While startup founders usually spend weeks crafting the perfect pitch deck, Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas says he instead lets his own AI answer investor questions to secure funding. The AI startup had last raised $73.6 million at a $520 million valuation, according to a report by The Information.
In an interaction with Berkeley Haas, Srinivas revealed that he hasn't created a pitch deck since Perplexity completed its Series A round in March 2023, when the startup raised $25.6 million. Instead, Srinivas says he has been relying on written memos, live Q&A sessions, and most remarkably, AI-generated responses to close subsequent funding rounds.
"Series A was the only time I made a pitch deck. I've never done a pitch deck for any of the other Perplexity funding rounds," Srinivas told the audience. "I just write a memo, and I tell them you can do a Q&A and ask whatever you want."
For those unfamiliar with startup fundraising conventions, a pitch deck is a brief presentation which is typically around 10–20 slides and is designed to provide investors with a comprehensive overview of the business.
AI Pitch That Helped Close a Funding Round
Perhaps the most striking example of his AI-first fundraising approach came to light during Perplexity's most recent funding round. After fending off questions during a Zoom call with potential investors, Srinivas received a lengthy follow-up email packed with detailed questions.
"I copied the entire email, put it into Perplexity, and said, 'Answer it like Aravind,'" Srinivas recalled the incident. The AI then went on to draw from the public record of his YouTube interviews, blog posts, and other public statements to craft comprehensive responses in his voice.
Srinivas admitted that even he was surprised by the response from the AI: "I took it out and I saw it. And it was like, 'Damn, I don't think I could have done as good a job as this,'"
The Indian-born entrepreneur then forwarded the Perplexity answer link to the investor and asked, “See if this suffices. If not, I can add more context.”
Things turned out well enough it seems as Srinivas recalled the investors' response, “And then they said, this is wonderful, and they wired the money the next day.”