Replace a category label with a customer situation
Consider a spare-parts sourcing product being pitched to investors. Its draft problem slide says “Procurement is inefficient”, supported by “Manual processes”, “Poor visibility” and “Lost time”. The reader cannot yet identify the buyer, the task or the missing information.
The revision follows a maintenance buyer after a machine has stopped. The required part has been identified, but stock availability across approved suppliers is not visible in one place. The buyer calls suppliers in turn, while the repair slot remains unconfirmed. The slide now explains the particular difficulty the proposed product would address.
Sequoia’s business-plan guidance asks founders to explain the customer’s difficulty, the way it is handled today and the shortcomings of that approach. The edit below applies that principle to one purchasing situation rather than making a claim about the whole procurement industry.
From a broad complaint to a specific buying situation
Procurement is inefficient
Manual processes · Poor visibility · Lost time
Maintenance buyers call suppliers one by one to find an available replacement part
- KnownRequired part identified
- Current workaroundBuyer calls approved suppliers
- Still unresolvedRepair slot unconfirmed
Missing information: stock availability across approved suppliers.
Show why the current workaround falls short
“They use phone calls” is not enough to establish a problem. A call may be a perfectly useful way to confirm a specialist part. Explain what is difficult about the current approach for this customer in this situation.
In the example, the issue is checking availability supplier by supplier while a repair slot is still open. The buyer knows the required part; the uncertainty concerns where it is available. Keeping that distinction visible makes the proposed problem narrower and easier to investigate.
Stay with the consequence you can support. An unconfirmed repair slot does not, by itself, establish a particular financial loss, a delay of a certain length or a claim that every call is wasted. Add those measures only when you have evidence and a clear definition.
Keep the problem separate from your preferred solution
A headline such as “Buyers lack an AI-powered sourcing platform” describes the product you want to sell. It does not explain why the customer needs to change. The problem should remain understandable if you remove your product name and proposed features.
The revised slide leaves the solution open. Better availability information, a supplier arrangement or a different buying process could all be relevant responses. Your following slide can explain the approach you propose and why it fits this situation.
This is also a useful scope check. If the product helps locate stock but does not manage part identification or repair scheduling, avoid drawing it as though it solves the entire maintenance process.
Replace the teaching example with customer evidence
The worked slide is a writing exercise. Before using this kind of claim in a real pitch, establish whether the intended buyers encounter the situation and whether it matters enough to change their behaviour.
Use a specific recent account of the work: what triggered the search, which suppliers were checked, what information was missing and what happened next. Where you have permission to use customer research, state its scope and date. Describe the observed pattern without implying it applies to every business in the market.
If the situation is still a hypothesis, say so and identify what you need to learn. Do not turn invented dialogue into a customer quote or add a downtime estimate to make the slide look researched. A clear problem statement helps frame the investigation; it does not replace it.
Send me your problem slide and the customer situation behind it.
Sources and technical guidance
- Sequoia Capital — Writing a Business Plan ↗ · Published