This slide is critical because it establishes the first impression of your business. After viewing it, your audience should have no doubt about what your business is.
Airbnb's pitch deck provides a fantastic example: "Book rooms with locals, rather than hotels." They give an overview of their business in a single sentence without using any jargon or obscure language, making the information very accessible. After the first slide, the audience already knows what the business is offering, taking care of the first key to success. The rest of the presentation can then focus on the second and third keys.
Peloton's "On the most basic level, Peloton sells happiness" is a poor example. If Peloton was an unknown startup, this would give their audience no information about their business. Very few people associate stationary exercise bikes with happiness. Only world-famous brands can afford this type of language because people already know what they do. Unknown startups can't.
Shorthands, such as "Uber for X industry," are sometimes used to do this job effectively. However, if you go for this route, make sure the comparison is extremely close. Otherwise, the audience can jump to the wrong conclusion after the first slide, which would be challenging to undo.
Aside from the explainer sentence, it's a good idea to have a powerful visual. Ideally, you would have a graphical element that helps explain your business. If you're producing a physical product, a high-quality photo of the product is an ideal candidate.
In a way, the first slide in a startup pitch deck is reminiscent of a landing page that your customer visits after clicking your ad. It should communicate as much information as possible in as little time as possible.
Including your contact details on this slide is not a bad idea, but you could leave this for the last slide to make the first slide less cluttered.
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