How to Write a Problem Slide That Makes VCs Lean Forward (With Examples)
Last Updated: February 2026
In the years I spent on the VC side of the table, the slide that quietly killed the most fundraises wasn’t the traction slide or the competition slide.
It was the problem slide.
Not because founders forgot it. Almost everyone has one. It failed because it didn’t make me feel anything. And if I don’t feel the problem by slide 2 or 3, I’m not sticking around long enough to admire your solution.
VCs don’t fund solutions in the abstract. We fund acute, expensive problems in markets big enough to produce venture-scale outcomes—especially when today’s “solutions” are really just workarounds.
This post shows you how to write a problem slide that creates that lean forward moment: what makes a problem investable, how to make it visceral, and a few before/after examples you can model.
TL;DR: A VC-credible problem slide has 5 parts
One-line problem (specific customer, specific pain)
Proof the pain is real (quote / stat / observed behavior)
Why now (trend making it worse)
Why current solutions fail (gap)
What it costs (time/money/risk)
Why the problem slide matters more than founders think
VCs are validating the problem, not judging your first solution
At early stage, your product will change. Your roadmap will change. Your packaging might change three times before Series A.
But the problem is the foundation. When I read a deck, I’m asking:
Is this problem real, or just an inconvenience dressed up as a crisis?
Is it painful enough that someone will pay to make it stop?
Is it big enough to support a $100M+ outcome?
The problem slide is where you answer those questions—fast—or you lose the room.
The “feeling” test most problem slides fail
A common founder sentence is: “SMBs struggle with cash flow management.”
I understand it intellectually. I don’t feel it.
Compare that to: “Small business owners spend nights doing payroll math in their heads because three customers are 60 days late—and payroll hits Friday.”
That creates a mental movie. Feeling creates conviction. And conviction is what gets meetings and term sheets.
What makes a problem investable? A quick four-part test
Not every problem is venture backable. Before you write your problem slide, evaluate your problem against these four criteria.
1) Is it urgent, or merely annoying?
If the pain doesn’t force action, buying will be slow and churn will be high. “Would be nice” problems rarely become venture outcomes.
Rewrite: What is the moment when this becomes non-optional?
2) Does it happen often?
Daily or weekly pain creates habit and willingness to pay. Annual pain tends to create “we’ll deal with it later.”
Rewrite: How often does your buyer experience this pain in a normal week?
3) Is it expensive to ignore?
Great problems have a clear cost: revenue lost, time wasted, fines, churn, risk. If you can’t quantify it, investors assume it’s small.
Rewrite: What does this cost per customer per month (money, hours, missed deals, risk)?
4) Is it getting worse?
Investors love “why now.” A timing trigger makes the problem feel inevitable instead of optional.
Rewrite: What trend makes this problem more painful this year than last year?
How to make the problem feel real (five moves that work)
Here are the specific techniques that transform abstract problem statements into visceral ones.
Start with a specific scenario, not a category
Weak: “Healthcare administrators struggle with scheduling.”
Stronger: “When a patient cancels at 2pm, the front desk has 45 minutes to fill the slot—or lose the revenue. They’re juggling check-ins, phones, and a waitlist that lives on paper.”
The scenario creates a mental movie. The reader can picture the harried front desk person, the ringing phone, the paper list. That imagery creates emotional resonance.
Use one sharp number (and show the source)
Numbers are credibility accelerants. But only if they’re specific and defensible.
Weak: “Late payments hurt businesses.”
Stronger: “The average SMB spends ~X hours/month chasing invoices (source).”
If you don’t have a credible source yet, don’t invent a number. Use customer discovery instead (next section).
Let customers say it for you
A short quote can do what five bullets can’t. It signals you’ve done real discovery.
Example pattern:
“In interviews with [N] [role], we kept hearing: ‘[quote].’”
Then add one concrete consequence: “Last week, that meant [lost revenue / missed shift / churn / delay].”
Customer voices add authenticity that your own words can't match. They also demonstrate that you've done real customer discovery.
Name the workaround people hate
Show how the problem is “solved” today—and why it fails.
Example pattern:
“Today teams rely on [spreadsheet + Slack + manual step].”
“It breaks when [scale/complexity increases].”
“The result is [incident/churn/delay].”
This shows you understand both the problem and the landscape and sets up your solution as the answer to a genuine gap.
Bridge to the market math (without getting fluffy)
A great problem slide connects the individual pain to the market-wide impact.
Example pattern:
“One missed appointment costs ~$X.”
“That happens ~Y times/week per business.”
“Across Z businesses, that’s a $___ problem.”
The progression from individual cost to market size makes the investment case while keeping the problem tangible.
What a great problem slide looks like (before/after)
Example 1: B2B recruiting
Before: “Recruiting is broken…”
After: “Hiring managers spend ~X hours/week screening unqualified applicants… [survey/source]. Meanwhile, the majority of qualified candidates are passive and never see postings.”
Why it works: it’s specific, quantified, and shows the gap.
Example 2: Consumer fintech
Before: “Young professionals struggle to manage finances…”
After: “Under-35 users carry $X in debt and have $Y in savings (source). Most apps get abandoned because they require Z minutes of weekly manual input.”
Why it works: it names the pain, the proof, and why current tools fail.
Common problem slide mistakes (and fixes)
Mistake 1: The Solution in Disguise
Many founders write their problem slide as: 'Companies need a better way to...' This is actually a solution statement, not a problem statement. The problem is the pain; the solution is the relief.
Wrong: 'Restaurants need a better way to manage reservations.'
Right: 'Restaurants turn away 30% of potential diners due to no-shows, inefficient seating, and overconservative booking policies.'
Mistake 2: The Too-Broad Problem
'Climate change is an existential threat' is true but useless for a pitch deck. Your problem needs to be specific enough that a single startup can address it.
Wrong: 'Businesses generate too much waste.'
Right: 'US restaurants throw away 84 billion pounds of food annually, representing $25B in wasted inventory and the single largest contributor to commercial landfill volume.'
Mistake 3: The Founder-Only Problem
You personally experienced this problem, so you assume everyone does. But personal experience isn't market validation.
Before including your problem in a deck, validate that: at least 50 potential customers have confirmed the problem, they've indicated willingness to pay to solve it, and the problem isn't unique to your specific situation.
Mistake 4: The Feature List
Some problem slides list multiple small problems instead of one big one. This fragments attention and suggests you're not sure which problem is most important.
Pick your single biggest, most painful problem. Own it completely. If you have adjacent problems, they can come later, after you've established the core.
The problem slide framework
Here's the framework I recommend for writing your problem slide.
One sentence problem (specific customer + specific pain)
Quantify the pain (money/time/risk)
Why now (trend making it worse)
Why current solutions fail (gap in the market)
Size the impact (simple readable math)
The entire slide should be readable in 30 seconds. Use visuals where they add impact, like an icon, a chart, a quote callout. But never sacrifice clarity for design.
Test your problem slide before you send your deck
Before your deck goes to investors, test your problem slide with these three audiences.
Test 1: Potential Customers
Show the problem slide to 5-10 people who fit your target customer profile. Ask: 'Does this describe a real problem you have? How would you describe it differently?' If they don't immediately recognize themselves in the problem, you need to rewrite.
Test 2: Industry Outsiders
Show the slide to someone who knows nothing about your industry. Ask: 'Do you understand what the problem is? Does it seem important?' If they're confused, your explanation isn't clear enough.
Test 3: The Ten-Second Test
Show someone the slide for exactly ten seconds, then hide it. Ask: 'What problem did you just read about?' If they can't articulate it clearly, the slide isn't working.
Not sure if your problem slide hits hard enough?
If you want markup on your problem slide (and the rest of your deck), book a 1:1 Narrative Lock Sprint here: www.decktovc.com/services
KEY TAKEAWAYS
✓ VCs fund problems, not solutions—if they don't believe in your problem by slide 2, nothing else matters.
✓ Great problem slides make VCs feel the pain through specific scenarios, surprising statistics, and customer voices.
✓ Test your problem against four criteria: Is it acute, frequent, expensive to ignore, and growing?
✓ The most common mistake is writing a 'solution in disguise' instead of describing the actual pain.
✓ Test your problem slide with customers, outsiders, and the 10-second test before sending to investors.
Next steps:
Run the Pitch Deck Checklist
Read the full VC Pitch Deck Guide
Join the VC Ready Workshop
Book a 1:1 Narrative Lock Sprint
