Solution Slide
Learn how to build a winning solution slide for your pitch deck with this step-by-step guide.
Pitch Deck Guide
Pitch Deck Slide Explanation
What’s the purpose of a solution slide?
After you have successfully explained the problem that your company is solving, it’s time to talk about the solution. Whereas the problem slide lists key pain points, the solution slide should address how your company will address these issues.
An effective product slide should answer a few important questions:
- What is the solution or product?
- What are the benefits of this solution?
- How is your solution different and better than competitors & incumbents?
A picture is worth a thousand words and this slide is the perfect opportunity to show (rather than tell) investors your value proposition:
If you’re pitching a digital product, consider including a demo, website, mockups, illustrations, videos, or anything that will show the working of the product. The same can work with physical products, if you can’t bring a sample with you.
To attach some sentimental value, you can include some back story as to how you came up with the solution. For instance, early investors in Uber could easily relate to the struggles of hailing a taxicab. However, your product slide should be simple, short, and fun: investors won’t have time to sit through an hour-long video, and don’t need an exhaustive list of the technical feature set.
If there’s an established company or success story with a similar product / trying to solve a similar problem, drawing comparisons with charts or graphics can lend further credibility to your product. Sometimes it can be beneficial to separate the solution from the product side, in order to give more attention to the value proposition.
Use our proven pitch deck template, crafted by the pros.
Instructions
How to create a solution slide for your pitch deck
Follow along with this brief guide for what you should include in your pitch deck’s solution slide:
1. Content of the solution slide
- 1-2 sentence solution description
- Shortlist of key product features
- Product/application mockups or screenshots
- Flowcharts & diagrams for “How it works”
2. Questions the solution slide should address
- How does your product/service solve the pain points?
- How does your solution work?
- What does the solution look like?
- Why would customers prefer your solution?
3. Common solution slide blunders
- Spending too much time on features (rather than benefits & the opportunity)
- Embedding a long video or live demo (your audience will lose interest)
- Failing to explain the solution in the eyes of the end-user
- Getting too technical (ie. complicated infrastructure diagrams)
4. Design tips for solution slides
- Use no more than <250 characters text
- Choose clear, readable fonts and colors
- Keep it concise & to-the-point (see Guy Kawasaki‘s 10/20/30 rule)
- Draw the eye with high-quality product photos and contextually relevant imagery
- Focus on benefits & opportunity over features & technical details
Inspiration from the experts
Example pitch deck product slides from Airbnb, Snapchat, & more
The best solution slides offer a comprehensive overview of the product: from how it looks & feels, to how it works. This slide is a great place to present your USP (Unique Selling Point) to potential investors.
Most solution slides focus around a brief one-sentence statement that describes the product or service and a few images illustrating how it works. Below are some examples of winning solution slides from pitch decks for household names like Airbnb, Uber, and Sequoia Capital:
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