What it does
Practice your investor pitch out loud with an AI venture capitalist. You talk, the AI listens, asks follow-ups, and pushes back. After the session, you get a detailed scorecard with strengths, weaknesses, suggested rewrites, and turn-by-turn coaching.
Who can use it
- Anyone in your organization with read access to the AI VC Coach module.
- Creating a session needs create permission and a verified email.
- The AI VC Coach must be enabled on your plan. Each session uses some AI credits (live conversation, transcription, and the scoring run).
Where to find it
From the sidebar, open Pitching and click AI Voice Coach.
Start a new session
- Click Create Session.
- The setup wizard has three steps: Practice Mode, VC Persona, Details.
Step 1: pick a practice mode
Choose how you want to be pushed:
- Full Pitch (~20 min, beginner friendly) — you deliver your whole pitch end to end and field follow-ups.
- Rapid Q&A (~10 min, intermediate) — the AI fires sharp questions in quick succession.
- Term Sheet Negotiation (~15 min, advanced) — practice negotiating valuation, terms, and asks.
- Mock IC (~25 min, expert) — simulates an investment committee with multiple angles.
Click a card to select it, then Next.
Step 2: pick a VC persona
You'll see a list of AI personas (each has a name, style, sector focus, voice gender, and firm type). Personas range from supportive seed investors to skeptical late-stage operators. The default persona is pre-selected — click any other card to switch. Click Next.
Step 3: fill in details
- Session Title — optional. Helpful when you have many practice sessions.
- Pitch Deck — optional. If you've already run a deck through the analyzer, select it so the AI grounds questions in your actual slides.
- Enable Live Captions — shows the AI's words and your own words as text while you speak. On by default.
- Enable Barge-in — lets you interrupt the AI mid-sentence. On by default.
- Push-to-talk Mode — hold a key to speak, rather than open mic. Off by default.
Click Create Session.
Nautis creates the session and drops you straight into the live interface.
Run a live session
You start on a session screen with the persona on one side and a transcript area on the other.
- Click the start button on the call control to allow microphone access and begin.
- The session timer starts. Speak naturally. The AI replies in voice (and on screen if captions are on).
- To pause your mic, click the mic icon. Click again to resume.
- To finish early, click the red end-call button. The AI will close out and you'll be redirected.
The session has a maximum recording time of 15 minutes (set by your plan). When you reach it, Nautis ends the session automatically and starts scoring.
If you've enabled Barge-in, you can speak over the AI to cut it off and steer the conversation.
If something goes wrong with audio:
- Check your browser microphone permission.
- Reload the page (transcripts so far are saved).
Review your session
When a session ends, Nautis runs an AI scoring pass and lands you on the Review page. You can also reach it later from the sessions list. The review page has tabs:
- Overview — your Total Score out of 100, performance level (Exceptional, Excellent, Good, Fair, or Needs Work), session length, and the persona you spoke with.
- Suggestions — strengths, areas for improvement, suggested rewrites of weak lines, and turn-by-turn coaching showing what you said, the issue, and a better version.
- Conversation — the full transcript with timestamps so you can re-read every back-and-forth.
- Speech — speech analytics: pace, filler words, pauses, and other delivery signals.
The score breaks down into 11 dimensions, each weighted differently:
- Clarity & Concision
- Problem & Customer Insight
- Solution & Differentiation
- Market Size & Dynamics
- Traction & Metrics
- GTM & Sales Motion
- Moat / Defensibility
- Financials & Unit Economics
- Ask & Use of Funds
- Listening & Composure
- Negotiation Readiness
Top scores are highlighted as your strengths; lowest scores show where to focus.
Other actions
- Refresh the sessions list to pull in the latest statuses.
- Reopen a past session's review from the list to revisit the scorecard.
- A session in SETUP or IN_PROGRESS state can be resumed from the list. Once it's ended and scored, you can only review it.
Tips & limits
- Each session is capped at 15 minutes of live recording.
- For the most useful feedback, pick a persona that matches the firm type you're actually pitching to.
- Linking a pitch deck makes follow-up questions far more pointed — the AI references your real slides.
- The scoring pass runs after you end the session. Wait a moment for it to finish before judging the result.
- Practice the same mode three or four times to see your score trend upward.
Frequently asked questions
Does Nautis record my voice?
The audio is processed to transcribe your speech and generate the AI's reply. Transcripts are stored against the session so you can review them. Treat practice sessions like any other confidential work — they live inside your organization.
Can I use it without a pitch deck?
Yes. Skip the pitch deck step. The AI will still run the chosen mode and ask realistic questions based on the persona.
Why is the AI so harsh?
Some personas are intentionally skeptical. Switch persona if you want a friendlier tone — for example, pick a supportive seed-stage persona for early practice.
Can I share my review with a co-founder?
The review page lives inside your organization. Anyone in the org with permission to view the AI VC Coach module can open it. There isn't a public share link.
The mic isn't working.
Check the browser address bar for a microphone permission prompt. If it's blocked, allow it and reload. Some browsers also need you to dismiss a one-time "use this microphone" picker before audio starts flowing.
What's the difference between Full Pitch and Mock IC?
Full Pitch is one persona simulating a single meeting. Mock IC is longer and modeled on an investment committee, which means tougher cross-examination from multiple angles.
Still need help?
Our team answers every message. Already a customer? Open a support ticket from inside Nautis.