pptx v2 Recipe (d) 10-slide blueprint. If the user says "board review" but the context is a small company raising a bridge round, route here.
Series A / B / C stage diagnosis (decision tool)
Read this before writing a single command. Pick the row that matches the user's description — everything downstream (slide count, which metrics, which recipes, what the team slide must show) derives from this one call.
| Stage | Revenue band | Team | Slide count | Dominant narrative (weight) | Must-have data | Common red flag |
|---|
| Seed | $0 – $1M ARR (often pre-rev) | 2 – 8 FTE | 10 – 12 | Problem (30%) + Solution (25%) + Team (15%) + Market (15%) + Traction (15%) | Founder-market fit story; 1 – 2 design-partner / pilot logos; top-down TAM ok | Over-claiming traction (10 customers = "market proven") |
| Series A | $1 – $5M ARR | 10 – 25 FTE | 12 – 16 | Problem (20%) + Solution (20%) + Market "why now" (15%) + Product (15%) + Traction (20%) + Team (10%) | PMF proof (NRR > 110%, low churn), bottom-up TAM/SAM, pipeline / pilots converted | Bottom-up TAM feels fabricated; CAC not yet meaningful but shown anyway |
| Series B | $5 – $30M ARR | 30 – 100 FTE | 18 – 22 | Traction + Unit econ (30%) + Market + Product + Team + Financials (ask) | ARR curve starting at 0; NRR, CAC, LTV, payback (< 18 mo ideal); cohort retention; logo wall | No unit-econ slide; CAC payback > 24mo without explanation; Use-of-Funds missing % |
| Series C | $30M+ ARR | 100+ FTE | 20 – 24 | Financials + Scale + Moat (40%) + Market expansion + Team depth | Multi-year GAAP, rule-of-40, GM trajectory, international expansion plan, defensibility | No moat slide; revenue growth without margin story; team slide has no prior CEO / CFO |
| Bridge / SAFE | any | any | 8 – 10 | Specific bridge reason + runway math + commitments | Prior round context; specific milestone the bridge funds; committed investor amount | Treating a bridge like a Series A — too many slides dilutes the ask |
Decision procedure. From one or two user sentences ("Series B, $18M ARR, 120 customers, $35M raise"), pick exactly one stage row. All later choices in this skill reference your stage: which 赛道 template to pull, which recipes are mandatory vs optional, and which Delivery Gate 6 checks fire.
Corner cases. Bridge rounds & convertibles between A → B are closer to A or B depending on whether the bridge milestone is "finish PMF" (A shape) or "hit unit-econ target" (B shape). "Extension" rounds at the same stage reuse the earlier stage's skeleton and add a one-slide "progress since last round" update.
Non-SaaS stage overrides. The ARR / unit-econ shape of Series B fits SaaS. For other verticals, substitute revenue band + unit-econ equivalent + Gate 6.3 grep:
| Vertical | Revenue "band" at Series B | "Unit econ" equivalent | Gate 6.3 substitute |
|---|
| Bio / Clinical-stage | pre-rev, 20–60 FTE | burn rate + runway to next milestone (IND / Ph1 readout / BLA) | shape:contains("ORR") OR contains("Pipeline") OR contains("BLA") OR contains("runway") ≥ 1 |
| Deep Tech / Frontier | pre-rev or early pilot rev | technical milestones + TRL level + benchmark vs SoTA | shape:contains("TRL") OR contains("benchmark") ≥ 1 |
| Marketplace / Network | GMV $10–100M | take rate + cohort retention + liquidity | shape:contains("GMV") + contains("take rate") ≥ 1 |
| Consumer hardware | $2–15M revenue (shipped units) | contribution margin + repeat rate + blended CAC | shape:contains("repeat") OR contains("contribution") ≥ 1 |
Substitute the analogue grep when running Gate 6.3 on these verticals. False WARN on SaaS CAC/LTV = expected; real concern = vertical-specific analogue present. Bio Series B decks especially: burn + runway-to-milestone IS the "unit econ" story.
赛道 arc templates (5 families)
5 mainstream verticals. Each one has different slide weights because what VCs require as proof-of-concept differs. Pick the vertical row; the slide skeleton is a copy-able starting point. Slide counts assume the matching stage row above.
(1) B2B SaaS / Enterprise software
Canonical arc — the template most of VC muscle memory is built on. Series B example (20 slides): cover · TL;DR · problem · problem evidence · solution · product loop · market TAM/SAM/SOM · unit economics (CAC / LTV / payback / GM) · ARR trajectory · retention cohort · logo wall · team · competitors · financials 4-year · ask. Must-have: unit-econ slide from Series A onward; logo wall from Series B onward.
(2) Consumer (B2C app / consumer hardware / D2C)
Narrative-driven. Early-stage decks lean on product-experience screenshots + founding story + "why now" market timing; lighter on unit econ (which are usually weaker than SaaS). Series A example (14 slides): cover · hook (30-second product demo or 1-line vision) · problem (lived experience) · solution (product shots) · product-experience flow · "why now" market window · pre-order / crowdfunding / early-sales evidence · retention / engagement (DAU, D30) · market (top-down ok if bottom-up unreliable) · competitive positioning · founder story + team · press / endorsements · financials · ask. Must-have: product visuals on ≥ 3 slides; "why now" slide (window justification); engagement metric not just revenue.
(3) Deep Tech / Frontier tech (AI foundation models, quantum, climate hardware, robotics)
Technology credibility is the sell. Pre-revenue deep tech replaces "traction" with technical milestones + defensibility. Series B example (22 slides): cover · thesis (one-line "what changes if this works") · problem (current state of art) · solution (technical approach) · technology architecture · benchmarks vs SoTA · pipeline / TRL levels · market (long-tail) · business model · early commercial traction (pilots, LOIs) · IP / patents · team (usually PhD / ex-FAANG-research) · partners · financials · ask. Must-have: benchmark slide; IP slide; team slide dense with PhDs / prior-lab names.
(4) Marketplace / Network business (two-sided platform, social, commerce)
Liquidity is the metric. Replace "unit econ" with GMV + take rate + cohort retention + supply / demand balance. Series A example (15 slides): cover · problem (friction in current supply-demand) · solution · product demo (both sides) · network effects diagram · early liquidity (first-week GMV, time-to-match) · cohort retention · geographic / category expansion plan · competitive positioning vs incumbents · take-rate model · team · financials · ask. Must-have: liquidity metric slide; cohort retention chart; network-effect diagram.
(5) Bio / Life sciences / Healthtech
Regulatory pipeline IS the business. Replace "product roadmap" with clinical pipeline + regulatory path + scientific evidence. Series B example (22 slides): cover · unmet medical need · scientific rationale (mechanism of action) · preclinical / clinical data (ORR, safety, endpoints) · pipeline chart (candidates × stages × dates) · differentiation vs standard of care · IP / exclusivity · regulatory strategy (IND, BTD, fast-track) · market (prevalence × pricing) · commercial strategy (orphan / specialty / biosimilar) · partnerships / collaborations · team (CSO / CMO with prior FDA wins) · financials (burn to next milestone) · ask. Must-have: pipeline chart; clinical data slide; team slide with prior regulatory wins.
Cross-vertical rule. You can mix elements across templates, but never drop a must-have from your primary vertical. A SaaS deck missing unit econ, a bio deck missing a pipeline chart, a marketplace deck missing a liquidity metric — each is an instant VC disqualification.
Slide Patterns (layout canon)
Patterns are layout geometry; recipes below are narrative intent. A slide picks one pattern for its visual shape (6 canonical ones below) and one recipe for what it argues (cover / problem / traction / ...). Multiple recipes can share one pattern — Problem / Why-Now / Traction-callout all lean on the 3-stat row (C.2). Pick the pattern first, then fill it with recipe content.
Speaker notes rule. Every content slide (non-cover, non-closing) MUST carry speaker notes via officecli add "$FILE" /slide[N] --type notes --prop text='…'. Missing notes = not shippable — inherits pptx v2 §Hard rules (H7). Run officecli help pptx notes to confirm prop names before building.
Pattern reuse discipline. Never run the same pattern on two consecutive slides — even with different data, two identical geometries in a row read as a template loop. Alternate C.2 with C.4 or C.5b to break rhythm.
Vertical centering. When a slide carries fewer elements than the pattern's maximum, nudge y-positions down 2–3cm to center the visual weight. Tables below assume full content.
C.1 Title / Cover (dark gradient)
3–4 text shapes on a gradient fill. Slide 1 in every deck.
+----------------------------------+
| |
| TITLE (centered) |
| tagline |
| |
| round · amount · date |
| ________________________ | <- thin brand band
+----------------------------------+
| Element | X | Y | Width | Height | Font / size |
|---|
| Title | 2cm | 5cm | 29.87cm | 4cm | serif bold, ≥ 36pt (44 typical) |
| Tagline | 2cm | 10cm | 29.87cm | 2cm | sans 18–22pt |
| Meta (round · $ · date) | 2cm | 13cm | 29.87cm | 1.5cm | sans 12–16pt |
Use this when the slide is the first one (Cover recipe 1) — 3-second identity grab. Background is a 180° linear gradient between two dark palette shades (e.g. Professional Navy 1E2761 → 0D1F35). If the title wraps to 2 lines, add height (4cm → 5cm), never drop font below 36pt — sub-36pt on a pitch cover reads as timid regardless of content. Transition: fade.
C.2 3-Stat callout row
Title + 3 big-number / label pairs across. The default for Problem / Why-Now / Traction-callout slides.
+----------------------------------+
| Title |
| |
| 73% 12hr $4.2B |
| label label label |
| source source source |
+----------------------------------+
| Element | X | Y | Width | Height | Font / size |
|---|
| Title | 1.5cm | 1cm | 30.87cm | 3cm | serif bold ≥ 36pt |
| Stat 1 number | 2cm | 5cm | 9cm | 4cm | serif bold 60–64pt |
| Stat 1 label | 2cm | 9.5cm | 9cm | 2cm | sans ≥ 16pt (H4 floor) |
| Stat 2 number / label | 12.5cm | (same) | 9cm | (same) | (same) |
| Stat 3 number / label | 23cm | (same) | 9cm | (same) | (same) |
Use this when you have 2–3 anchoring numbers and the story is "three facts argue the point" — Problem, Why-Now, Market-callout, single-row Traction. Labels ≥ 16pt is the H4 floor (sub-label exception); a number without a label reads as bravado, so never drop labels to 12–14pt to fit more text.
C.3 4-Stat callout row
Same geometry as C.2 but 4 columns. Numbers 60pt, width 7cm each.
+-------------------------------------+
| Title |
| |
| 73% 12hr $9M 4.2x |
| lbl lbl lbl lbl |
+-------------------------------------+
| Element | X positions | Y | Width | Height | Font / size |
|---|
| Title | 1.5cm | 1cm | 30.87cm | 3cm | serif bold 36pt |
| Stat numbers | 1.5 / 9.5 / 17.5 / 25.5cm | 5cm | 7cm | 4cm | serif bold 60pt |
| Stat labels | (same X) | 9.5cm | 7cm | 2cm | sans ≥ 16pt |
Use this when exactly 4 parallel metrics tell the story and 3 feels under-counted. Prefer C.2 if in doubt — 4 always feels tighter than 3, and wrap risk is real.
Wrap warning. At 60pt in 7cm width, dollar patterns with both $ and . fail: $9.4M is 5 glyphs but the wide $ and . in a serif bold make it wrap to 2 lines and destroy the callout. Safe dollar shapes at 60pt/7cm: $9M, $96B, $4K (3–4 chars). Non-dollar shapes: 340%, 4.2x, 12.3 safe up to 5 chars. Values ≥ 6 chars (197min, 3 Days) will wrap — either (a) drop font to 44–48pt, (b) abbreviate (197m, $9M), or (c) shift to C.2 (9cm per stat). Single tokens only, no internal spaces.
C.4 Chart + Context (chart left, stats right)
Chart takes left 55%, 2–3 stacked callouts on the right. The default for Traction / Financials / Market-sizing-with-context.
+-------------------------------------+
| Title |
| |
| +---------------+ +--------+ |
| | | | Stat 1 | |
| | chart | +--------+ |
| | | | Stat 2 | |
| +---------------+ +--------+ |
+-------------------------------------+
| Element | X | Y | Width | Height |
|---|
| Title | 2cm | 1cm | 29.87cm | 3cm |
| Chart | 2cm | 4cm | 17cm | 13cm |
| Stats column | 21cm | 4cm+ | 11cm | 2.5cm number + 1.5cm label (~3.7cm per pair) |
Sub-labels ≥ 16pt (H4 floor). For 5 stats stacked, drop number size to 44pt; 6+ stats means pick a different pattern. Post-batch for column/bar charts: officecli set "$FILE" "/slide[N]/chart[1]" --prop gap=80 to tighten bar spacing.
Use this when one primary chart drives the story and 2–3 numeric anchors reinforce it — Traction (ARR curve + current ARR + YoY + NRR), Financials (4-year column chart + assumption callouts), Market (bar chart + SOM / CAGR / methodology).
C.5 Icon-in-circle grid (3-row vertical)
3 vertical rows, each = circle icon on the left + title + 1-line description.
+---------------------------------------+
| Title |
| |
| (o) Label one |
| description one |
| |
| (o) Label two |
| description two |
| |
| (o) Label three |
| description three |
+---------------------------------------+
| Element | X | Y positions | Width | Height | Font / size |
|---|
| Icon circle | 2cm | 4.5 / 8.5 / 12.5cm | 2.5cm | 2.5cm | ellipse, accent fill |
| Label | 5.5cm | (icon Y + 0) | 25cm | 1.2cm | sans bold 18pt |
| Description | 5.5cm | (icon Y + 1.3cm) | 25cm | 1.8cm | sans ≥ 16pt (H4 floor), muted |
Use this when you have 3 short vertical points that benefit from a visual anchor per row — Solution mechanism, Value pillars, Product loop. Choose C.5b (2×2 grid) when items are parallel and you have exactly 4; choose a horizontal 5-across variant when icons should read side-by-side (e.g. 5-step process).
C.5b 2×2 Feature grid (4 parallel items)
4 rounded cards, 2 columns × 2 rows. Use when you have exactly 4 parallel items (product pillars, service types, feature quadrants).
+-----------------------------+
| Title |
| |
| +---------+ +---------+ |
| | (o) T1 | | (o) T2 | |
| | body | | body | |
| +---------+ +---------+ |
| +---------+ +---------+ |
| | (o) T3 | | (o) T4 | |
| | body | | body | |
| +---------+ +---------+ |
+-----------------------------+
| Element | X | Y | Width | Height | Font / size |
|---|
| Slide title | 2cm | 1cm | 29.87cm | 2.5cm | serif bold 32pt |
| Card 1 bg (top-left) | 1.5cm | 4cm | 14.5cm | 7cm | roundRect |
| Card 2 bg (top-right) | 17.5cm | 4cm | 14.5cm | 7cm | roundRect |
| Card 3 bg (bottom-left) | 1.5cm | 12cm | 14.5cm | 7cm | roundRect |
| Card 4 bg (bottom-right) | 17.5cm | 12cm | 14.5cm | 7cm | roundRect |
| Icon ellipse (each card) | card_x + 0.5cm | card_y + 0.5cm | 2cm | 2cm | — |
| Card title (each) | card_x + 3.2cm | card_y + 0.6cm | 10.5cm | 1.8cm | sans bold 16pt |
| Card body (each) | card_x + 0.5cm | card_y + 3cm | 13cm | 3.5cm | sans ≥ 16pt (H4 floor) |
Use this when you have exactly 4 parallel items and the eye should land on each equally — 4 product pillars, 4 service tiers, 4 stakeholder types. 3 items feel lonely in a 2×2; 5+ items break the grid — go to a 3×2 (see pptx v2 §(d) grid math) or C.5 row pattern.
Z-order canon (critical). Each card's roundRect background must be added immediately before that card's icon / title / body shapes in the batch JSON — pptx paints in insertion order, so a background added after its text paints over and hides the text. When building with officecli batch, follow the per-card sequence bg → ellipse → title → body strictly. Pattern and z-order details → see pptx v2 §Recipe (c) z-order canon; reuse grid math from pptx v2 §(d) for non-2×2 counts.
Dark-background variant. Change card fill from F0F4F8 (light) to a lighter-dark shade like 1A2540 and bump body text to FFFFFF / E8E8E8. Palette variables (e.g. $MUTED) do NOT expand inside single-quoted heredocs — write the literal hex (64748B) in the JSON.
Key-slide recipes (10 essentials)
The 10 slides every pitch deck carries. Each recipe below gives: visual outcome (what the slide looks like from 3m away) + runnable block (≤ 18 lines) + QA one-liner. All recipes inherit pptx v2 palettes, grid math, type hierarchy, and --prop tailEnd=triangle on every connector. Recipes reference the Slide Patterns above: Cover reuses C.1; Problem / Why-Now reuse C.2; Traction / Financials reuse C.4; Feature / pillar slides reuse C.5b. $FILE is your deck file.
Long-title wrap rule. A 36pt+ title that wraps to 2 lines: add height (e.g. 2cm → 3.5cm) — never drop the font below 36pt. Titles < 36pt on a pitch deck read as timid regardless of content.
(1) Cover slide — company · tagline · round · date
Visual outcome. Dark navy fill, centered 44pt company name, 20pt one-line tagline underneath, small 16pt meta line at the bottom with round + amount + date. Thin brand band at the very bottom (0.5cm high) in the accent color.
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[1]" --type shape --prop name=BrandBand \
--prop geometry=rect --prop fill=CADCFC \
--prop x=0cm --prop y=18.5cm --prop width=33.87cm --prop height=0.55cm
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[1]" --type shape --prop name=CoverTitle --prop text="Acme DevOps" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=7cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=3cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=44 --prop bold=true --prop color=FFFFFF --prop align=center --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[1]" --type shape --prop name=Tagline --prop text="Kubernetes observability, built for production at scale" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=10.5cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=1.5cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=20 --prop color=CADCFC --prop align=center --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[1]" --type shape --prop name=CoverMeta --prop text='Series B · $35M · April 2026' \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=15cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=1.2cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=16 --prop color=FFFFFF --prop align=center --prop fill=none
QA. Cover has 4 discrete elements (brand band + title + tagline + meta). 80%-whitespace covers fail the pptx "cover ≥ 60% filled" floor.
Consumer variant (3-second grab). Consumer decks (B2C app / hardware / D2C) should add a single dominant motif — hero product shot, oversized company name (60–96pt), or symbolic mark (crescent moon / abstract geometric). Replace the 44pt title with an 80–96pt name + one motif shape (--type shape --prop geometry=ellipse --prop fill=<accent> for an abstract mark, or picture at ~40% of slide for a product hero). Keep tagline + round + date identical. SaaS / B2B may skip — the typographic-only cover is sufficient.
(2) Problem slide — industry pain in 1 sentence + 3 data cards
Visual outcome. 36pt title stating the pain (not "The Problem"). Below, three equal-width data cards across the slide: each a giant number (40pt) + one-line qualifier (16pt) + source footnote (12pt gray).
Grid math for 3 cards, 1.5cm margins, 0.76cm gap: usable = 33.87 − 3 − 2·0.76 = 29.35, col_width = 29.35 / 3 = 9.78cm. x-positions: 1.5 / 12.04 / 22.58.
SLIDE=2
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="Kubernetes debugging burns 12 engineering hours / incident" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=2.5cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
cat <<EOF | officecli batch "$FILE"
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"name":"PC1","geometry":"roundRect","fill":"F5F7FA","x":"1.5cm","y":"5cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"10cm"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"73%","x":"1.5cm","y":"6cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"3cm","font":"Georgia","size":"60","bold":"true","color":"1E2761","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"of incidents take > 1 hour to diagnose","x":"1.5cm","y":"9.5cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"3cm","font":"Calibri","size":"18","color":"333333","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Source: 2025 DORA Report","x":"1.5cm","y":"13cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"1cm","font":"Calibri","size":"12","italic":"true","color":"666666","align":"center","fill":"none"}}
]
EOF
QA. officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("Source")' returns ≥ 3 (every claim carries a source). If zero sources, VCs will not trust a single number.
(2b) Why Now slide — Consumer / Seed / early A must-have
Visual outcome. 3 cards across: each = trigger headline (24pt bold) + data point (60pt number or date) + one-line implication (16pt) + source footnote (12pt gray). Reuse Problem grid math (col=9.78cm, x = 1.5 / 12.04 / 22.58). §赛道 Consumer row 2 must-have; Seed / early A in any vertical benefits when "market window" IS the thesis.
SLIDE=3
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="Why now: three converging triggers" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=2.5cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
cat <<EOF | officecli batch "$FILE"
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"geometry":"roundRect","fill":"F5F7FA","x":"1.5cm","y":"5cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"10cm"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"BOM cost","x":"1.5cm","y":"5.5cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"1.2cm","font":"Calibri","size":"24","bold":"true","color":"1E2761","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"−90%","x":"1.5cm","y":"7cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"3cm","font":"Georgia","size":"60","bold":"true","color":"B85042","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Wearable BOM fell 90% since 2021; sub-$40 retail now viable","x":"1.5cm","y":"11cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"2cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","color":"333333","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Source: IDC Wearables Teardown 2025","x":"1.5cm","y":"13.5cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"1cm","font":"Calibri","size":"12","italic":"true","color":"666666","align":"center","fill":"none"}}
]
EOF
QA. 3 cards, each with a date/year citation in the source footnote, each card ≤ 30 words. officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("2024")' + 'shape:contains("2025")' ≥ 2 combined (timing anchors visible).
(3) Solution slide — product in one sentence + 3-step "how it works"
Visual outcome. 36pt title naming the product pattern (not "Our Solution"). Below: 3 or 4 rounded boxes horizontally at y=7cm with elbow connectors + triangle arrowheads. Each box = one verb (observe / correlate / resolve). Reuse pptx Recipe (c) flowchart — orchestration, not a new primitive.
SLIDE=4
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop name=SolTitle \
--prop text="Correlate K8s events across 3 data planes in 90 seconds" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=2.2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=32 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
Product-pattern title rule. The solution title is a verb + differentiated mechanism + metric. "Observe / Correlate / Resolve" is generic; VCs read it as any APM vendor. "Correlate K8s events across 3 data planes in 90 seconds" is specific; VCs read it as an insight.
QA. Count connectors: officecli query "$FILE" 'connector' --json | jq '.data.results | length' ≥ (step_count − 1). Every connector must have tailEnd=triangle — view annotated confirms arrowhead direction. Title must be ≤ 12 words (one breath).
(4) Market slide — TAM / SAM / SOM nested columns
Visual outcome. 36pt title "Market: $X.YB growing Z% CAGR". Below: three horizontal bars (or three stacked nested rectangles), labeled TAM / SAM / SOM with dollar values + growth rate. Bottom footnote cites top-down vs bottom-up source — pick one methodology per deck, don't mix.
SLIDE=5
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="$42B observability market, 18% CAGR" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type chart --prop chartType=bar \
--prop series1.name="USD (billions)" --prop series1.values="42,8.4,0.62" --prop series1.color=1E2761 \
--prop categories="TAM,SAM,SOM (5-yr)" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=22cm --prop height=12cm \
--prop title='Market sizing — bottom-up by enterprise count × ACV'
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text='Source: Gartner 2025 APM Magic Quadrant; SAM = 20% of TAM (K8s-first shops); SOM = 7.4% of SAM over 5 years at 18-24% share.' \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=16.5cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=2cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=12 --prop italic=true --prop color=666666 --prop fill=none
QA. Top-down vs bottom-up MUST be declared in the source footnote. A TAM without methodology reads as fabricated.
(5) Product slide — screenshot + 3 bullets OR 3-card feature grid
Visual outcome. Two layout options: (a) hero product screenshot on the left (60% of slide), 3 one-line feature bullets on the right (each ≥ 18pt body, no bullets under bullets). (b) 3 feature cards with one icon / screenshot thumbnail each. Pick (a) for consumer / app products, (b) for B2B / infrastructure.
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type picture --prop src=product_hero.png \
--prop x=1cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=18cm --prop height=13cm
officecli set "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]/picture[1]" --prop alt="Product UI: dashboard with 12 K8s clusters, live correlation graph"
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="Auto-correlate across 3 data planes" \
--prop x=20cm --prop y=5cm --prop width=12cm --prop height=1.5cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=20 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
QA. Picture alt text present (query 'picture:no-alt' = empty). Bullets each ≥ 18pt. No "Lorem"/"product name here"/{{...}} tokens.
(6) Business model slide — unit econ or revenue model
Visual outcome. Decision tree by vertical:
- SaaS / Enterprise (Series A+) — 4 KPI callouts: CAC / LTV / Payback / GM (reuse pptx Recipe (e)).
- Consumer / D2C — AOV · repeat-purchase rate · contribution margin · blended CAC.
- Marketplace — GMV / take-rate / liquidity metric / cohort retention.
- Bio / Deep tech — revenue model (license / milestone / royalty split) with assumed ranges.
Title names the dominant metric (e.g. "LTV:CAC 4.7x · 14-month payback · 78% gross margin"), not "Business Model". Full 4-card batch block → see pptx v2 §(e) KPI callouts.
QA. For Series B+, all four of {CAC, LTV, payback, GM} present: officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("CAC")' ≥ 1 AND shape:contains("LTV")' ≥ 1 AND shape:contains("payback")' ≥ 1 AND shape:contains("gross margin")' ≥ 1.
(7) Traction slide — ARR curve that starts at 0
Visual outcome. Line chart taking 60% of slide width; ARR on y-axis starting at 0 (not at 80% of current value — the VC hockey-stick lie). Right-side commentary card: single giant number (current ARR) + growth rate + 2-3 milestones. If Series B+, second row: cohort retention snippet or logo wall.
SLIDE=7
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text='ARR: $0 → $18M in 24 months' \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type chart --prop chartType=line \
--prop series1.name=ARR --prop series1.values="0.2,0.6,1.4,3.2,6.1,11.3,15.8,18.0" --prop series1.color=1E2761 \
--prop categories="Q1-24,Q2-24,Q3-24,Q4-24,Q1-25,Q2-25,Q3-25,Q4-25" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=21cm --prop height=13cm \
--prop title='Quarterly ARR ($M) — y-axis anchored at 0' \
--prop axismin=0
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop geometry=roundRect --prop fill=1E2761 --prop line=none \
--prop x=23.5cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=8.8cm --prop height=13cm
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text='$18M' \
--prop x=23.5cm --prop y=5cm --prop width=8.8cm --prop height=3cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=64 --prop bold=true --prop color=FFFFFF --prop align=center --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="ARR · +312% YoY · NRR 128%" \
--prop x=23.5cm --prop y=9cm --prop width=8.8cm --prop height=3cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=18 --prop color=CADCFC --prop align=center --prop fill=none
--prop axismin=0 is load-bearing — without it, pptx auto-scales the y-axis to start near the lowest value. That is the hockey-stick lie. Gate 6 greps this below.
QA. ARR curve chart must carry axismin=0. officecli get "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]/chart[1]" --json | jq .format.axisMin returns 0 (CLI emits camelCase axisMin in readback even though input prop is lowercase axismin).
(8) Team slide — avatars + names + prior companies (not just a wall)
Visual outcome. 3- or 4-card row across the middle of the slide. Each card: picture (6×6cm) on top; name (20pt bold); role (16pt); prior company + title (16pt italic, 1 key line); optional LinkedIn URL footer (12pt). Team slide with just headshots and names reads as amateur.
SLIDE=11
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="Team: 3 prior exits, 42 years combined K8s" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type picture --prop src=alice.jpg \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=5cm --prop width=6cm --prop height=6cm
officecli set "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]/picture[1]" --prop alt="Alice Chen, CEO — portrait"
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="Alice Chen" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=11.5cm --prop width=6cm --prop height=1cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=20 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop align=center --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="CEO" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=12.8cm --prop width=6cm --prop height=0.8cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=16 --prop color=333333 --prop align=center --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="ex-Datadog Director (Series C → IPO); led K8s observability GTM $40M → $200M ARR" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=13.8cm --prop width=6cm --prop height=2.5cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=14 --prop italic=true --prop color=333333 --prop align=center --prop fill=none
Prior companies carry credibility density. VCs read "ex-Datadog Director + led $40M → $200M" in 2 seconds; they read "co-founder, passionate" in 0 seconds (because they skip it). Advisors, if shown, go in a smaller row below with a single logo each.
Arrangement helper. 3 cards: col=9.78cm, x=1.5/12.04/22.58. 4 cards: col=7.15cm, x=1.5/9.41/17.32/25.23. 5 cards: col=5.85cm, x=1.5/7.75/14.0/20.25/26.5 (0.4cm gap, tighter). 6+ or asymmetric → 2-row grid (3×2 / 3×3); see pptx v2 §(d) grid math.
QA. officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("ex-")' + 'shape:contains("prior")' + 'shape:contains("former")' ≥ 1 per team member. If zero, you have a portfolio, not a team.
(9) Financials slide — 4-year plan + honest assumptions
Visual outcome. Column chart: 4 years × (revenue, gross margin $, EBITDA). Right-side card: 3-bullet assumption panel (ARPU assumption, win-rate assumption, churn assumption). Title names the trajectory ("$18M → $85M by FY29"), not "Financial Projections".
Reuse pptx Recipe (b) chart + commentary. Pitch-specific: ASSUMPTIONS column on the right is load-bearing — a 4-year plan without visible assumptions reads as aspirational. VCs will ask what's behind every number anyway; surface it.
Left 2/3 — slide + title + 3-series column chart:
SLIDE=17
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text='$18M → $85M ARR by FY29' \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type chart --prop chartType=column \
--prop series1.name="Revenue ($M)" --prop series1.values="18,34,58,85" --prop series1.color=1E2761 \
--prop series2.name="Gross Margin ($M)" --prop series2.values="14,26,45,68" --prop series2.color=CADCFC \
--prop series3.name="EBITDA ($M)" --prop series3.values="-6,-2,8,22" --prop series3.color=B85042 \
--prop categories="FY26,FY27,FY28,FY29" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=20cm --prop height=13cm \
--prop title='4-year plan — revenue, GM, EBITDA ($M)'
Right 1/3 — assumptions commentary card:
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop geometry=roundRect --prop fill=F5F7FA --prop line=none \
--prop x=22.5cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=9.8cm --prop height=13cm
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="Key Assumptions" \
--prop x=23cm --prop y=4.5cm --prop width=8.8cm --prop height=1.2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=20 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
Assumptions panel is load-bearing. A 4-year plan without visible assumptions reads as aspirational. VCs ask what's behind every number anyway — surface the three or four assumptions that drive the curve.
QA. officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("assumption")' OR 'shape:contains("Assumes")' ≥ 1. If zero, add the panel.
(10) The Ask — hero number + 4-bucket Use-of-Funds + runway
Visual outcome. Dark fill (match cover). Hero number in the center top: $35M at 96pt white. Below, a 4-bucket pie OR a 4-card row listing Engineering 40% / GTM 35% / G&A 15% / Reserve 10%. Bottom line: "18-month runway to $40M ARR" (next milestone, not "until next round").
SLIDE=20
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text='$35M Series B' \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=2cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=4cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=88 --prop bold=true --prop color=FFFFFF --prop align=center --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type chart --prop chartType=pie \
--prop series1.name="Use of Funds" --prop series1.values="40,35,15,10" \
--prop categories="Engineering,Go-to-Market,G&A,Reserve" \
--prop colors="CADCFC,B85042,97BC62,FFFFFF" \
--prop x=6cm --prop y=7cm --prop width=12cm --prop height=10cm \
--prop title="Use of Funds — 4 buckets"
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text='18 months runway to $40M ARR and Series C' \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=17cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=1.5cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=22 --prop color=CADCFC --prop align=center --prop fill=none
4-bucket convention. Engineering / GTM / G&A / Reserve is the canonical breakdown. Typical Series A ranges: Eng 40-50%, GTM 30-40%, G&A 10-15%, Reserve 5-10%. Series B shifts 5-10 points from Eng to GTM.
QA. officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("Use of Funds")' ≥ 1. Pie chart present on ask slide. Runway + milestone on ask slide.
(11) Pipeline chart — Bio / Deep Tech must-have
Visual outcome. Horizontal swimlane. Left column = candidate name; 4 stage columns to the right (Preclinical / Ph1 / Ph2 / Ph3 for bio — or TRL1-3 / TRL4-6 / TRL7-8 / TRL9 for deep tech). Each row's bar extends to its current stage; darker fill for later stages. NCT / trial-ID footer below. §赛道 row 5 Bio must-have; SaaS / Consumer skip.
Grid math: usable = 30.87cm, candidate col = 7cm, stage cols = (30.87 − 7) / 4 = 5.97cm each, row height = 2.3cm. Stage col x: 8.5 / 14.47 / 20.44 / 26.41.
SLIDE=6
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="Pipeline: 3 candidates across Ph1–Ph3" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
cat <<EOF | officecli batch "$FILE"
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Preclinical","x":"8.5cm","y":"4cm","width":"5.97cm","height":"1cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","bold":"true","color":"333333","align":"center","fill":"F5F7FA"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Phase 1","x":"14.47cm","y":"4cm","width":"5.97cm","height":"1cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","bold":"true","color":"333333","align":"center","fill":"F5F7FA"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Phase 2","x":"20.44cm","y":"4cm","width":"5.97cm","height":"1cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","bold":"true","color":"333333","align":"center","fill":"F5F7FA"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Phase 3","x":"26.41cm","y":"4cm","width":"5.97cm","height":"1cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","bold":"true","color":"333333","align":"center","fill":"F5F7FA"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"HLX-201 (lead)","x":"1.5cm","y":"5.5cm","width":"7cm","height":"1.5cm","font":"Calibri","size":"18","bold":"true","color":"1E2761","align":"left","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"geometry":"roundRect","fill":"1E2761","x":"8.5cm","y":"5.7cm","width":"17.91cm","height":"1.1cm","line":"none"}}
]
EOF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text='NCT05021323 (HLX-201, Ph2, n=48) · NCT06142091 (HLX-304, Ph1, n=24) · IND-filed Q1-26 for HLX-412' \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=16.8cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=1.2cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=12 --prop italic=true --prop color=666666 --prop fill=none
QA. officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("NCT")' --json | jq '.data.results | length' ≥ 1. Bar colors darken across stages (CADCFC preclinical-only, 1E2761 Ph2-reached).
(12) Competitive comparison table — Series B+ essential
Visual outcome. 5–7 rows × 4–6 cols. Column 1 = competitor name (optional logo shape beside); rest = differentiators (speed / price / integrations / margin / coverage). Last row = your company, fill highlighted in an accent color (CADCFC / 97BC62); competitor rows gray. Every Series B+ deck needs this (SaaS: Datadog / New Relic / Splunk; Bio: Kite / Novartis / BMS).
SLIDE=13
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type shape --prop text="Competitive landscape" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type table \
--prop data='Competitor,Speed,Price,Integrations,Margin;Datadog,12 min,$15/host,680,75%;New Relic,18 min,$25/host,520,68%;Splunk,45 min,$45/GB,310,62%;You (Acme DevOps),90 sec,$8/host,1200,82%' \
--prop style=medium1 --prop headerFill=1E2761 \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=30.87cm --prop height=12cm
QA. officecli query "$FILE" 'table' --json | jq '.data.results | length' ≥ 1. Row count ≥ 4 (you + ≥ 3 named competitors). Your row visually distinct via cell fill (Gate 5b visual check — table style alone does not highlight one row).
Numbers convention (pitch-specific)
A terse convention table — not a finance tutorial. If you don't already know what these mean, pause the deck and ask the user for the values; don't guess.
| Metric | Shape | Floor / convention |
|---|
| TAM | $X.YB, one methodology | Either top-down (analyst report) or bottom-up (count × ACV). Never both; never neither. |
| SAM | $X.YB, fraction of TAM you serve | Typically 15 – 30% of TAM for verticalized SaaS; higher for horizontal |
| SOM | $X.YB at year N | Realistic 5-yr share: 5 – 15% of SAM for early stage |
| ARR | MRR × 12. NOT revenue. | SaaS only; contracts on books, net of churn |
| MRR | Monthly recurring | ARR / 12; do not confuse with monthly revenue |
| NRR (Net Revenue Retention) | %, trailing 12 mo | VC floor: > 100% acceptable, > 115% strong, > 130% exceptional |
| CAC | $ fully-loaded | Sales + marketing spend / new logos acquired |
| LTV | $ | ARPU × gross margin × (1 / churn rate) |
| LTV:CAC | ratio | VC floor: 3x OK, > 4x strong, > 5x exceptional |
| CAC payback | months | VC floor: < 18 mo OK, < 12 mo strong |
| Gross margin | % | SaaS floor 70%, strong 80%+; marketplace 15-40%; hardware 30-50% |
| Burn / runway | $/month + months | Gross burn vs net burn — label which; runway to specific milestone |
| Use of Funds | 4-bucket pie | Engineering / Go-to-Market / G&A / Reserve — see Ask slide recipe |
Rule. Every number on a deck carries a unit. 18% or 18M alone is ambiguous — write $18M ARR / 18% NRR growth. TBD, coming soon, (fill in), lorem, xxxx in numeric slots = immediate VC disqualification. Gate 6 greps these below.
VC ship-check (6 red flags / positive signals)
What the VC reads in the first 30 seconds. Six one-line conditions — every "FAIL" below is an instant round-killer; fix before delivering.
| # | Red flag (FAIL if present) | Positive signal (shipwise) |
|---|
| 1 | Cover without round + amount + date | Company · tagline · Series X · $YM · Date in 4 lines |
| 2 | TAM > $100B without a cited source / methodology | TAM clearly labeled bottom-up OR top-down with a visible 2024+ source |
| 3 | Traction chart y-axis does not start at 0 (hockey-stick lie) | Line chart axismin=0; growth shape honest |
| 4 | Team slide: headshots + names only, no prior companies | Every member: prior company + role + 1 achievement metric |
| 5 | Ask slide missing Use-of-Funds breakdown | $XM hero + 4-bucket pie (Eng / GTM / G&A / Reserve) + runway + next milestone |
| 6 | TBD / lorem / xxxx / {{...}} / (fill in) anywhere | view text clean — zero placeholder tokens |
Common Series-specific failures.
- Series A specific — bottom-up TAM calculated from a fictional enterprise-count × ACV (no reference customers to anchor the count);
CAC / LTV shown with < 12 months of data (statistically meaningless).
- Series B specific — no unit-econ slide at all; CAC payback > 24 months without a "we're pre-scale, here's the plan" narrative; logo wall < 8 customers.
- Series C specific — no moat / defensibility slide; revenue growth shown without margin trajectory; international expansion stated but no specific launch plan / hires.
The Delivery Gate 6 block below executes checks 1–6 above via grep + query. Gate 5b fresh-eyes covers the visual judgments (hockey stick, team credibility) that grep can't see.
Traction triple-pattern (ARR + milestones + logos)
For Series B+, traction often spans 2 slides: one for the chart + callout (recipe 7 above), one for milestone timeline + logo wall. Timeline = 4-6 horizontal dates with one-line events. Logo wall = 12-20 customer logos in a 4×N or 5×N grid, muted monochrome so no single brand dominates.
QA. Logo wall should have ≥ 8 logos for Series B+, ≥ 4 for Series A. Fewer = "lighter than it looks"; more than 20 = pixel noise.
QA — Delivery Gate (executable)
Assume there are problems. First render is almost never correct. Pitch decks fail at two layers: structural (schema, token leaks — caught by pptx v2 Gates 1–3) and narrative (wrong stage, missing unit econ, TAM unsourced — the checks that make pptx v2 Gate 5b + Gate 6 indispensable). Every check must print its success message.
Gates 1–5a — inherited from pptx v2 verbatim
→ see pptx v2 §Delivery Gate L637-679. Copy-paste the full block:
- Gate 1 —
validate schema check (whitelist ChartShapeProperties warnings per C-P-2).
- Gate 2 — token leak via
view text grep ($xxx$, {{...}}, <TODO>, lorem, xxxx, empty ()/[], \$/\t/\n literals).
- Gate 3 — hyperlink
rPr schema trap (C-P-1) — zero <a:rPr><a:hlinkClick>.
- Gate 4 — slide-order sanity — cover first, dividers before sections, closing last.
- Gate 5a — dark-on-dark contrast — every fill in
{1E2761, 0A1628, 8B1A1A, 2C5F2D, 36454F} must declare near-white textColor. This includes charts rendered on that fill: chart title.textColor, legend.textColor, axis text default to dark and read as invisible on dark backgrounds — set them explicitly, or place the chart on a light card inside the dark slide.
Do not skip or reorder these five. Every pptx-layer defect caught by Gates 1–5a also fires on pitch decks.
Gate 2b — pitch-specific shell-strip signatures (MANDATORY). Gate 2 misses $35M that zsh silently stripped to empty (no residue to grep). Run this after Gate 2:
STRIP=$(officecli view "$FILE" text | grep -niE '(^|[^A-Za-z0-9])M (ARR|raised|Series|runway|round|raise)|Series [A-C] · M( |$)|runway · M|raised · M|raising ·? M')
[ -z "$STRIP" ] && echo "Gate 2b OK (no \$-strip signatures)" || { echo "REJECT Gate 2b (likely zsh \$-strip — re-issue with single quotes):"; echo "$STRIP"; exit 1; }
Fix: re-issue the offending add/set with single quotes around the text value (--prop text='Series B · $35M', not double quotes). The same strip hits chart series names / axis titles (--prop name="营收 ($M)" → legend shows 营收 ()): single-quote every chart prop carrying $.
Gate 5b — Visual audit via HTML preview (MANDATORY, NOT optional)
Gates 1–5a are token-grep defenses. They cannot see a rendered slide. This step is the only visual-assembly check. Do not skip.
Run officecli view "$FILE" html and Read the returned HTML. Walk every slide and answer, for EACH (inherits pptx v2 Gate 5b checklist; pitch-specific additions marked ⭐):
- overlap: do any text shapes overlap each other or a chart?
- dark-on-dark: is any text on a fill where fill brightness < 30% AND text brightness < 80%?
- divider overlap: any giant decorative number (01/02/03 at 100pt+) colliding with the divider title text?
- order sanity: does the slide sequence match your stage-appropriate narrative outline?
- missing arrowheads: do flowchart/decision-tree connectors show direction, or plain lines?
- ⭐ traction y-axis: does every ARR / revenue / growth line chart start at 0 on the y-axis? (Not 80% of current — that is the hockey-stick lie.)
- ⭐ team credibility: does every team-slide card show a prior company or prior title? (Cards with just headshot + name = reject.)
- ⭐ TAM / market number credibility: is the TAM under $100B for a niche market, or if ≥ $100B, is a methodology source cited? (A claimed
$500B TAM with no source is an auto-reject red flag.)
- ⭐ Use-of-Funds pie: does the ask slide carry a 4-bucket pie (Engineering / GTM / G&A / Reserve) or a 4-card row with %s?
- ⭐ narrative completeness: is the order cover → problem → solution → market → product → model → traction → team → financials → ask, or your stage-appropriate permutation from §Stage diagnosis?
Instruction. Run officecli view "$FILE" html and Read the HTML. Walk every slide against the questions below. If rendering chart colors, animations, or zoom — those only show in the target viewer (PowerPoint / Keynote / WPS); ask the user to open .pptx directly for those runtime features.
For every slide:
(a) Are slides in VC narrative order (cover → problem → solution → market → product → model → traction → team → financials → ask, with your stage's adjustments)? Flag any out-of-sequence.
(b) Is every ARR / revenue / growth line chart y-axis anchored at 0? Flag hockey-stick visual lies.
(c) Does the team slide carry prior-company credentials for each person? (Not just headshot + name.)
(d) Does every TAM / SAM / SOM claim have a visible source or methodology?
(e) Does the ask slide have a 4-bucket Use of Funds (Engineering / GTM / G&A / Reserve) and a specific next milestone + runway length?
(f) Any text overlap, dark-on-dark, off-slide geometry, missing arrowheads, placeholder tokens (TBD / lorem / {{...}} / xxxx / empty ())?
Report every instance with slide number. If ANY defect — REJECT; do not deliver until fixed.
Human preview (optional). If you want the user to visually preview the deck, run officecli watch "$FILE" for a live preview the user can open at their own discretion, or have them open the .pptx directly in PowerPoint / WPS / Keynote. For final visual verification, open the file in the target presentation viewer.
Gate 6 — Pitch narrative sanity (executable)
Pitch-specific checks that grep the deck for VC red flags. Every one is a token check — combine with Gate 5b's human read for full coverage.
FILE="deck.pptx"
LEAK=$(officecli view "$FILE" text | grep -niE 'TBD|lorem|\(fill in\)|xxxx|coming soon|placeholder')
[ -z "$LEAK" ] && echo "Gate 6.1 OK (no placeholder tokens)" || { echo "REJECT Gate 6.1:"; echo "$LEAK"; exit 1; }
TAM_HIT=$(officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("TAM")' --json | jq '.data.results | length')
[ "$TAM_HIT" -ge 1 ] && echo "Gate 6.2 OK (TAM slide present)" || echo "WARN Gate 6.2: no TAM mention — confirm stage is Seed / Bridge if intentional"
CAC_HIT=$(officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("CAC")' --json | jq '.data.results | length')
LTV_HIT=$(officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("LTV")' --json | jq '.data.results | length')
if [ "$CAC_HIT" -ge 1 ] || [ "$LTV_HIT" -ge 1 ]; then
echo "Gate 6.3 OK (unit econ surface)"
else
echo "WARN Gate 6.3: no CAC / LTV — confirm stage Seed/A if intentional, REJECT if Series B+"
fi
UOF_HIT=$(officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("Use of Funds")' --json | jq '.data.results | length')
[ "$UOF_HIT" -ge 1 ] && echo "Gate 6.4 OK (Use of Funds)" || { echo "REJECT Gate 6.4: ask slide missing Use of Funds"; exit 1; }
PRIOR_HIT=$(officecli view "$FILE" text | grep -ciE '\b(ex-|former|prior|previously)\b')
[ "$PRIOR_HIT" -ge 1 ] && echo "Gate 6.5 OK (team prior-company)" || { echo "REJECT Gate 6.5: team slide has no prior-company credentials"; exit 1; }
AXISMIN_HIT=$(officecli query "$FILE" 'chart' --json | jq '[.data.results[]? | select(.format.axisMin == "0" or .format.axisMin == 0 or .format.axismin == "0" or .format.axismin == 0)] | length')
[ "$AXISMIN_HIT" -ge 1 ] && echo "Gate 6.6 OK (traction chart axisMin=0)" || echo "WARN Gate 6.6: no chart sets axisMin=0 — confirm no ARR/revenue line chart, or add --prop axismin=0"
echo "Delivery Gate 6 PASS (token + narrative checks) — proceed to Gate 5b fresh-eyes (MANDATORY)"
Readback key note. CLI accepts lowercase axismin as input (on --prop axismin=0) but emits camelCase axisMin in query --json on v1.0.63. The jq above accepts both for forward-compat.
Gate 6 is a grep floor. Gate 5b is the visual ceiling. Ship only when both print PASS.
Honest limit
validate catches schema errors, not fundraising errors. A deck passes validate with a $500B TAM on a $10M market, a team slide of four co-founders with no prior companies, a hockey stick y-axis at 80%, a pitch for a Series B round without unit econ, and an ask slide saying "we're raising some money". Gates 5b + 6 above exist because validate cannot catch any of this.
Known Issues & Pitfalls
→ Base pitfalls (shell escape, [last()] in resident, connector @name= rejection C-P-6, picture alt two-step C-P-7, animation remove C-P-4, chart color normalization C-P-7): see pptx v2 §Known Issues & Pitfalls C-P-1..7.
Pitch-specific:
- Stage misidentified. Series A deck with 6 pages of CAC/LTV math = over-packaged. Series B deck missing unit econ = incomplete. If unsure, re-read §Stage diagnosis before building.
- Hockey-stick y-axis. If the line chart's y-axis doesn't start at 0, VCs read it as a visual lie within 2 seconds. Always
--prop axismin=0 on ARR / revenue / growth charts. Gate 6.6 checks this.
- Team slide = portfolio. Cards showing only {headshot + name + role} fail VC credibility. Every card needs a prior-company or prior-achievement line. Gate 6.5 checks this.
- TAM without methodology. A claimed number with no "top-down" or "bottom-up" source footnote = fabricated. Pick one methodology per deck; don't mix.
- Use-of-Funds as 3-bucket or 5-bucket. 4-bucket (Eng / GTM / G&A / Reserve) is convention; departing from it reads as sloppy. Gate 6.4 checks presence.
- Pitch deck used for a board review / sales deck. Narrative arc (problem → ask) makes board reviews awkward — route to pptx v2 Recipe (d) 10-slide instead. See §Reverse handoff above.
- pptx v2 Recipe (d′) 20-slide is a starting point, not a formula. It is stage-agnostic SaaS. Adjust for your stage + 赛道 via §Stage diagnosis and §赛道 arc templates — never ship (d′) unchanged for a non-SaaS Series A.
Help pointer
When in doubt: officecli help pptx, officecli help pptx <element>, officecli help pptx <element> --json. Help is the authoritative schema; this skill is the decision guide for fundraising deltas on top of pptx v2.
