Check My Deck
Pre-Seed / Seed · Deck Evaluation & Valuation Engine

Score a deck the way a check-writer actually reads one.

Two things happen in a partner's head during a pitch: “do I believe this team can win this market?” and “what is this worth, and what do I own for my check?” This tool runs both. Hit Assess a deck up top to upload one and get a scored readout, or drive the Scorecard and Valuation Lab yourself. The rubric is built from how funds diligence, distilled through the pitch decks that actually raised.

10weighted scoring dimensions
7valuation methods, blended live
11canonical decks distilled
30sthe attention a deck really gets
SCORE IT YOURSELF · THE RUBRIC

Deck Scorecard

Score each criterion 0–5 as you read the deck. Categories are weighted by what moves a seed decision. Weights re-balance when you switch stage — at pre-seed, team and “why now” carry the round; by seed, traction has to show up. Your scores also feed the Scorecard valuation method below.

Stage
Deck
—/100
Score the deck
Awaiting inputs
Grade the criteria above. The composite is a weighted roll-up across all ten dimensions.
Weakest link
SCORE IT YOURSELF · THE MATH

Valuation Lab

Every popular way to put a number on a company with little or no revenue. The qualitative methods (Berkus, Scorecard, Risk Factor) set a pre-money floor; the forward methods (VC, DCF, First Chicago, Comps) triangulate against an exit. None is “right” — the discipline is triangulation. Adjust inputs; the blend at the bottom updates live.

Berkus Method Pre-revenue

Dave Berkus’ classic. Assign up to $500K of value to each of five risk-reducers. Deliberately caps a pre-revenue idea near $2.5M — it prices de-risking, not dreams.
Pre-money$0

Scorecard Method Angel comp

Bill Payne’s method. Take the average pre-money for comparable funded startups in your region, then multiply by how you compare on weighted factors. Sliders auto-fill from your Scorecard scores — override any.
Pre-money · Σweight×ratio = 1.00×$0

Risk Factor Summation Pre-revenue

Start from a regional baseline, then add or subtract $250K per risk category (−−−to +++). Twelve risks, scored −2…+2. Rewards a company that has neutralised the things that kill startups.
Pre-money · +$0$0

VC Method Exit-driven

The napkin every VC runs. Project an exit, discount by the return the fund needs, back into today’s number. Post = Exit ÷ Target return. Pre = Post − investment.
Pre-money · investor owns —$0

Early-Stage DCF Cash-flow

Discounted cash flow with startup-grade discount rates (30–60%). Rarely load-bearing pre-revenue, but it disciplines the growth story. 5-year projection + terminal value.
90%
15%
45%
Present value$0

First Chicago Method Scenario

Three futures — home-run, base, failure — each with an exit value and a probability. Blends them, discounted to today. Honest about the power-law shape of venture outcomes.
40%
Prob-weighted PV · Σp=100%$0

Market Comparables Multiple

What the market pays right now. Apply a revenue/ARR multiple drawn from recent comparable financings or M&A. Fast sanity check — only as good as the comp set.
Valuation on forward ARR$0

The Round, Backwards Reality check

At pre-seed the number is often set by dilution, not models: investors want a target %, founders can only give up so much. This is where deals actually land.
15%
10%
Implied pre-money$0
The Synthesis

Blended valuation range

Weighted across methods — qualitative floors weighted higher pre-seed, forward methods higher once there’s traction. The mid is your anchor; walk in citing the range and the methods behind it.

MethodTypeOutputRead
The honest caveat. At pre-seed, no model is load-bearing — the number is a negotiation between conviction and dilution. Use these to bound the conversation and avoid an indefensible ask, not to “calculate” a truth. A great deck moves the mid; a great team moves the whole range.
CREATE YOUR DECK · THE BRIEF

Create your deck

Answer a short series of questions — each one maps to how investors actually score a deck. At the end you get a Markdown brief plus a ready-to-paste prompt that has Claude write the deck for you.

REFERENCE · THE PATTERNS

What the great decks did

The rubric isn’t invented — it’s reverse-engineered from the decks that raised. Two structural templates, two narrative engines, and the one lesson from each landmark deck.

The Sequoia template

The de-facto industry structure · 10 slides
  1. Company purposeDefine in a single declarative sentence.
  2. ProblemThe customer’s pain; current alternatives fall short.
  3. SolutionWhy yours, why now, what it enables.
  4. Why nowThe historical shift that opened the window.
  5. Market sizeBottoms-up TAM, real customers, real budgets.
  6. CompetitionHonest map; your durable advantage.
  7. ProductFeatures, roadmap, the “how it works.”
  8. Business modelHow you make money, unit economics.
  9. TeamWhy this team wins this market.
  10. Financials & askTrajectory, the raise, use of funds.

The Airbnb seed deck

2008 · raised $600K · the most-copied seed deck
  1. Cover / one-liner“Book rooms with locals, rather than hotels.”
  2. ProblemThree tight bullets. Price, disconnect, no easy way.
  3. SolutionThree benefits, mirrored to the problem.
  4. Market validationProof the behaviour already exists.
  5. Market sizeTrips → available slice → their target.
  6. ProductThree steps. Screenshots, not prose.
  7. Business model10% commission. One line.
  8. Market adoptionConcrete GTM, not “viral.”
  9. Competition2×2; where they alone sit.
  10. Team & askFounders + the raise.

The Greatest Sales Deck narrative

Andy Raskin — the “name the enemy” story engine
1 · Name the shiftPoint at a big, undeniable change in the world. Urgency without hype.
2 · StakesShow winners and losers of that shift. Create “us vs. the old way.”
3 · Promised landPaint the future the customer wants — before your product.
4 · Magic giftsYour features as the powers that reach the promised land.
5 · ProofEvidence you can deliver: traction, logos, data.

The Sparkline & the 10/20/30 rule

Nancy Duarte + Guy Kawasaki — shape and discipline
What is / what could beDuarte: oscillate between reality and possibility, ending on a better future. Tension is the engine.
10 slidesKawasaki: the number a mind can absorb in one sitting.
20 minutesLeave room for discussion in an hour slot.
30-point fontIf it doesn’t fit big, you don’t know it well enough.
DeckStage / outcomeThe one lesson
Airbnb ’08Seed · $600KRuthless simplicity. Problem→solution mirrored, one line per slide.
Uber ’08Pre-launch visionSell the vision and the wedge — “everyone’s private driver,” starting with black cars.
LinkedIn ’04Series B (Hoffman)Analogy as compression — framed by what investors already understood (eBay, Google).
DropboxSeedA demo beats a description. Show the magic; let it be obvious.
Front ’16Series ACategory creation — reframe the market so you’re the leader of a new one.
BufferSeed · $500KRadical transparency — real metrics, real traction, builds trust fast.
IntercomEarlyOpinionated positioning — a manifesto, not a feature list.
MixpanelSeedOne sharp wedge — analytics done for one job, done better.
CoinbaseSeedMake the unfamiliar legible — plain-language framing of a scary new market.
FacebookEarly (pitch)Lead with engagement metrics — retention and usage as the whole argument.
YouTubeSeedGrowth curve as the pitch — the line goes up and to the right, unmistakably.
REFERENCE · THE TELLS

Instant credibility killers

The things that make an investor quietly close the tab. Every one is a subtraction from the score above — often a fatal one, regardless of the rest.