Is it time for founders to ditch the pitch deck?
Last month (actually it was August—I’ve been busy), my desperate plea to founders to please stop sending AI slop decks went viral. I wrote it because my Monday-morning pitch deck review routine had gone from exciting to neutral to mildly annoying to downright soul-sucking in the course of a year. Decks used to be like a bag of Bertie Botts Every-Flavored Beans—some blah, some gross, some…
A recent wave of pitch deck complaints from founders and investors has reignited the debate over whether founders should abandon these traditional fundraising tools. The source material reveals that 72% of venture capitalists (VCs) now employ AI to review pitch decks, often as an additional layer to existing human review processes. While only a small percentage rely solely on AI, the trend suggests that AI is becoming increasingly integrated into the venture capital process.
The two primary reasons cited for this trend are speed and scale. Rebecca Mitchell, a general partner at Scrub Capital, explained that she receives over 50 deals per week, sometimes as many as two dozen daily, making manual review impractical. B. Pagels-Minor, founder of DVRGNT Ventures, noted that AI helps her scale her diligence efforts across a broad range of potential investments.
On the automation front, Ben Orthlieb, a general partner at Blue Moon VC—a fully AI-operated firm—stated that his company utilizes AI for tasks like LP communications, accounting, and company analysis. Consequently, Ben does not review pitch decks himself, allowing AI to generate meeting outlines and provide in-depth analyses of companies, markets, and competitors.
This shift toward AI-driven processes in venture capital raises questions for founders about the future of pitch decks. Some believe that if VCs are using AI to streamline their review process, founders should follow suit and let AI craft their pitch decks. However, as the source material highlights, the majority of VCs still employ a hybrid approach, combining AI with human review.
The ultimate question for founders is whether the adoption of AI-generated pitch decks will become the norm or remain an outlier in the evolving venture capital landscape.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
