Early-stage entrepreneurs iteratively revise problem statements (PS) in their pitch decks to persuade audiences of the value of their solution. This study examines how startups seeking funding within an accelerator program revise their PS during training. We analyzed initial and final versions of 66 pitch decks startups produced in Startup Chile in 2017–2018. A quantitative analysis showed that versions changed in their components and media choices, including increased references to existing solutions as well as more statistical evidence. A qualitative content analysis of three specific deck pairs showed that relationships across these edits sometimes impaired the argument coherence of the pitch, specifically the proposed problem–solution fit. We conclude with implications for entrepreneurship education programs.

In this study, university students are faced with the task of collaboratively writing an argumentative synthesis from multiple sources. Specifically, in writing, they must integrate conflicting information on a particular issue obtained from reading two texts that present different perspectives. As research in this field has shown, university students’ transactional beliefs about writing have a bearing on the quality of the texts that they write. In addition, studies on collaborative learning have demonstrated the role of constructive strategies in addressing controversy. Constructive strategies require an epistemic approach, which implies understanding and integrating opposing positions and rationales. Therefore, the specific aims of the study are to analyze the relationships between the following: (a) writing beliefs and the joint written synthesis, b) writing beliefs and the strategies used to address the controversies that emerge during collaborative writing, and (c) how students resolve controversies and the quality of their joint syntheses. The participants were 52 fourth-year psychology students at a state-run university in Madrid. The results show that transactional writing beliefs are associated with both the controversy strategies employed by members of student dyads and the quality of the joint syntheses. Furthermore, the strategies for addressing controversy are associated with the quality of the joint syntheses.