11 KiB
Preset: pitch-decks
Last updated: 2026-05-17 | Verified: research/03-prompt-patterns-intent-presets.md Evidence grade: Community-only — Anthropic publishes no per-preset prompt patterns for this preset as of 2026-05-16.
Evidence grade: Community-only — Anthropic publishes no per-preset prompt patterns for this preset as of 2026-05-16.
Anthropic names pitch-decks in the launch enumeration at https://anthropic.com/news/claude-design-anthropic-labs but publishes no dedicated tutorial. Critical caveat upfront: community practitioner https://moda.app/blog/claude-design-for-pitch-decks documents an explicit recommendation against using Claude Design for external/investor pitch decks when PPTX is the required delivery format — see Section (d).
(a) What this preset is
Anthropic launch post one-sentence description: pitch-decks covers investor pitches, external partner proposals, and any high-stakes presentation format that needs to look polished. The preset distinguishes itself from the more general slides preset by audience — external rather than internal — and by typical destination — PPTX or PDF rather than HTML.
The distinguishing question vs slides: is the audience an external investor or external partner where the deck represents the company's positioning? Yes → pitch-decks. Internal audience → slides.
(b) Why Anthropic published no per-preset guidance
Anthropic likely treats pitch-decks as a high-stakes specialisation of slides rather than a fundamentally distinct generation mode. The slides tutorial at https://claude.com/resources/tutorials/using-claude-design-for-presentations-and-slide-decks covers the prompt patterns; the pitch-decks preset inherits those patterns and adds the audience-stakes layer.
Community practitioners have converged on patterns specific to pitch-deck production (Section c). The most important community contribution, however, is the PPTX-export caveat (Section d) — the failure mode is severe enough that the default recommendation diverges from slides.
(c) Community patterns
Sagnik Bhattacharya's 10-slide template
Community pattern from https://sagnikbhattacharya.com/blog/claude-design (cited in research/03): the convergent 10-slide pitch-deck template for B2B SaaS pitches:
- Title — company name, one-line positioning, tagline
- Problem — who has it, what it costs them, how acute
- Solution — what we built, one-sentence value prop
- Market — TAM / SAM / SOM (sized realistically)
- Product — 2-3 screenshots or visual demos
- Business model — how we charge, ACV ranges, GTM motion
- Traction — revenue, growth rate, named customers
- Team — founders + key hires, why this team for this problem
- Competition — competitive map (4-quadrant or named comparisons)
- Ask — funding round size, use of funds, timeline
The template is community-converged, not Anthropic-published. It composes with Anthropic's slides tutorial patterns from https://claude.com/resources/tutorials/using-claude-design-for-presentations-and-slide-decks.
MindStudio per-slide micro-prompts
Community pattern from MindStudio (cited in research/03): rather than briefing the full pitch deck in one prompt, micro-prompt each slide individually. The pattern produces tighter per-slide narrative because each slide gets dedicated attention.
The micro-prompt pattern (per slide):
Generate slide N of the pitch deck. This slide does one job:
[the slide's job — e.g., "convince the audience that the problem is
acute by quantifying customer cost"].
Visual elements: [specific to this slide — e.g., "one large number
showing annual cost, two supporting smaller numbers, one explanatory
sentence"].
Constraints from DESIGN.md: [reference the project's DESIGN.md].
Do not include filler — every element on this slide must support the
one job.
Walk through slides 1-10 sequentially.
Outline-first scaffolding (composed from slides.md)
The outline-first pattern from slides.md Section (d) applies: brief the deck as an outline first (turn 1), then expand to full slides (turn 2-N).
(d) Critical caveats
PPTX export trap — explicit recommendation against external pitch decks
Community-documented at https://moda.app/blog/claude-design-for-pitch-decks (cited in research/03) and https://claudedesign.substack.com: when an HTML-rendered pitch deck is exported to PPTX, richly-styled text can flatten to images. PowerPoint loses the editability — the text becomes a rasterised picture.
For internal slide decks (audience tolerates some export friction), the operator can mitigate by keeping typography simple. For external pitch decks (audience expects polish, may want to add their own annotations or edit the deck), this failure mode is severe enough that the community recommendation is:
Do not use Claude Design for external/investor pitch decks where PPTX export is the required delivery format. Use HTML standalone or PDF if Claude Design is required; otherwise produce the deck in PowerPoint or Keynote directly.
This plugin surfaces the recommendation but does not refuse to operate. The operator may have a reason to proceed (HTML acceptable, PDF acceptable, the PPTX text-as-text survival is verified to be acceptable for their specific styling). When proceeding, validate PPTX export early — generate slide 1 fully, export to PPTX, verify text-as-text survival, then commit to the deck.
Audience-stakes asymmetry
A pitch deck for a $50M Series C carries different stakes than a pitch deck for a $500K seed extension. The operator's tolerance for export imperfection scales with the dollar amount on the line. Default conservatively — when in doubt about whether the export will survive, treat the deck as high-stakes.
Slop-fingerprints warning amplified
Layer 3 negative constraints apply with extra weight on pitch decks. Investors see many decks; AI-slop fingerprints (purple gradients, generic three-column structure, Inter typography, centered-hero defaults, glassmorphism, neumorphism) signal that the deck is templated and the team did not invest care. The brief should over-specify the negative constraints.
(e) One worked prompt — layers 1 + 3 composed, slide-by-slide micro-prompt pattern
Goal: a 10-slide investor pitch deck for a B2B SaaS observability product, audience is Series A investors.
PRECONDITION: Before generating any slide, render slide 1 fully and
export to PPTX. Verify text-as-text survival. If text flattens to
images, switch destination to HTML standalone or PDF and notify me
before continuing.
Goal: A 10-slide Series A pitch deck for a B2B SaaS observability
product
Layout (outline — per Sagnik Bhattacharya's 10-slide template at
https://sagnikbhattacharya.com/blog/claude-design):
1. Title
2. Problem
3. Solution
4. Market (TAM / SAM / SOM)
5. Product (2-3 visual demos)
6. Business model
7. Traction (revenue, growth, named customers)
8. Team
9. Competition
10. Ask
Content: Real numbers, real customer names, real founder names, real
competitive references. No lorem ipsum, no placeholder logos.
Audience: Series A investors at top-tier funds, ages 35-55, see 50+
decks per quarter, allergic to template fingerprints
Aesthetic family: editorial-confident — like Andreessen Horowitz pitch
decks meets Linear's design language. Authoritative,
no flourish, every visual element earns its place.
Color palette (CSS hex):
--color-bg: #FAFAF8
--color-surface: #FFFFFF
--color-muted: #6B6B6B
--color-fg: #2A2A2A
--color-ink: #0A0A0A
--color-accent: #1A3552
Typography: Söhne (preferred — concrete-named) or Inter Variable;
modular scale 1.333; weight palette 400 body / 600
emphasized / 700 slide titles
Corner radius: 0 (full-bleed slides), 4px on any inline container
Motion: none on static slides; ease-out 240ms on slide transitions
Density: comfortable — one job per slide, generous spacing
Surface: flat — full-bleed, no shadows
Slide composition rules:
- Each slide does one job
- Slide titles are claims, not topics ("$2.4B addressable market"
not "Market")
- Body text is 2 lines max per slide
- One number, chart, or visual element per slide max
- Speaker notes carry depth; slides carry the takeaway
Per-slide micro-prompt pattern (MindStudio, cited in research/03):
Generate slide N. Its one job: [name the job].
Visual elements: [specific to slide].
No filler — every element supports the one job.
Negative constraints — do not produce any of:
- Inter, Roboto, Arial, Space Grotesk as primary typeface
- Purple gradients on white backgrounds
- Three-column feature grid as a default slide structure
- Centered-title-and-subtitle on every slide
- Glassmorphism, neumorphism, gradient hero backgrounds
- Pulse / breathing animations or fly-in transitions
- Generic "investor pitch deck template" defaults
- Stock-photo placeholder imagery
If you find yourself defaulting to any AI-slop pattern (per
https://claude.com/blog/improving-frontend-design-through-skills),
stop and ask me to clarify before continuing.
Slop-fingerprints warning is amplified — investors recognise template
patterns. Over-specify the aesthetic to push the deck out of default
neighbourhood.
Expected follow-up turns:
- Turn 1 (precondition): slide 1 + PPTX export validation. If text flattens, switch destination.
- Turn 2: 10-slide outline approval
- Turn 3-12: per-slide micro-prompt for each slide
- Turn 13: full-deck render, cross-slide consistency check
- Turn 14: Tweak panel for spacing and density adjustments
- Export and visual-audit at full deck level
Sources
https://anthropic.com/news/claude-design-anthropic-labs— preset enumerationhttps://claude.com/resources/tutorials/using-claude-design-for-presentations-and-slide-decks— Anthropic's slides tutorial (composed for pitch-decks)https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13521390-use-claude-for-powerpoint— PowerPoint-mode conventions (relevant for PPTX export)https://moda.app/blog/claude-design-for-pitch-decks— community-documented PPTX export caveat (load-bearing)https://claudedesign.substack.com— community pattern reinforcing PPTX export caveathttps://sagnikbhattacharya.com/blog/claude-design— community 10-slide pitch-deck templatehttps://claude.com/blog/improving-frontend-design-through-skills— AI-slop avoid-list (amplified for pitch decks)
Re-research trigger: Anthropic publishing a pitch-decks-specific tutorial; PPTX export behaviour changing (text-as-text survival improving or worsening); community 10-slide template drifting; new investor-deck pattern emerging.