The main reason for startup failure is the lack of product-market fit. In other words, you may be building something that nobody is willing to pay for.
The purpose of this slide is to convince your audience that this is not the case. To do so, those you are presenting to must empathize with your target customer. They need to comprehend the problem both logically and emotionally.
The approach you should take depends on your specific case. A good example of this is Nikolay Storonsky, who efficiently tells the story of how currency conversion and transfer fees annoyed him while he was traveling abroad, motivating him to create Revolut. This way, he presents a real story that is easier to empathize with rather than a theoretical problem.
Problem
Spending and sending money abroad is an inconvenience.
- Expensive
- Inconvenient
- Deceptive
This industry has yet to be revolutionized.
Of course, this isn't the only approach you can take. It's also a viable strategy to focus on data and let the facts make your case for you.
A great tip concerning the problem is to focus: solve one issue instead of many. For one, a pitch deck usually doesn't give you enough time to address multiple problems. Second, solving a single problem is hard enough, and early-stage startups shouldn't spread their resources too thinly. It's much better to solve one problem well than to solve ten problems badly.
Remember, the ideal early-stage startup addresses a single problem for a single type of customer with a highly scalable, single-feature solution. Complexity is a significant drawback at this stage.
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