My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Lead With Credibility Rule
When you have meaningful accomplishments, put them as slide 2 to establish that you're worth listening to before diving into your business details.
How It Works
Investors make quick judgments about whether to pay attention. Credibility signals (bestselling books, previous exits, domain expertise, impressive metrics) create immediate respect and attention.
Components
Identify your strongest credibility signal
Frame it in terms investors will recognize
Use humble brag tone: 'we literally wrote the book on X'
Include recognizable imagery or logos
Connect credibility to the problem you're solving
When to Use
When you or your co-founders have recognizable achievements like bestselling books, previous company exits, domain expertise, or impressive early metrics with current company.
When Not to Use
If you don't have meaningful credibility indicators, skip this slide entirely. Never lead with weak accomplishments or make up credentials.
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Example
“Sleep app founders lead with 'we literally wrote the book on sleep' featuring Matthew Walker's bestselling 'Why We Sleep' plus AI researcher who built $500M business unit at Accenture, immediately establishing they're not typical app builders.”
Related Knowledge
Create a problem slide that makes investors immediately understand the scale and urgency of what you're solving
Investor reads your problem slide and thinks 'wow, this affects way more people than I realized and I can see why they c
Clearly communicate your competitive advantage in a way investors immediately understand
Investor finishes reading and thinks 'ah, I see exactly how this is different and why that difference matters'
solution_first_pitching
The Investor Pitch Narrative Arc
A 16-slide sequence that builds investor confidence by answering their core questions in logical order: Are you credible?
Save Good News for the End
Take 15% of your good news and hold it back until the final slides to create a positive lasting impression and additional momentum.
Anchor Your Vision to Recognized Winners
Position your company as 'we're doing what [successful company] did for [known market] but for [your bigger market]' to help investors quickly understand the opportunity size.