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I want to stress this (as a VC investor) - “Make sure your grandmother could read this and understand what it is that you do and why it is better than what we h

I want to stress this (as a VC investor) - “Make sure your grandmother could read this and understand what it is that you do and why it is better than what we have today.” The number of times that I’ll read a deck and go “Ok, so I still have no idea what they do” is too high... I’m a slow one though, so it could be my own shortcomings!

Osiris 6y ago
This happens a lot on landing pages. I've seen people post "Show HN" links here and even after reading all the copy on their landing page I still can't figure out what the product does, what problem it solves, or why I should use it.
punnerud 6y ago
What are your thought on analogy to make it easier to understand? “Uber for..” “AirBnb combined with..”
- janellehmtam 6y ago
  Analogies can be helpful if they're straightforward and accurate, and the company you're comparing yourself to is well-known and has a $1B+ market cap (at minimum). Beware of using analogies that are either overly convoluted or inaccurate. As I suggest in this guide, you can test out whether or not the analogy works by trying it out on a couple people that know nothing about your business and asking them to explain back to you what your company does.
janellehmtam 6y ago
Very true - simplicity is probably the #1 thing I emphasize. Often founders are so in the weeds that they forget investors are learning about their company for the very first time, and information overload is real.
omarhaneef 6y ago
Same but I ascribe this to some kind of ambition. Startup founders figure the investor wants a huge ambitious startup. “Deliver ice cream on demand” is too narrow, and anyway its just what they do now. In the future they’ll deliver all frozen food, then food, then other stuff, and then they’ll expand to moving stuff around for companies... really, they solve motion problems. So you get a tag line about solving motion problems, or mobility solutions and inventory solutions and of course that means financing, and finally you see a video and notice all the examples involve ice cream.
- janellehmtam 6y ago
  Right - it's why we suggest founders start with a one-liner that describes what they do right now, that's clear enough that investors have a concrete picture of it in their heads. Once they've established that foundation, they can cast the vision / make the argument of what $B company that foundation allows them to build towards.

Osiris 6y ago

This happens a lot on landing pages. I've seen people post "Show HN" links here and even after reading all the copy on their landing page I still can't figure out what the product does, what problem it solves, or why I should use it.

punnerud 6y ago

What are your thought on analogy to make it easier to understand? “Uber for..” “AirBnb combined with..”

janellehmtam 6y ago
Analogies can be helpful if they're straightforward and accurate, and the company you're comparing yourself to is well-known and has a $1B+ market cap (at minimum). Beware of using analogies that are either overly convoluted or inaccurate. As I suggest in this guide, you can test out whether or not the analogy works by trying it out on a couple people that know nothing about your business and asking them to explain back to you what your company does.

janellehmtam 6y ago

Very true - simplicity is probably the #1 thing I emphasize. Often founders are so in the weeds that they forget investors are learning about their company for the very first time, and information overload is real.

omarhaneef 6y ago

Same but I ascribe this to some kind of ambition. Startup founders figure the investor wants a huge ambitious startup. “Deliver ice cream on demand” is too narrow, and anyway its just what they do now. In the future they’ll deliver all frozen food, then food, then other stuff, and then they’ll expand to moving stuff around for companies... really, they solve motion problems. So you get a tag line about solving motion problems, or mobility solutions and inventory solutions and of course that means financing, and finally you see a video and notice all the examples involve ice cream.

janellehmtam 6y ago
Right - it's why we suggest founders start with a one-liner that describes what they do right now, that's clear enough that investors have a concrete picture of it in their heads. Once they've established that foundation, they can cast the vision / make the argument of what $B company that foundation allows them to build towards.