The process behind the problem: How to find your company’s purpose

When it comes to pitch decks, there are so many templates and approaches that give the “right” direction on how to prepare your investor presentation.
On the whole, I’m not a big fan of templates. I think that every founder and every company has a unique story to tell — and that story should not be dictated by a template.
But there is one template that offers a different approach and that’s the Sequoia Capital 10-slide deck.
The one unique thing about it is that Sequoia Capital suggests starting the presentation with the company purpose.
Company purpose? Is that the same thing as the market problem the company is trying to solve? The answer is no.
Most founders are struggling to define their purpose. The problem is easy. The solution is easy because they came up with it. But what’s the purpose?

Get to the root of the problem

To find your company purpose, ask yourself this: what’s the process that’s driving the problem I’m trying to solve?
The process drives the purpose.
Think about it, the market problem you’re trying to solve didn’t come out of thin air. Something is creating that problem.
The problem and solution is how you monetize the existing process. The purpose is to eliminate the process that is creating the problem.
Here’s an interesting story to shed light on this.
When Uber presented their first ever pitch deck, the company stated the following: “We are here to digitize car hailing and make street hailing unnecessary.”
Let’s break that down:
- The market problem — people are tired of battling the streets for a cab, the medallion system is driving low quality service, and non-taxi car services need to be booked three hours in advance.
- The solution — an app-based two-way communication channel that brings the driver and passenger together to secure a ride at a desired time.
Notice how their purpose is not so different to their market problem?
So, when preparing your investor deck, I strongly suggest that you define your purpose clearly.
That will not only drive better presentations, but will also serve as a guide to your company’s mission and vision while driving internal conviction with your teams.

After the purpose is clearly defined, I recommend avoiding following the template of Sequoia Capital. Not to ignore it. But to avoid structuring your presentation in 10 bulky sections as their pitch deck dictates.
The first three slides in their pitch deck are the purpose, the problem, and the solution.
My suggestion, combine all three into a purposeful story.
Deliver a true, real story as to what inspired you to start your company, why you came up with the problem, and how your solution is fixing both the problem and the process.
Creating a purposeful story will not only drive the right connection with your potential investor, it will loop in all three elements into a single delivery, giving greater context and energy to your pitch.