How to describe your startup using the least amount of words.

I think at this point, we all have "X for Y" fatigue (DoorDash for plants, etc.) As of late, I've found multiple parody sites ridiculing startup analogies. I stumbled upon this one a few days ago: https://nomarketneed.com/x4y/.

Here are some "out of the box" ideas it generated:

YC for barbers.

Ryanair for disneyland.

YouTube for Cats.

My point is, using analogies isn't the best possible way to pitch your startup. They don't paint a clear picture of what you do and why we should care.

My ex-boss introduced me to a template you can leverage to describe any company in the fewest words possible. Here's what it looks like:

We are A for B. We help C achieve D through E.

Where,

• A & B = Product category. B is optional. If you're in a well-defined product category, you don't need B. For example, "Salesforce is a CRM" vs "Airbnb is a marketplace for short-term rentals."

• C = Target customer. Who's the audience you're going after?

• D = The job that you do for your customer.

• E = Your unique selling point; what makes you special?

Here are some examples:

Airbnb: We are an online marketplace [A] for short-term rentals [B]. We help travellers [C] find places to stay for cheap [D] by allowing homeowners to rent out vacant rooms and properties [E].

Slack: We are a team communications app [A]. We help companies of all sizes and shapes [C] boost their productivity [D] by managing all their communications from a single place[E].

TunnelBear VPN: We offer a Virtual Private Network [A]. We empower privacy-conscious, non-tech-savvy users [C] to get up and running with a VPN [D] by providing them with an uncomplicated UI with no bells and whistles [E].

What's your preferred template?