Comments on: Who are you? What do you do? http://onticoren.com/2008/04/10/who-are-you-what-do-you-do/ Enough virtual, it's time for something real by Oren Teich. Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:28:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Sean Murphy http://onticoren.com/2008/04/10/who-are-you-what-do-you-do/comment-page-1/#comment-71 Sean Murphy Wed, 21 May 2008 22:58:09 +0000 http://onticoren.com/?p=61#comment-71 Since you are a startup you should focus on what makes you trustworthy and dependable. The biggest question in a prospect's mind is how will you perform when things go wrong. I think too many startup teams stress how smart they are or how many merit badges they have accumulated (degrees, certificates) or almost accumulated (e.g. coursework towards doctorate but no doctorate) instead of projects that they have delivered and value they have created for former partners, customers, etc.. It's a mistake to recycle anything from your investor presentation (fund-raising pitch) into your presentation for prospects. It's two fundamentally different audiences with very different needs and distinct questions about your team and your offering. Steve Blank's "Four Steps to the Epiphany" is a good guide for strategies in the early market. If you are thinking about including your corporate backgrounder in your demo or presentation...don't, or at least put it at the end after you have demonstrated something directly relevant to the prospect's situation. They may be interested in learning more about you at that point, or they may want to discuss how to get started. See Peter Cohan's "Great Demo!" book for a good methodology. Since you are a startup you should focus on what makes you trustworthy and dependable. The biggest question in a prospect’s mind is how will you perform when things go wrong. I think too many startup teams stress how smart they are or how many merit badges they have accumulated (degrees, certificates) or almost accumulated (e.g. coursework towards doctorate but no doctorate) instead of projects that they have delivered and value they have created for former partners, customers, etc..

It’s a mistake to recycle anything from your investor presentation (fund-raising pitch) into your presentation for prospects. It’s two fundamentally different audiences with very different needs and distinct questions about your team and your offering. Steve Blank’s “Four Steps to the Epiphany” is a good guide for strategies in the early market.

If you are thinking about including your corporate backgrounder in your demo or presentation…don’t, or at least put it at the end after you have demonstrated something directly relevant to the prospect’s situation. They may be interested in learning more about you at that point, or they may want to discuss how to get started. See Peter Cohan’s “Great Demo!” book for a good methodology.

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