12 Claude prompts every founder raising should save

These are the exact prompts we use inside Claude Fundraiser's Prompt Studio. Copy any of them into your own Claude window, swap the bracketed parts for your details, and ship.

The ones marked [paste your deck] assume you have uploaded your deck PDF or pasted slide text into the conversation. Claude reads PDFs natively (no OCR layer needed), so the upload-then-prompt pattern works directly.

Deck-rewrites

1. Score my current deck

You are an experienced VC partner reviewing a pre-seed deck for a 3-minute first pass.

Score this deck 0-100 on each of these 7 dimensions:
- Problem clarity (15)
- Solution specificity (12)
- Market sizing realism (12)
- Traction proof (18)
- Team credibility (13)
- Ask + use of funds (12)
- Business model fit (10)

For each dimension, write 2 sentences explaining the score and 1 sentence on the highest-leverage fix.

[paste your deck]

2. Rewrite my problem slide in 3 voices

Here is my current problem slide. Rewrite it in 3 different voices, all under 30 words:

1. Operator voice (specific, urgent, names a person)
2. Outsider voice (frames it as a market gap a generalist would notice)
3. Numbers voice (leads with the dollar cost of inaction)

Then tell me which one will land best with a generalist seed VC and why.

Current problem slide: [paste your problem slide text]

3. Tighten my traction slide

Here is my traction slide. It has too many metrics. Tell me which 2 metrics are the single most defensible signals of progress for a [seed/pre-seed/series A] [vertical] company. Cut everything else from this slide and explain why.

Then write the chart caption that should sit under those 2 metrics.

Current slide: [paste]

4. Sharpen my ask slide

Here is my ask slide. Rewrite it in this format:

"Raising $X to take us from [current state] to [milestone that triggers next round]. We expect to hit [specific Series A trigger metric] in [N months]."

Then write 3 follow-up sentences explaining how the money breaks down: hires, infrastructure, GTM.

My current numbers: ARR $X, gross margin Y%, growth rate Z, runway K months. Targeting a [seed/series A] of $W.

Investor research

5. Map my likely investor verticals

I run a [one sentence company description]. Pre-seed/seed.

What are the top 8 vertical tags VCs would categorize me under? Order by which would be most accurate vs which is the easiest pitch to investors.

For each tag, name 2 funds in that vertical that have led pre-seed in the last 12 months.

6. Generate a target list filter

I am raising a [seed] round of $[2M] for a [B2B SaaS for healthcare claims processing] company.

Generate a 15-question filter I can apply to a fund's portfolio page to decide whether they are a 'definite yes', 'maybe', or 'no' for me. Order the questions by how cheap they are to verify.

7. Find a partner's recent thread

I am pitching [partner name] at [fund]. Search public sources (X, LinkedIn, podcast appearances) and tell me:

1. What is the most recent investment thesis they have written or said publicly?
2. What 2 quotes from that thesis would I cite in a cold email to make it land?
3. What companies in their portfolio look most like mine?

Cold email

8. Draft a partner-level cold email

You are writing a cold email from a founder to a VC partner.

Constraints:
- Max 110 words
- First sentence references something the partner has said or done in the last 90 days
- Second sentence is 1 line about your company with one specific number
- Third sentence is the ask: a 25-minute call
- No "I hope this finds you well", no "We are excited to share"

Founder details: [your name, company, one sentence, one traction number]
Partner: [name, fund, recent quote you want to reference]

9. Generate 3 follow-up emails

The cold email I sent below got no reply after 4 days. Write a follow-up sequence: day 4, day 11, day 21.

Each follow-up:
- Adds new value (a metric update, a customer signal, a deal we just closed)
- Is shorter than the original
- The day-21 one explicitly closes the loop with one ask

Original email: [paste]

10. Check my email for AI tells

Read this draft cold email. Tell me which sentences sound like AI wrote them. The signals you check for:
- Em-dashes (any are too many)
- Words: "delve", "leverage", "unlock", "elevate", "robust", "seamless", "in today's"
- Sentences over 25 words
- Generic framings ("excited to share", "I hope this finds you well")

Rewrite the AI-flagged sentences in a real founder voice.

Draft: [paste]

Investor meetings

11. Generate the 10 hardest questions for this deck

You are a skeptical seed VC partner. Read my deck and generate the 10 hardest questions you would ask in a first meeting. Order by how likely they are to actually come up.

For each question, write the 1-sentence honest answer (NOT a deflection) I should be ready to give.

[paste deck]

12. Pre-meeting brief on the partner

I have a meeting with [partner name] at [fund] in [N days].

Generate a 1-page brief covering:
- What they invest in (3 bullets)
- 2 portfolio companies most similar to mine and what makes the comparison defensible
- 1 thing they have written or said recently I should reference
- 1 unusual question they are known to ask
- 2 connection points (mutual founders, shared interests) I can use as warm openers

How to use these well

Three small things make these prompts work better:

1. Always tell Claude your stage and vertical upfront in any prompt. Pre-seed climate is a different conversation from Series A B2B SaaS.
2. Paste real text, not summaries. Claude is much better at rewriting your actual problem slide than a paraphrase of it.
3. Iterate twice. First Claude reply is rarely the best. Ask "make it 30% shorter and more specific" or "rewrite in operator voice, not VC voice."

Save the 4 prompts you will use weekly as snippets in your text-expander or notes app. Skip the rest until you need them.