Examples: Good vs Bad Problem & Solution Slides (VC Analysis)

Introduction

Most founders misunderstand why investors look at examples.
VCs don’t study examples to copy layouts — they study them to recognize judgment patterns.

This breakdown analyzes real-world problem and solution slide patterns through the lens of the Problem & Solution framework used by investors.

What follows is not “inspiration.”
It’s pattern recognition — the same mental shortcuts investors use under time pressure.

Section 1: Why VCs Learn More From Bad Slides Than Good Ones

Hook
Great slides impress. Bad slides reveal truth.

Strategic insight
VCs remember bad slides longer because they expose how a founder thinks, not what they designed.

Investor psychology
A weak slide signals:

• Poor problem discovery

• Shallow customer contact

• Overconfidence without evidence

These patterns repeat across failed companies.

Founder application
Study bad examples deliberately. Ask why they fail investor tests.

Tactical framework
When reviewing any slide, ask:

1. What assumption is being made?

2. Is it tested or asserted?

3. Would this survive partner scrutiny?

Example
A slide saying “The market is broken” without specificity tells an investor: “This founder hasn’t done the work.”

Section 2: Bad Problem Slide Pattern #1 — “Everyone Has This Problem”

Hook
If everyone has the problem, no one urgently solves it.

Strategic insight
Broad problems fail because they lack economic pain concentration.

Investor psychology
VCs know real problems cluster in:

• Specific roles

• Specific workflows

• Specific moments

Vagueness suggests weak customer discovery.

Founder application
Narrow the problem until it excludes most people.

Tactical framework
Replace:

“Small businesses struggle with X”

With:

“Finance leads at 50–200 employee SaaS companies lose X hours weekly due to Y constraint”

Example
Bad: “Hiring is broken.”
Good: “Engineering managers at Series A startups lose 6–8 weeks per hire due to fragmented screening.”

Section 3: Bad Problem Slide Pattern #2 — The “Stat Dump”

Hook
Statistics don’t create conviction — interpretation does.

Strategic insight
Slides overloaded with stats shift cognitive work to the investor.

Investor psychology
VCs subconsciously penalize founders who make them work to understand the point.

Founder application
Use data to support a claim, not replace one.

Tactical framework

• One insight per slide

• One metric that proves it

• One sentence explaining why it matters

Example
Bad: Five unrelated market stats.
Good: One metric showing frequency × cost × urgency.

Section 4: Bad Solution Slide Pattern #1 — Feature Overload

Hook
Features don’t signal value. Outcomes do.

Strategic insight
A feature-heavy solution slide hides uncertainty about what actually matters.

Investor psychology
VCs see feature lists as defensive behavior — founders trying to look complete instead of correct.

Founder application
Identify the one outcome your solution unlocks better than alternatives.

Tactical framework
Solution slide should answer:

• What changes for the user?

• Why now?

• Why this approach?

Example
Bad: “AI dashboard, analytics, integrations, automation…”
Good: “Reduces weekly reconciliation time from 6 hours to 30 minutes.”

Section 5: Bad Solution Slide Pattern #2 — Overclaiming Capability

Hook
The fastest way to lose trust is claiming inevitability.

Strategic insight
Overclaiming triggers skepticism, not excitement.

Investor psychology
VCs are trained to discount claims by default. Overconfident language accelerates that discount.

Founder application
Use measured confidence, not certainty.

Tactical framework
Replace:

• “Revolutionizes”

• “Eliminates”

• “Guaranteed”

With:

• “Enables”

• “Reduces”

• “Improves under X conditions”

Example
Bad: “We solve churn permanently.”
Good: “We reduce churn in onboarding-driven drop-offs.”

Section 6: Good Problem Slide Pattern — Specific Pain, Visible Urgency

Hook
Good problem slides feel uncomfortable — intentionally.

Strategic insight
Strong slides surface a pain investors recognize as costly and unavoidable.

Investor psychology
Urgency signals timing. Specificity signals insight.

Founder application
Expose friction founders are often afraid to name.

Tactical framework
A good problem slide includes:

• Who feels it

• When it occurs

• What it costs

• Why it persists

Example
“Sales teams lose 18% of pipeline value due to handoff errors between CRM and billing systems.”

Section 7: Good Solution Slide Pattern — Mechanism Over Magic

Hook
Investors fund mechanisms, not promises.

Strategic insight
A credible solution explains how value is created, not just that it exists.

Investor psychology
VCs ask internally: “Could this reasonably work?”

Founder application
Explain the logic chain without exposing IP.

Tactical framework
Use a simple flow:
Input → Process → Output → Outcome

Example
Data ingestion → normalization → automated alerts → fewer compliance errors.

Section 8: The Problem–Solution Fit Test VCs Apply Instantly

Hook
If the solution doesn’t directly relieve the problem, the deck collapses.

Strategic insight
VCs test coherence more than creativity.

Investor psychology
Disconnected slides indicate founder storytelling, not market truth.

Founder application
Trace a straight line from pain to relief.

Tactical framework
Ask:

• If the problem vanished, would this solution still matter?

• If the solution existed, would this problem disappear?

Example
A productivity tool pitched to solve “burnout” fails this test.

Section 9: Comparative Example — Same Market, Two Outcomes

Hook
Two decks. Same market. Different fate.

Strategic insight
The difference is framing, not intelligence.

Investor psychology
VCs back founders who understand the problem better, not those who pitch louder.

Founder application
Rewrite slides as if an investor had to defend them to partners.

Tactical framework
Good deck:

• Narrow problem

• Measured solution

• Clear mechanism

Bad deck:

• Broad pain

• Grand solution

• Unclear execution

Section 10: How Founders Should Use Examples Without Copying

Hook
Copying examples copies context — and that’s dangerous.

Strategic insight
Examples are diagnostic tools, not templates.

Investor psychology
VCs spot copied logic instantly.

Founder application
Extract principles, not structure.

Tactical framework
From each example, ask:

• What judgment is being demonstrated?

• What assumption is being avoided?

Synthesis: What Investors Really Learn From Your Slides

VCs don’t judge slides aesthetically.
They judge how you think under constraint.

Good problem and solution slides reveal:

• Market understanding

• Intellectual honesty

• Founder maturity

Bad ones reveal everything else.

FAQ

Do VCs prefer short or detailed problem slides?
Short — if they’re precise. Length doesn’t equal clarity.

Can a strong solution slide compensate for a weak problem slide?
No. Weak problems kill deals faster than weak solutions.

Should founders show multiple examples in one deck?
No. One strong, defensible framing beats many diluted ones.

Are example-heavy decks risky?
Only when they replace original insight.