Skip to main content

Venture Presentation

How do you present a venture so someone knows in 10 seconds whether to invest 30 minutes?

Three layers. Each has one job. Content lives in exactly one place.

Three Layers​

LayerJobTimePass Test
Matter (index.md)Decision surface10 secondsReader identifies what, 5 questions, where to go
Prompt Deck (prompt-deck/)Fast decision support2 minutes5 cards, headlines stick, links to depth
Business Plan (business-plan/)Full planning depth30 minutesAll 10 sections, Tight Five, persuasion loop

Directory Structure​

ventures/{slug}/
├── index.md                      <- MATTER: Decision surface (10s)
├── prompt-deck/
│   └── index.md                  <- ACT FAST: 5 Tight Five cards (2min)
└── business-plan/
    ├── index.md                  <- THINK SLOW: Full plan (30min)
    ├── pitch/index.md            <- Scripts, slides, SPIN, objections, philosophy
    ├── landing-page/index.md     <- Engineering handoff spec
    └── feedback/index.md         <- Scorecard, kill criteria

Matter Page​

The index page is a decision surface. Not a business plan.

Shape:

  1. Title + one-liner
  2. Image prompt (visual direction for the venture)
  3. 5 Priorities (questions that drive this venture)
  4. Time and Mind (think slow / act fast links)
  5. Platform Dependencies table
  6. Research links (external references)

Pass/fail: A first-time reader identifies in 10 seconds what this is, what five questions to run, where to think slow, where to act fast.

Reference: prettymint, howzus.

Prompt Deck​

5 cards from the Tight Five. Each card:

  • Headline (7 words max)
  • One paragraph expanding the answer
  • Link to the business plan section that provides full depth

The prompt deck references the Tight Five — it does not redefine it. The single source of truth for the Tight Five is the business plan.

Business Plan​

The full planning document. 10 numbered sections following the business development template.

Required sections:

  1. Title and one-line description
  2. Problem and why now
  3. System map and opportunity
  4. Solution and product snapshot
  5. Market and competition mini-map
  6. Packages and pricing
  7. Unit economics and path to freedom
  8. Business model economics
  9. Team and credibility
  10. Governance, regulatory, and risk
  11. The ask

Plus:

  • Tight Five — defined here, referenced from prompt deck and matter page
  • Persuasion Loop Status — links to each asset
  • Shared PRD Mycelium — platform dependency mapping
  • Execution plan — 12-month roadmap
  • Next actions — immediate tasks

Persuasion Loop​

Each asset lives under business-plan/ and does one thing.

AssetJobQuality Gate
PitchStory arc, formats, SPIN, objections, slides, philosophy5-beat story defined once, formats compress it
Landing PageEngineering handoff specBuild without asking questions
FeedbackScorecard and kill criteriaLoop-back triggers defined

Anti-Repetition​

Content is defined once and referenced elsewhere.

ContentDefined InReferenced From
Tight Five answersbusiness-plan/index.mdPrompt deck, matter page
Pricing tiersbusiness-plan/index.mdLanding page, pitch
Fish psychology / ICPbusiness-plan/index.mdPitch
Selling philosophypitch/index.mdBusiness plan

If the same fact appears in two files, one is wrong. Find the natural home and link from the other.

Migration​

To migrate an existing venture to this standard:

  1. Create business-plan/ directory
  2. Move sections 1-11 + execution plan from index.md into business-plan/index.md
  3. Move persuasion loop assets into business-plan/
  4. Remove duplicated content from each asset
  5. Create prompt-deck/index.md with 5 Tight Five cards
  6. Rewrite index.md as a matter-first decision surface
  7. Update all internal links

Investor Readiness​

A business plan passes investor readiness when every section survives scrutiny from three filters: specific knowledge + leverage (Naval), moat + unit economics (Buffett), market size + why now + team-market fit (a16z).

Checklist​

#CheckPass IfFail If
1Every number marked PROVEN or PROJECTEDEach financial figure has a conviction tagAny number presented as fact without evidence
2Three scenarios modeledConservative, base, and bull cases with different assumptionsSingle projection presented as the plan
3Defensibility section presentAnswers "why can't an incumbent copy this in 90 days?" with honest conviction levelsMissing or hand-waves with "first mover advantage"
490-day proof plan with kill criteriaMeasurable gates at each milestone, defined kill signalsVague "validate the idea" ask
5Team section has specific credentialsNames what THIS person knows that others don't"Experienced team" without specifics
6Competition map has 5-7 real competitorsNamed companies with pricing, weaknesses, and differentiation"Marketing agencies" as a single category
7Market sizing uses specific segmentsTAM → SAM → SOM with sources and honest confidence levels"All businesses" as TAM
8Evolution path shows service → product → platformStage-based model with trigger conditions for each transitionPresented as a service business with no leverage path
9Opportunity cost calculatedFounder time valued, break-even with opportunity cost statedRevenue projections without acknowledging what founder gives up
10Sensitivity analysis presentIdentifies which variable breaks the model if wrong by 2xSingle-path financial model

How to Use​

Run this checklist after completing the business plan. For each item that fails, the fix is usually: add honest conviction tags, add specifics, or add the missing section. The checklist doesn't require optimism — it requires honesty with structure.

Reference implementation: Berley Trails.

Context​

Questions​

When a venture has 7 pages, how do you know which one is the source of truth for any given fact?

  • What content belongs on the matter page that does not belong in the business plan?
  • If the prompt deck and the business plan disagree on the Tight Five, which is wrong?
  • At what point does a persuasion loop asset earn its own page versus being a section in the business plan?