To war-game a fundraising deck, put the deck, the financial model, and the data room index into one request, then instruct Pingpong to check that every metric on a slide matches the same metric in the model, that the ask slide's arithmetic holds, and that each slide still makes its point when read as a forwarded PDF with nobody presenting. Ask for the slide numbers that fail and what the backing file actually shows. Run it before the first partner meeting, because a mismatch found in diligence costs more than one found now.
This page is for founders and chief executives preparing a seed, Series A, or later deck. To rehearse the conversation with the investor most likely to pass, see role-play the skeptical investor before the partner meeting. For a pitch or strategy deck aimed at buyers or an operating committee, see stress-test a pitch or strategy deck. Executive starting points live under Pingpong for executives.
How a fundraising deck gets read
A deck is usually read first without you. An associate or partner opens the PDF between meetings and decides in a few minutes whether to take the call. Slide headlines that name a topic ("Traction", "Market") give that reader nothing; headlines that state the point ("Live revenue grew from $0.9 million to $1.7 million in four quarters") carry the argument on their own.
Later, someone at the fund compares the deck with the model and the data room line by line. Most damage at that stage comes from definitions. If slide 3 uses "ARR" for contracted revenue and the model uses it for revenue from live customers, the investor has to wonder what else is defined loosely.
What the war-game checks
- Each metric uses one definition across deck, model, and data room.
- The ask slide's runway equals the amount raised divided by planned net burn, and the milestones it promises land before the money runs out.
- Every chart has a date range and a labeled axis.
- Customer logos are current customers who agreed to appear.
- Traction appears early enough for a reader who stops at slide five.
A worked example
This example is illustrative and does not describe a customer. A 26-person company sells maintenance software to city and utility vehicle fleets and is raising a $10 million Series A. The 19-slide deck spends its first six slides on the problem and the market before traction appears on slide 7.
A useful pass starts with revenue. Slide 7 shows $2.4 million in ARR, which includes signed contracts not yet live, while the model's revenue tab starts from $1.7 million in live revenue. The ask slide promises 24 months of runway, but the model's hiring plan raises net burn to about $520,000 a month, which gives roughly 19 months. The milestone the next round depends on, $6 million in live revenue, arrives in month 22 in the model, three months after the cash would run out. The pipeline chart has no date and counts first-call leads. The logo slide also includes two pilots that ended last year, and nothing in the deck addresses public-sector sales cycles of nine months or more.
The chief executive makes the changes before sending the deck to the first fund. Traction moves to slide 2, with live and contracted revenue shown separately and a bridge between them. The hiring plan is staged so that the $10 million covers 24 months and the next-round milestone lands in month 18. The pipeline is shown by stage with an as-of date, the ended pilots come off the logo slide, and a new slide shows time from first meeting to signed contract for the last 15 deals. Every headline is rewritten as a sentence.
A request you can copy
Below are my fundraising deck, the financial model, and the data room index. Check the deck the way an investor's team would during diligence. List every metric whose value or definition on a slide differs from the model or data room, with the slide number and the cell. Recalculate runway on the ask slide from the amount and the model's net burn, and say whether each promised milestone lands before the money runs out. Flag charts without dates or axis labels, logos that may not be current, and headlines that name a topic without stating a point. Tell me which slide a reader who stops early would see last. Don't rewrite the slides for me.
Paste the revenue export and the hiring plan behind the model.
How Pingpong runs the war-game
The web review app sends your request through several models in order. Each later model receives the original request and every earlier answer, with instructions to assess the work so far. Recheck every flagged number in the source file yourself before you change a slide. For the steps inside the app, see running your first review.
What a model can't war-game
A model does not know how a particular fund weighs your category, what terms recent comparable rounds closed at, or which customers have permitted you to show their logo. Securities law questions and any claim in the deck about regulated markets belong with your counsel.
When the round or the hiring plan needs board approval, see war-game a decision before the board meeting. More guides live under work decisions before you commit.