Hey guys, I came across an article by JA Westenberg called "The Pitch Deck is Dead. Write a pitch.md Instead" and it got me thinking. I've been making pitch decks for years now, and ever since AI review tools started being used in VC workflows, I've been wondering: what's the new standard going to be? The article argues that pitch decks hide weak logic behind design, and that founders should write their pitch in Markdown (.md) instead, plain text that forces clear thinking and is actually parseable by AI tools. But it made me think about something different: what if .md files become the standard format specifically for AI review tools? Isn't that just easier and better for how VCs are actually screening deals now? That said, I can't agree that the pitch deck is dead. It's still being used, and there's a reason for that. AI doesn't need pitch decks, but people do. And I think decks will stick around until human VCs get replaced someday :) The format might change: maybe shorter, maybe completely different from today but if there's a human in the loop, there will be presentation materials too. So my thinking is: why not both? PDF for the human investor (narrative, emotional arc) .md file for the AI screening tools (clean, parseable, greppable data) I built this little converter to test the idea. Upload your deck PDF, get a structured Markdown file back. Super simple. Real question: Should founders start sending both files? Could .md become the baseline alongside the deck? Original article: https://www.joanwestenberg.com/t...

pitch-deck.md

Convert pitch decks to markdown for AI screening tools

Convert pitch decks to markdown for AI screening tools