A pitch deck is a business slideshow presentation:
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A pitch deck summarizes a project and purpose, such as summarizing a startup and product.
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A pitch deck is a fundraising fundamental, and is often requested by potential investors and advisors.
The pitch deck template below is a quick start:
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Timebox doing your first draft, then show it to people, gather feedback, and work to improve it.
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When you pitch a specific person or team, such as an investor or firm, customize your pitch deck to them.
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What is the problem, such as the pain point or unfulfilled need?
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What is a relatable example, such as one person's typical story?
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Tip: Focus on the issue by using the person's perspective, not yours.
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Bonus: Show why the problem is especially relevant right now.
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How big is the problem, such as in terms of people, time, money, etc.?
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When someone has the problem, how do they know and what do they do?
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Tip: Focus on a small tight group of people that you can reach ASAP.
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Bonus: Show why your market will grow larger, and how you know it.
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What is your solution to the problem? This is your offering.
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How does your relatable example change when a person uses your offering?
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Tip: Focus on the benefits by using the person's perspective, not yours.
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Bonus: Show social proof such as a real user photo and real testimonial.
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How does your offering compare to other offerings and substitutes?
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How do you reach people and convince them your offering is better?
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Tip: What special advantages do you have now that competitors don’t?
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Bonus: How are you creating sustainable advantages versus competitors?
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How are you proving your view of the problem, market, and solution?
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When you interact with potential users, what are they actually saying?
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Tip: Focus on measurements and quotations that lead to product-market fit.
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Bonus: How are you doing on the metrics that matter most for your market?
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What is your current state and future state, such as milestones and plans?
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What do you need and when, such as people, processes, materials, money?
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Tip: Focus on near-term realistic steps, and how you are achieving them.
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Bonus: Work on these by using SBS, BMC, OKRs, KPIs, and SMARTs.
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Talk about how you sell.
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What do you charge?
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Who pays the bills?
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What is the purchasing process for your target customers?
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What are your sales channels and how do you use them?
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Describe the competitive landscape.
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How does your pricing fit into the larger market?
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Highlight any validations, comparisons, and upcoming experiments.
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Prepare to discuss direct sales and multiple kinds of indirect sales.
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Prepare for questions about sales funnels, scoring, and compensation.
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Talk about how you gain customers’ attention.
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Show a solid grasp of how to reach your target market.
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What are your marketing channels and how do you use them?
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Investors know finding and winning customers can be the biggest challenge for a startup.
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If your plan is different than your competitors, then highlight the differences.
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Highlight any validations, comparisons, and upcoming experiments.
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Prepare to discuss Total Addressable Market, Service Addressable Market, Service Obtainable Market.
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Prepare for questions about viral marketing, social media marketing, and guerrilla marketing.
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Talk about your team.
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Highlight key team members, key expertise, and relevant accomplishments.
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Why are these the right people to build this company?
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What experience do the teammates have that other people or groups don’t?
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Include key advisors, investors, and board members.
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Identify key positions you need to fill, and why they are critical to growth.
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Prepare to discuss team recruiting, team retention, and team metrics.
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Prepare for questions on roles, such as advisors, investors, and the board.
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Talk about any strategic partnerships that are important to success.
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Do you have key partners for sales, marketing, distribution, or development?
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What are your partners' channels and how do they use them?
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Can your partners leverage your IP, such as branding, marks, data, APIs?
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How does your success rely on these partnerships?
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Prepare to discuss partner recruiting, retention, reliability, and ROI.
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Prepare for questions on coopetition, value-add streams, and joint ventures.
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Talk about your financials.
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Show your realistic sales forecast, profit and loss forecast, and cash flow forecast for 3 years.
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Limit any charts to sales, total customers, total expenses, and profits.
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Omit in-depth spreadsheets because these are hard to read in a presentation.
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Try to explain your growth based on traction you already have.
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Highlight your key expense drivers.
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Prepare comparisons of similar companies in related industries.
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Prepare to discuss all the underlying assumptions that you’re making.
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Ask for the money.
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Why do you need the amount of money you are requesting?
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What is your plan for using the money?
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Is there participation by others that you want to share?
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Prepare comparisons of similar companies in related industries.
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Prepare to discuss terms that you offering and/or requiring.
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Prepare to provide your capitalization table or similar equity statement.
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Photo, name, role and/or title
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Contact email, phone, link, etc.
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Key expertise
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Key accomplishments
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Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) or equivalent for next period
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Photo, name, role and/or title
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Contact email, phone, link, etc.
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Key expertise
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Key accomplishments
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Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) or equivalent for next period
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Value propositions: what value do we deliver to the customer?
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Revenue streams: what are target customers truly willing to pay and how?
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Customer relationships: what do each of our customer segments expect?
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Distribution channels: what do each of our customer segments use and want?
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Cost structures: what are the most important costs for our business model?
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Target segments: who are our most important prospects/customers and why?
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Key activities: e.g. for our propositions, segments, channels, and streams?
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Key activities: e.g. for our propositions, segments, channels, and streams?
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Partner collaborations: e.g. who are our key partners, for what, and why?
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Strengths: how is the project at an advantage relative to others?
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Weaknesses: how is the project at a disadvantage relative to others?
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Opportunities: elements in the environment that could cause wins.
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Threats: elements in the environment that could cause losses.
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Platform power + network effects: when more users join, it improves.
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Proficiency power + learning effects: when skill increases, it improves.
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Propeller power + flywheel effects: when revolutions speed up, lift increases.
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Production power + scale effects: when size increases, unit costs decrease.
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Promotion power + viral effects: how it spreads from one user to another.
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Protection power + moat effects: how it defends acquisition and retention.
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Broadcasting model: value ∝ n, for users who receive. Example: CNN.
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Peer-to-peer model: value ∝ n², for users who interact. Example: Facebook.
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Group-forming model: value ∝ 2ⁿ, for users in active groups. Example: Slack.
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Bookings vs. Revenue
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Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) vs. Total Revenue - distinct from GMV
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Total Contract Value (TCV) vs. Annual Contract Value (ACV)
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Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and LTV (Life-Time Value)
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Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) vs. Gross Profit vs. Revenue
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Unearned or Deferred Revenue … and billings
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CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) - blended vs. paid, organic vs. inorganic
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Total Addressable Market (TAM)
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Gross Margins - ideally get to 80%-90%
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Sell-Through Rate & Inventory Turns
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Active Users - e.g. Weekly Active Users (WAU), or similar; define “active”.
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Active Engagement - e.g. number of photos viewed, or liked, or shared, etc.
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Cohort Analysis - especially metrics that show newer cohorts improving.
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Net Promoter Score (NPS) - e.g. by active users and/or by cohort.
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Month-on-month (MoM) growth - Compounded Monthly Growth Rate (CMGR)
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Churn - monthly unit churn, retention by cohort, etc.; show net & gross.
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Burn Rate - monthly cash burn, etc.; show net & gross.
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Sources of Traffic - direct traffic vs. organic traffic vs. direct social etc.
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Customer Concentration Risk: revenue of largest customers / total revenue.
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Acquisition: How are people discovering our product or company?
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Activation: How are these people taking the actions we want them to?
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Retention: How well do users continue to engage with the product?
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Referral: How well do users like the product enough to tell others?
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Revenue: How exactly are our personas willing to pay for this product?
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Discounted Cash Flow (DCF): based on expected future cash flows.
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Risk-adjusted Net Present Value (rNPV): based on probabilities and DCF.
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First Chicago Method: based on weighted averages of startup situations.
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Market & Transaction Comparables: based on deal comps or precedents.
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Asset-Based Valuation: based on book value, liquidation value, etc.
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Venture Capital Method: based on expected rates of return at exit.
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Decision Tree Analysis: based on probability forecasting of outcomes
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Berkus Method: based on progress toward commercialization activities.
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Scorecard Valuation Method: based on 7 regional/vertical characteristics.
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Risk Factor Summation Method: based on 12 seed/startup characteristics.
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How are you solving the problem now?
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What is the process for you to buy now?
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Who do you know who needs this now?
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Can you introduce us to others now?
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What is our elevator pitch in 20 seconds?
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How do you describe why now, why us, why this?
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What does the next year of success look like?
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What are the most critical next steps?
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Who should we be talking to about this?
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What is the #1 way to improve the pitch?
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What should be be asking, yet aren’t?
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What can get you to yes, to help now?
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Are you clear? Make your writing short and simple.
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Are you complete? Explain who, what, where, when, why, and how.
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Are you compelling? Tell real user stories with real emotion.
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Are you comparable? Provide context to help people understand.
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Are you realistic? Show your evidence, validations, and references.
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Can you focus more on customers and less on yourself?
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Can you focus more on benefits and less on features?
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Can you focus more on offers and less on one product?
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Can you focus more on channels and less on one market?
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Can you focus more on coopetition and less on competition?
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Can you focus more on growth areas and less on sunk areas?
For pitch deck advice from many experts and companies, see Joel's pitch deck advice list.
- Package: pitch-deck-template
- Version: 4.4.0
- Updated: 2022-07-12T18:56:19Z
- Tracker: 5a4d1698f3c1dde0a30743a306ca3267
- Notices: Copyright 2016-2022 by SixArm® (https://sixarm.com)
- License: GPL-2.0-or-later or GFDL-1.3-or-later or contact us
- Contact: Joel Parker Henderson (joel@sixarm.com)