​Most pitch decks get ignored. Not because the founders aren't smart. Not because the ideas aren't good. And not because the slides are ugly. No, the number one reason VCs ignore pitch decks is that most founders fail to focus on what investors need to believe to invest.

​Everyone has an opinion on what VCs want to see. And AI has only made it worse, flooding investors with generic decks that make every founder look and sound the same.

​Founders are in a tough spot. You’re trying to distill deep thinking, market insights, and technical decisions into just a few slides. It's hard to know what matters. It’s easy to get distracted by making things look good instead of being clear. And there's so much conflicting advice out there.

​There's a better way.

​In this live session, we'll share what we look for in a deck, and introduce our Pitch Sprint — the exact method we use with founders in Character Labs. After reviewing thousands of pitch decks, and helping hundreds of portfolio companies with theirs, we created a recipe that any founder can use to build a pitch deck that gets noticed by investors.

​What we'll cover:

​✅ The TOASSST template: our proven method to create a clear, compelling narrative

​✅ What engages investors and what makes them tune out

​✅ When AI helps, and when AI is a trap

​✅ Live Q&A with Character Capital’s cofounders: Eli Blee-Goldman, John Zeratsky & Jake Knapp

​👋 Meet the team

• ​Eli Blee-Goldman, General Partner at Character Capital — Founder and director of The Big Backup. Career VC investor and seasoned startup board member. Investments include Phaidra, Orbital Materials, Bindwell, and CTGT.

• ​John Zeratsky, General Partner at Character Capital — Former partner at Google Ventures (worked with Flatiron Health, Digit, Foundation Medicine, Gusto, and 100+ more portfolio companies). Bestselling author of Sprint, Click, and Make Time.‍ Investments include Inductive Bio, Hypernatural, and Extend.

• ​Jake Knapp, General Partner at Character Capital — Former partner at Google Ventures (worked with Slack, Cala Health, One Medical, Uber, and 100+ more portfolio companies). Co-founder of Google Meet. Bestselling author of Sprint, Click, and Make Time.‍

​📍 Where?

​Virtual via Zoom

​👥 Who is it for?

​Pre-seed and seed-stage founders preparing to fundraise, early-stage teams building their first decks, and anyone who wants to create a pitch that actually resonates with investors.

​📺 Will it be recorded?

​Yes! We'll share the recording with everyone who registers.