How to actually show VCs your team is the right for the problem
I recently talked to a founder who showed me a team slide that I really liked.
No logos. No corporate job titles. No “30+ years of combined experience” nonsense.
Instead, they broke down how each person on their team connects directly to the problem they’re solving.
- One literally rebuilt a seat because he couldn’t sleep on any existing ones.
- One built a successful DTC brand and now leads customer-facing strategy.
- One has raised over €70M across different business models.
- Another knows how to handle traveler complaints before they even happen.
Not a single line about “passion” or vague claims of “operational excellence.”
Just real signals of relevance and obsession.
Why this works
Too many decks rely on buzzwords to make the team seem credible. The problem? Investors have seen it a hundred times.
Telling me your team is “experienced” is background noise.
Showing me how that experience directly maps to the problem you’re solving? Different story.
It signals three things immediately:
- You understand the problem deeply.
- Your team is not generic but assembled for this specific challenge.
- You’re not making it up as you go: you’ve been close to the pain point for a while.
How to build a team slide that actually means something
Drop the long CVs. Start here:
- What has each person done that ties to the problem?
- What do they know that most people don’t?
- What’s the specific edge they bring to this company - not just any company?
If the answer is “worked in the industry” - dig deeper. Why does that matter? What did they see, break, fix, or build?
If you’re updating your deck
This doesn’t take more space. It just takes better thinking. A clear team slide isn’t about where people have been. It’s about why this group of people is the one that might actually pull it off.
And no, “30+ years of experience” still isn’t a strategy.
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