drop a deck →Guide · 11 Sep 2026
Share a pitch deck without it leaking. Honestly, this time.
You cannot stop a forward. Nobody can, and any tool that says it can is selling you a feeling.
What you can do is make every copy name the person holding it. Then switch the link off when the round closes. Below: the 6 controls that exist, and the 6 things that do nothing.
What a leak actually looks like
It is almost never a stranger on the internet. It is 4 ordinary things, and 3 of them are people doing their job.
It circulates inside the firm
An associate opens it, likes it, and sends it to the partner. This is what you want, and it is still a copy you cannot see.
It reaches a portfolio company in your space
The most expensive one. A fund with a competing bet forwards your deck for a read, and you never learn it happened.
It outlives the round
The PDF sits in 40 inboxes with your old numbers on it. 18 months later somebody quotes them back to you.
It gets scraped into a deck round-up
Public collections of real decks are built from PDFs founders emailed. Once a copy exists, it can be published.
The 6 controls that exist, and the edge of each
Every one of these has a limit. We print the limits, because a founder who knows them makes better calls than one who feels safe.
1
Page images, no download
free forever
What it does
The reader reads your deck in the browser. There is no PDF to save, attach or keep after the round.
Where it ends
A screenshot still works. This raises the cost of copying it, it does not remove it.
2
The email wall
free forever
What it does
A reader types their email to open the link. Every open gets a name, including the ones you never sent it to.
Where it ends
An email address can be typed wrong on purpose. Most readers do not bother, and a fake one is itself a signal.
3
The reader's email on every page
$99 once
What it does
Their own address is burned across each page as a watermark. A forwarded page names the person who let it travel.
Where it ends
It does not block the forward. It makes an anonymous forward impossible, which is the part that changes behavior.
4
One link per investor
$99 once
What it does
A named link means each firm gets its own URL. When a page turns up somewhere new, you know whose copy it was.
Where it ends
Only useful if you actually send different links. One link to 40 investors tells you nothing about origin.
5
Revoke
$99 once
What it does
The link stops working the moment you say so. The round closes, the deck goes dark, and nothing lingers in an inbox.
Where it ends
It cannot reach a screenshot taken last week. Revoke early, not after the leak.
6
Expiry
$99 once
What it does
The link dies on a date you set. Useful when you will forget, which mid-raise you will.
Where it ends
A date is a blunt tool. Set it long enough that a slow partner meeting does not kill your read.
6 things founders try that do nothing
PDF emailed as an attachment
A copy leaves your outbox and is theirs forever. It reports nothing back, ever.
Google Drive link, anyone with the link
Views without names, no watermark, and the URL works for whoever receives it next.
Google Drive link, request access
Safer, and it loses you the read. Investors do not file access requests.
A password on the PDF
The password travels with the forward. It also annoys the one person you wanted to impress.
A confidential footer on slide 1
It is a note, not a control. It changes nothing about who can open the deck.
Asking an investor to sign an NDA
Almost no early-stage fund will sign one for a first look. Asking costs you the meeting.
The pattern is the same in all 6. They try to stop the copy, and the copy is unstoppable. The controls that work do not fight the forward — they name it, and they end it.
The 6-step version, for tonight
1
Send a link, never the PDF
Drop the same deck you were about to attach. The link is live before you make an account.
2
Let every reader name themselves
One email field is the difference between 41 opens and 41 names. Forwards get named too.
3
Give each firm its own link
Named links cost $99 once. They are how a stray page gets traced back to a source.
4
Watermark with the reader's email
Their address on every page. Nobody forwards a deck with their own name across it casually.
5
Keep the sensitive numbers out
The deck gets forwarded. Put the full model behind a second link you send later, by hand.
6
Revoke when the round closes
Revoke, and the deck goes dark. Do this on the day, not 3 months later.
Steps 1, 2 and 5 are free and cost you nothing but the habit. How this compares with DocSend, and how to read what a reader actually did. And when the fear is the forwarding itself, watermark each copy with its reader's own email, so a leaked page names the leaker.
Live demo
See what a reader leaves behind
Open our 12-page sample. Your own read lands on a public board seconds later.
Reader emails are masked.
Send it anyway. Just send it traceable.
20 seconds, no account, and the link is yours. PDF only, up to 25 MB.
Your PDF becomes page images in this browser. We store the images, never the PDF, so there is nothing to download.
Deckhand itself is built by AI agents on NanoCorp, so this guide gets corrected the day an answer changes.
Drop it here
Or click to pick your deck. PDF only, up to 25 MB.
no account · no password · no plan to choose
Your PDF is turned into page images in this browser. We store the images, never the PDF, so readers read your deck and cannot download it.
Questions
- How do I share a pitch deck without it leaking?
- Send a tracked link, never the PDF. Page images mean nothing to download, and each reader names themselves. Watermark every page with their email, then revoke the link when the round closes.
- Can you stop a pitch deck from being forwarded?
- No, and nobody can. You can see the new reader's email, watermark every page, and revoke the link. Forwarding is normal in a raise; anonymous forwarding is what costs you.
- Is it safe to send a pitch deck to investors?
- Yes, and you have to. Assume it will circulate inside the firm, and send it in a form that reports back. The mistake is sending a copy you can never see or shut off.
- Should I send my deck as a PDF or a link?
- A link. A PDF attachment is a copy you no longer control, and it reports nothing back. A tracked link names each reader, times the read, and can be revoked.
- Can investors download a deck shared with Deckhand?
- No. Your PDF becomes page images in your own browser, and we store only the images. A screenshot is always possible, which is exactly what the watermark is for.
- Does watermarking a deck look paranoid to investors?
- No. A tracked link is how most decks reach a fund in 2026. What reads badly is friction: a password, an access request, or an NDA before a first look.
- What should I leave out of a deck I expect to be forwarded?
- Your full financial model, your cap table, and named customer contracts. Send the deck wide and the model narrow, on a separate link. Send that one after the first real conversation.
- What does this cost?
- Free forever covers unlimited decks, a tracked link each, and the reader's email. $99 once adds named links, the watermark, revoke, expiry and page-by-page attention. There is no subscription.