How to Build a Pitch Deck in 5 Minutes with AI

The average startup founder spends 20-40 hours building a pitch deck. According to DocSend, the typical investor spends just 3 minutes and 44 seconds reviewing it. That's a brutal ratio.

AI changes the math. With tools like Craftpad, you can generate a professional pitch deck in under 5 minutes, spend another 10-15 minutes refining it, and have a deck ready for investor meetings in under 30 minutes total.

Here's exactly how to do it.

Step 1: Open Craftpad and Choose "Deck"

Go to craftpad.ai and sign in. From the dashboard, click the Deck button. This opens the slide deck editor with AI generation built in.

No templates to browse. No blank slides to stare at. Just tell the AI what you're building.

Step 2: Describe Your Startup in One Sentence

In the prompt field, describe your startup in plain language. Be specific. The more context you give, the better the output.

Good prompts:

"A pitch deck for a SaaS platform that helps restaurants show up in AI search results. $200/mo pricing, targeting 50 customers for $10K MRR."
"Series A pitch deck for a developer tools company. 500 customers, $2M ARR, 15% month-over-month growth."
"Investor deck for a conversational AI platform. Seed stage, pre-revenue, strong technical team."

Weak prompts:

"Pitch deck for my startup" (too vague)
"Make slides" (no context)

Step 3: Watch the AI Generate Your Slides

Click generate. Craftpad's AI creates a complete deck structure in under 2 minutes:

Title slide with your company name and tagline
Problem slide defining the pain point
Solution slide explaining your product
Market size with TAM/SAM/SOM estimates
Business model and pricing
Traction slide with key metrics
Team slide with founder backgrounds
Ask slide with funding amount and use of funds

Each slide gets a professional dark design with your content structured for maximum impact.

Step 4: Customize the Theme

This is where most AI tools fall short. They give you a template and you're stuck with it.

Craftpad has an AI Theme Engine. Click the palette icon and describe the vibe you want:

"Clean corporate blue with white backgrounds"
"Warm sunset gradient, friendly and approachable"
"Cyberpunk dark with neon green accents"

The AI generates a complete color palette — background, accent, text colors, and typography. Or pick from 4 built-in presets: Dark Premium, Midnight Blue, Light Minimal, or Emerald Dark.

You can also edit the CSS directly if you want pixel-perfect control.

Step 5: Edit and Refine

Click any slide to edit inline. The editor shows your slides on the left and a live preview on the right. Changes appear instantly.

Tips for refinement:

Keep each slide to one key idea
Use numbers whenever possible (investors love data)
The problem slide should make the pain feel real
The ask slide should be specific: "$2M seed round at $10M pre-money"

Step 6: Present or Publish

Two options:

Presentation mode: Click the fullscreen icon to enter presentation mode. Navigate with arrow keys. Your custom theme carries through perfectly — no more hardcoded colors breaking in fullscreen.

Publish: Click publish to get a shareable link. Set access to public, login-required, or private. Send the link to investors — they see a professional, branded presentation without needing to download anything.

What Makes a Great AI-Generated Pitch Deck?

According to research from DocSend's analysis of 200+ successful pitch decks:

The ideal pitch deck is 10-15 slides. AI tools typically generate 8-12, which is a good starting point.
Investors spend the most time on financials, team, and product slides. Make sure these are your strongest.
Decks that raise money have 40% less text than unsuccessful ones. AI tools tend to be concise, which is actually an advantage.
Visual consistency matters. 73% of investors say design quality affects their first impression.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using the AI output as-is without editing. The AI gives you a strong draft, not a finished product. Spend 10-15 minutes refining.
Ignoring the theme. A pitch deck with a custom color palette looks 10x more professional than the default.
Too many slides. If the AI generates 15+ slides, cut it down. Every slide should earn its place.
No specific numbers. Replace vague language ("large market") with data ("$4.2B TAM, growing 23% annually").
Skipping the ask. Always end with a clear funding request and use of funds breakdown.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to make a pitch deck with AI?

With Craftpad, the AI generates a complete pitch deck in under 2 minutes. Including editing and theme customization, most users finish a polished deck in 15-30 minutes. This compares to 20-40 hours for traditional pitch deck creation.

Is an AI-generated pitch deck good enough for investors?

Yes, with editing. AI tools like Craftpad generate professional-quality decks that serve as excellent starting points. The structure and design are investor-ready. You should spend 10-15 minutes customizing the content with your specific data, metrics, and story.

What should a pitch deck include?

A standard pitch deck includes: title/company overview, problem, solution, market size, business model, traction/metrics, competition, team, financials, and the ask. Craftpad's AI generates all of these sections automatically from your prompt.

Can I use an AI pitch deck for a Series A?

Yes. AI-generated decks are suitable for any funding stage from pre-seed to Series A and beyond. The key is customizing the content with real metrics and financials specific to your stage. At Series A, investors expect concrete revenue data, unit economics, and growth projections.

What's the best AI tool for pitch decks?

Craftpad is the most versatile option because it also builds websites, forms, and data sheets alongside slide decks. For pure presentations, Gamma and Beautiful.ai are also strong choices. The best tool depends on whether you need just slides or a complete launch toolkit.

How many slides should a pitch deck have?

The ideal pitch deck is 10-15 slides, according to DocSend's research. Investors spend an average of 3 minutes and 44 seconds reviewing a deck, so every slide needs to communicate one clear idea. AI tools typically generate 8-12 slides, which is within the ideal range.

Start Building

The gap between "I have an idea" and "I have a pitch deck" used to be weeks of work. With AI, it's minutes.

Try Craftpad to build your pitch deck, landing page, and investor materials in one place.