Open ten startup "About" pages and you'll read a version of the same paragraph ten times: founded in [year], based in [city], on a mission to [vague verb] the [industry] space. Then a founder photo, a line about the CEO's dog or their marathon time, and a "meet the team" grid. None of it answers the one question the visitor actually came with: why should I trust these specific people with this specific problem?
An About page, as most startups build it, is written for the founder's ego. A Why Us page is written for the customer's decision. Same real estate on your site. Completely different job.
It's Still About the Customer
The mistake isn't having a page that talks about your team or your background. It's forgetting whose problem the page is supposed to be solving. A Why Us page can absolutely include your story — where the idea came from, what you did before this, why you got obsessed with the problem. That's good material. It just needs to be framed around one question the whole way through: does this piece of our story make the visitor more confident we can solve their problem?
If a detail doesn't answer that question, it belongs on LinkedIn, not on the page that's supposed to be closing a sale.
Quick filter for every sentence on this page: does it build the visitor's confidence in your ability to solve their problem, or does it just make your team look good? Keep the first kind. Cut the second.
What Actually Belongs on a Why Us Page
Your relevant experience, stated plainly. Not "10 years of combined experience" — specific experience that maps directly onto the customer's problem. If you spent five years inside the exact industry you're now selling into, say that, and say why it matters to them: you've seen the problem from the inside, not just read about it.
Your actual differentiation, backed by something concrete. Not "we care more" — everyone claims that. What do you actually do differently because of your background or approach? A specific method, a specific standard, a specific thing you refuse to compromise on that competitors don't bother with.
A little bit of story, used sparingly. One honest paragraph about why you started this is fine, even good — it's proof of conviction. Ten paragraphs about your founding journey is a memoir, and it's in the wrong place.
Where This Page Sits in the Funnel
Treat it as secondary messaging, not primary. Someone doesn't usually land on your Why Us page first — they get there after the homepage has already made them curious enough to ask "okay, but who are these people." That means it doesn't need to re-explain your product from scratch. It needs to close the trust gap the homepage opened.
This is also a good place to weave in specifics that don't fit the homepage's tighter pitch: a longer version of the problem you noticed, a story about an early customer, the thing that convinced you this was worth building. Just keep circling back to the customer's problem, not your journey for its own sake.
The Rewrite Test
Take your current About page and go sentence by sentence. For each one, ask: if I deleted this, would a potential customer trust us less? If the answer is no, delete it. What's left is usually a third of the original length, and it's the part that was actually doing work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I rename the page URL from /about to /why-us?
It's optional — the framing matters more than the URL. Some startups keep the /about path for SEO and familiarity but rewrite the content entirely around the Why Us framing. Either works, as long as the content itself stops reading like a company bio.
Is it okay to include team photos and bios?
Yes, especially for B2B where buyers want to know who they're trusting. Keep individual bios short and relevant to the problem you solve, not a full resume. One sentence on relevant background beats a paragraph of career history.
How do I talk about my team without sounding like I'm bragging?
Let specifics do the work instead of adjectives. 'Our lead engineer built the payments system at [recognizable company]' does more than 'our world-class engineering team.' Facts read as confidence. Adjectives read as insecurity.
What if we're too early to have an impressive team or story yet?
Focus on the founder's direct connection to the problem instead. Being the person who lived the problem and got frustrated enough to fix it is a legitimate credential, even without a big-name resume behind it.
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