# Pitch reference library

What real pitches did, what investors say they want, and what studies measured. Use it to check a
draft against real decks of the same stage and kind, and to tell a measured rule from an opinion.
It does not replace the workflow in [SKILL.md](../SKILL.md); it feeds the narrative, the slides,
the check of the draft and the objection prep.

**When the library and the workflow differ, the workflow wins.** Slide count per audience comes
from [SKILL.md](../SKILL.md) and slide order from [pitch-structure.md](pitch-structure.md). The
library shows what real decks and investors did and says what is opinion; it does not override
either. Tell the founder where they differ: the catalog's decks carry a median of 14.5 content
slides, for example, against the 10 to 12 slides SKILL.md sets for a VC deck, and investors
disagree on opening with the problem (E01, E13, E14) and on where the team slide goes (E30, E41)
in [library-investor-advice.md](library-investor-advice.md).

Everything third-party is linked, never copied: decks, videos, articles and papers stay at their
source, and quotes stay under 25 words. Counts, statistics and gradings are ours. Sources checked
2026-10-08; a link that could not be opened is marked unverified.

## What is in each file

| File | What it holds | Read it when |
|---|---|---|
| [library-accelerator-pitches.md](library-accelerator-pitches.md) | 28 public pitches from YC, a16z speedrun, Techstars, Alliance, Colosseum's accelerator and Entrepreneur First: program, batch, stage, round with source, link, one line on what each teaches | You want to see how a demo-day, application or launch pitch of your format opens, proves and asks |
| [library-investor-studies.md](library-investor-studies.md) | 30 studies of investor decisions: citation, design, n, finding, our strength grading, where they contradict common advice, what nothing measures | Before treating a pitch rule as fact, or when choosing what to lead with |
| [library-investor-advice.md](library-investor-advice.md) | 60 prescriptions from YC, Paul Graham, NFX, First Round, a16z, a16z crypto, speedrun, Techstars, Colosseum and others, as short quotes with source, topic and conflicts | Writing the one-liner, the cold email, the first meeting, Q&A answers, or running the raise |
| [library-teardown-ruler.md](library-teardown-ruler.md) | Words per slide, slides per deck, claim titles and deck types measured on 78 decks that raised; text thresholds taken from where the reviewer complains, which do not predict raising; and the method to reapply them | Sizing the text on each slide; deciding between a deck that is read and one that is presented |
| [library-teardown-catalog.md](library-teardown-catalog.md) | All 100 TechCrunch pitch deck teardowns: stage, sector, round, link, our counts, next funding event | Finding a real deck of your stage and sector to compare side by side |
| [library-crypto-pitches.md](library-crypto-pitches.md) | 29 crypto infrastructure and DePIN pitches: how loudly each uses the chain, quotes, rounds, outcomes, and the token question investors ask | Deciding how much chain and token goes in the pitch; preparing the token answer |
| [library-hard-tech-explainers.md](library-hard-tech-explainers.md) | Thirteen patterns for explaining hard technology, from SEC-filed decks, pitches on stage, and YC, Graham and Sequoia, including the kinds of proof that stand in for revenue | Writing the one-liner or the "how it works" slide for technical products |
| [library-deck-arcs.md](library-deck-arcs.md) | Storytelling frameworks in their authors' words, seven real decks that bridge a small entry to a big vision, titles as the thread, openings and closes, and where the sources disagree | Writing the sequence of slide titles after picking a backbone |
| [library-flow-slide.md](library-flow-slide.md) | Ten rules and three layouts for the slide that shows how the technology works, real examples that read, and counter-examples with the reviewer's critique | Drawing a platform, architecture or "how it works" slide, especially one with onchain and offchain parts |

## Where it plugs into the workflow

- **Narrative:** [library-deck-arcs.md](library-deck-arcs.md), on top of
  [storytelling-frameworks.md](storytelling-frameworks.md), when you write the sequence of titles.
- **Slides:** the [ruler](library-teardown-ruler.md) for text;
  [library-flow-slide.md](library-flow-slide.md) and
  [library-hard-tech-explainers.md](library-hard-tech-explainers.md) for the technology slide.
- **Checking the draft:** put it side by side with two or three real decks of the same stage from
  the [catalog](library-teardown-catalog.md) or the
  [accelerator pitches](library-accelerator-pitches.md), and check each rule you lean on against
  [library-investor-studies.md](library-investor-studies.md).
- **Objections:** the token question in [library-crypto-pitches.md](library-crypto-pitches.md),
  and the Q&A prescriptions (E17 to E20) in [library-investor-advice.md](library-investor-advice.md).

## Caveats that apply to every file

- **Survivorship.** Almost every example raised money or won something; none of these files has a
  control group. A pattern here is something winners did, not proof that it made them win.
- **Opinion is not measurement.** The advice file is what investors say; the studies file is what
  was measured, and most rules people repeat about decks (opening type, slide order, market-size
  slide, demo or video) have no study behind them.
- **Dates.** Rounds and outcomes were sourced between 2026-10-05 and 2026-10-08. Re-open a source
  before quoting it to an investor.