Pitch Reviewfrom Sure Valley Ventures
Contents

The standard · version 1.1.0 · 15 November 2026

The SVV standard for founders' decks and readiness

What Sure Valley Ventures reads a pitch deck and a young software company against. It is written down so that a founder can read it before an investor does.

What it is

The standard sets out what investors look for in a software company's pitch deck, and in the business behind it, at four points: before the company exists, pre-seed, seed and Series A.

It keeps three things apart. The case: what an investor would have to believe. The deck: whether the document does its job, slide by slide and as a whole. The business: what a deck shows, claims and leaves out, in six pillars, against the bar for the round.

It is for founders of software and AI software companies, and for researchers thinking of starting one. It has a part for university spinouts.

It is not advice. Meeting it is not a decision by anyone to invest, and falling short of it is not a decision against.

How it is used

Pitch Review, a plugin for Claude and ChatGPT, reads a deck against this standard and writes a report. Each check in a report links to its place here, so a founder can see the test, the bar and where the bar comes from.

It can also be read on its own. Start with the page for your round, then the deck template for it.

Get Pitch Review

How a bar is set

Eight rules hold for every bar in the standard.

  1. Every figure says where it comes from, and when.

    A named published source with its date, or the label "SVV's judgement". No figure stands without one.

  2. A range, not one pass mark.

    Where sources publish a range, the bar has a floor, a typical level and a strong level.

  3. Strengths are reported, not only gaps.

    A part shown at the strong level is listed as a strength.

  4. Each bar is read part by part.

    A bar that asks for several things at once is split, and each part gets its own status.

  5. Gross margin, capital efficiency and where demand comes from are part of it.

    They are reported beside the six pillars and are never scored.

  6. A bar applies only where it fits.

    Each is marked for the companies it applies to: sold by a sales team or bought self-serve, AI or other software. One that does not fit is "does not apply", never "not met".

  7. Where nothing is published, SVV's own figure is used only where published research points the same way.

    It is labelled "SVV's judgement". Where research points the other way there is no pass mark: the standard says what to state and leaves it there.

  8. Benchmarks say where they are from.

    Most published figures are American, and many were measured before AI products. The standard says so beside each.

How to read a check

A check is read from the deck alone, and gets one of four statuses.

Shown
The deck shows it with something a reader can check: a dated figure with its definition, a named customer, a screenshot of real use.
Claimed
The deck says it and shows nothing behind it.
Not met
The deck shows the bar is not reached.
Unknown
The deck does not say. It is not a fail: if you have it, it is a deck fix, and if you do not, it is something to build.

A check that is not for your kind of company, or is not asked at your round, does not apply and is left out.

Floor, typical and strong

A bar has a floor: the least it asks. Where sources publish a range it also has a typical level and a strong level. Each level says where its figure comes from.

SVV's judgement

A figure marked as SVV's judgement is SVV's own view, not a published benchmark. Beside it the standard says why it sits where it does.

Currency

SVV's own figures are given in pounds and apply the same in euros or dollars. A published figure keeps the currency of its source and is never converted.

How a pillar is counted

Each pillar starts at 1 and gains one for each indicator met, so a pillar of four indicators runs from 1 to 5. Each gets two counts: on what the deck shows, and on what it shows or claims. The six are not added together.

A red flag caps its pillar at level 2, whatever else is shown.

Deck checks

A check on a slide, or on the deck as a whole, is marked Done, Partly or Not done, each with a written test. It is marked on what the deck says and how plainly, not on how strong the business is.

What is in it

  1. Readiness at pre-seed

    Six pillars at pre-seed: 52 parts, each with its test and its bar, and 24 red flags.

  2. Readiness at seed

    Six pillars at seed: 55 parts, each with its test and its bar, and 20 red flags.

  3. Readiness at Series A

    Six pillars at Series A: 72 parts, each with its test and its bar, and 21 red flags.

  4. Pre-seed deck template

    12 slides. For each: what investors read there, with a test for each, and the mistakes they see most.

  5. Seed deck template

    12 slides. For each: what investors read there, with a test for each, and the mistakes they see most.

  6. Series A deck template

    16 slides. For each: what investors read there, with a test for each, and the mistakes they see most.

  7. The deck as a whole

    13 checks on the deck read as one document: the story, the proof, the design, the numbers and the length.

  8. The case

    5 readings of what an investor would have to believe. Never scored.

  9. University spinouts

    For spinouts: the kinds of company, the rules by country, 19 checks by stage, and the published terms of 12 universities.

  10. Before the company exists

    For a researcher with no company yet: 6 readings, what to do before forming the company, and an outline for a first deck.

  11. Measures

    6 measures that are always reported and never scored.

  12. Definitions

    17 terms, as the standard uses them.

  13. Sources

    Every source the standard cites, 102 in all, with its date, its link and what it covers.

Deck templates to download

A plain deck for each round, with a slide for each slide of its template, prompts in square brackets, and what investors read on each slide in its notes. Each opens in PowerPoint, Google Slides and Keynote.

Back to the top