Article · 25 min read

A Playbook for Fundraising (and building your pitch)

Lenny Rachitsky · Lenny's Newsletter Freemium Intermediate

A modern, tactical fundraising and pitch playbook aggregating advice from top operators and investors. Strong on how to build the narrative and materials that actually move investors today.

  • Spend real time (weeks) building the deck and narrative; the story is the product you're selling
  • Make the pitch conversational and use slides as backup, not a script
  • Nail the 'why now' and the narrative before obsessing over design
Open on lennysnewsletter.com ↗

It answers 5 questions

  1. What slides should my pitch deck have, and in what order?
  2. How do I tell a compelling story instead of just listing features?
  3. What actually happens inside a VC partner meeting when I pitch?
  4. How long should my deck be, and what goes in the appendix?
  5. I keep hearing 'why you' matters to investors. What are they actually looking for when they ask it?

Read with it

  1. First Round Review turns storytelling from a buzzword into concrete pitch structure, drawing on a former Pixar CTO's approach.... First Round Review Article · 20 min read Take Your Fundraising Pitch from Mediocre to Memorable with Storytelling First Round Review
  2. The de facto global standard for pitch deck structure, straight from Sequoia. The same outline Airbnb's founders used; if you... Sequoia Capital Template · 10 min read Writing a Business Plan (The Sequoia Pitch Deck Template) Sequoia Capital
  3. A behind-the-curtain playbook for the partner meeting, from a First Round partner and former founder. It explains the internal... First Round Review Article · 20 min read What You Can Really Expect When Pitching Your Seed-Stage Startup at a VC Partner Meeting Liz Wessel, First Round Review
  4. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
  5. A YC partner who has read thousands of applications tells you plainly what separates the founders who get in from the ones who... YC Startup Library Essay · Long-form essay / talk How to Apply and Succeed at Y Combinator Dalton Caldwell
  6. Video · ~35 min How to Pitch Your Startup Kevin Hale
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