Sebastian Scheplitz
Founder, Shepard&Young · Author of the Deckmetric methodology
Cross-border operator, advisor, and investor, Silicon Valley, Europe, and MENA.
Who is Sebastian Scheplitz?
Sebastian Scheplitz is the founder of Shepard&Young and the author of the Deckmetric scoring methodology. He has spent his career as an operator, advisor, and investor across Silicon Valley, European, and MENA capital markets, building and selling companies, advising family offices on three continents, and evaluating thousands of pitches. He authored the Captivate-Validate-Motivate (CVM) framework that powers every Deckmetric grade and writes the editorial voice behind the Deckmetric blog.
- Role
- Founder of Shepard&Young; author of the Deckmetric methodology.
- Background
- Cross-border operator, advisor, and investor, Silicon Valley, Europe, MENA.
- Authored
- The CVM pitch deck framework and the Deckmetric scoring rubric.
- Writes
- The Deckmetric fundraising blog and the monthly market digest.
Articles by Sebastian
The most recent posts from the Deckmetric fundraising blog, sorted by last-updated date.
The Cold Investor Email System: 5 Templates That Get Replies
11 May 2026Stop getting ignored. Use these 5 battle-tested cold investor email templates with step-by-step personalization tactics that generate real replies and meetings.
The Follow-Up Cadence System: Post-Meeting Workflows That Close Rounds
7 May 2026Build a repeatable post-meeting follow-up system that keeps investors engaged and moves deals forward. Proven templates and timing frameworks.
The May 2026 Investor Sentiment Shift: AI Fatigue and What Founders Must Emphasize Now
4 May 2026As Q2 2026 reveals investor AI fatigue, discover what VCs are prioritizing now and how to position your pitch deck to match the new funding reality.
The Traction Slide Framework: Proving Momentum Investors Believe
30 Apr 2026Master the traction slide with proven frameworks for displaying growth metrics that convert investor skepticism into conviction and term sheets.
Tax Day Refund Capital: Converting April Windfalls Into Seed Checks
27 Apr 2026Late April brings unexpected capital from tax refunds and bonuses. How savvy founders target newly liquid angel investors in week 4 of April 2026.
The 30-Day Pre-Seed Financial Model: Build Investor-Grade Projections
23 Apr 2026Step-by-step guide to building a 3-statement financial model pre-seed investors trust. Includes template structure and validation checklist.
The Rejection Analysis System: Converting No's Into Deck Wins
20 Apr 2026A repeatable 4-step framework for categorizing investor rejections, extracting actionable patterns, and systematically improving your deck.
The Multi-Track Outreach System: Running 3 Investor Funnels in Parallel
16 Apr 2026Build a systematic approach to manage angel, seed, and strategic investor tracks simultaneously—without dropping conversations or burning out.
The Weekly Deck Iteration System: Structured Feedback Loops for Fundraising
13 Apr 2026Build a repeatable weekly process to systematically improve your pitch deck using investor feedback, testing protocols, and version control.
Deckmetric vs Inodash: Pitch Deck Platforms for Fundraising Founders
9 Apr 2026Compare Deckmetric vs Inodash to find the best AI-powered pitch deck platform for your fundraising journey. Features, pricing, and insights.
The Pitch Deck AI Comparison: Deckmetric vs Evalyze Feature Matrix
9 Apr 2026Compare Deckmetric vs Evalyze AI pitch deck platforms. Detailed feature matrix to help you choose the right pitch deck analysis tool for your startup.
Evalyze vs Deckmetric: Which Platform Gets Your Deck Investor-Ready?
9 Apr 2026Compare Evalyze and Deckmetric to find the best AI-powered platform for analyzing and optimizing your pitch deck for investor success.
What he writes about
Sebastian writes the Deckmetric fundraising blog, the monthly market digest sent to Premium subscribers, and the editorial pages that document the CVM framework and the 9 VC benchmark frameworks. His writing focuses on what investors are actually scoring against, not on motivational founder advice, and on the cross-border differences in how a single deck reads in San Francisco, Berlin, and Dubai.
Read the Deckmetric fundraising blogThe methodology he authored
The Captivate-Validate-Motivate framework is Sebastian’s structured answer to the question every advisor gets asked: “why did my deck not work?” He weighted Validate the heaviest (40%) because validation is the only dimension an investor cannot rationalize past in diligence, Captivate gets you read, Motivate gets you a meeting, but weak validation kills the deal regardless of how strong the other two are.
Read the full Deckmetric methodologyWhere to find him
Sebastian publishes the firm’s writing through Deckmetric and Shepard&Young. For data and processing details, see our Trust page (or email hello@deckmetric.com until the full Trust Center ships). For founders who want hands-on help refining a pitch before partner meetings, Shepard&Young offers paid one-on-one strategy sessions.