Harsha Kotthapalli

The Investor Narrative · 3 weeks

The positioning underneath your raise.

A pre-seed deck rarely fails because it's ugly. It fails because an investor can't file it into a category, can't tell who it's for, and can't see why this year rather than three years ago. That's positioning, not design.

€4,500 · 3 weeks · Credited in full against GTM Foundations

Positioning · Full size on the demo →

Who this is for

Who this is for, and who it isn't.

This is for you if

  • You're raising pre-seed or seed in the next three to six months
  • Investors keep asking what category you're in
  • Your deck has been redesigned twice and still isn't landing
  • You can describe the product but not the argument

This isn't for you if

  • You want slide design. This is the argument; someone else makes it look expensive.
  • You want investor introductions. I don't have them and wouldn't sell them if I did.
  • You're raising this month. Three weeks is the minimum and rushing it wastes both our time.
  • You want a guarantee of a raise, which nobody can sell honestly.

What you get

What you get.

The category, and the alternatives1 PAGE · 3 ALTERNATIVES INCLUDING DOING NOTHING

What you are, what you're filed under, and what a buyer does instead of buying you.

Used byFOUNDERS
Who exactly1 PAGE · A BEACHHEAD, NOT A TAM

The first buyer you can win repeatedly, named tightly enough to disqualify everyone else.

Used byFOUNDERS
The market, sized honestly1 PAGE · EVERY FIGURE SOURCED

The size of the thing you're actually selling into, built bottom up, with each number traced to where it came from.

Used byFOUNDERS + INVESTORS
Why now1 PAGE · ARGUED, NOT ASSERTED

What changed that makes this possible this year and not three years ago, with the change evidenced.

Used byFOUNDERS
The narrative spine10–12 SLIDES · THE ARGUMENT, WRITTEN

The order the argument has to arrive in, slide by slide, written out as sentences rather than headings.

Used byFOUNDERS
The three questions you can't answer1 PAGE · THE PRE-MORTEM

The three questions that will be asked in the room and currently have no good answer, written down before someone else finds them.

Used byFOUNDERS

ALL SIX ARE YOURS. THE DECK IS BUILT WITH YOU, NOT FOR YOU.

Every one of these, at full size, on a real product. See it running →

How it works

How it works.

Week 1 · The argument

Category, alternatives, the first buyer, the market sized bottom up, and why now.

Week 2 · The spine

The order the argument arrives in, written as sentences, plus the three questions you can't yet answer.

Week 3 · The deck, built with you

Two working sessions, screen to screen. Then one review pass after your first investor meetings.

Three weeks, then one review pass after your first investor meetings.

What this doesn't cover

Two sessions and one review. Not unlimited revisions, not a version per investor, not design. Founders iterate decks for months and every meeting produces feedback; absorbing that is your job. If you want help through the whole raise, that's GTM Foundations.

What it costs

What it costs.

Price

€4,500

Invoiced in

EUR

Duration

3 weeks

Credited

Credited in full against GTM Foundations

See pricing →

What it costs

The price goes up, and here's when.

€4,500 for the first three clients, then €5,500, and €6,500 once a closed round can be attributed to it.

What this leads to

What this leads to.

GTM Foundations

Three months, four days a month, with someone alongside you while you build: who you're for, what you say, and how you sell it.

€5,000/mo · 3 months minimum

GTM Foundations

Start

Start.

Not sure which service you need? Six questions. Tells you what to do next, including when that's nothing. Take the free diagnostic →

Straight answers

Straight answers.

Do you design the deck?

No. I build the argument and sit with you while you build the deck from it. Someone else makes it look expensive, and that part is cheap once the argument holds.

Can you introduce me to investors?

No. I don't have that network and wouldn't sell it if I did.

What if we're raising in four weeks?

Then this is the wrong time. Three weeks is the minimum and a rushed version helps nobody.

Have you raised money yourself?

Yes. I co-founded a company in Dubai and raised as a founder, which is why the deck sessions are working sessions rather than a handover.