Pitch Components
Team

Show why this team has a real advantage in solving this problem.

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What it is

In a spoken pitch, the team section explains why your founding team has a real advantage in solving this problem. Investors at seed stage often back the team as much as the idea. Michael Seibel advises founders to focus on the facts that matter: founder count, technical depth, how long the team has worked together, full-time commitment, and relevant experience. The best spoken team sections answer one question: why is this the team that can win? Specific accomplishments beat generic credentials.

Before & after

Before

“Our team has 30 years of combined experience across leading technology companies and top-tier universities.”

After

“Two co-founders, both technical, working together for 4 years. I built the fraud detection system at Square that processes $50B/year. My co-founder led the ML team at Datadog. We've been full-time on this since January.”

When you’ll use it

Presenting the team slide in a pitch deck or demo day

Answering 'Why are you the right team for this?' from an investor

Writing founder bios for an accelerator application

Introducing your co-founders at a networking event

Explaining team composition in a cold outreach email to investors

Pro tip

Lead with relevant proof, not prestige. In speech, specifics land harder than resumes.

Questions & answers

2 questions

What if I'm a solo founder?

Acknowledge it directly. Explain why you're capable of building this alone for now, what roles yo...

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How do I present a team with no big-name credentials?

Focus on what you've accomplished, not where you came from. Domain expertise, customer obsession,...

Read full answer →

Learn more

Y Combinator - How to Pitch Your Company
Sequoia Capital Pitch Deck Template

Practice sessions

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Audio examples

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Audio Examples

Listen to clear demonstrations of team with before/after examples and guided explanations.

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