Gary Edwards's personal annotations on this page
Garyedwards bookmarked
on 2009-11-04
(Editor’s note: Jason Cohen is founder of Smart Bear Software. He contributed this column to VentureBeat.)I’ve started three companies, and now I’m an angel investor. So I’ve been on both sides of the table.
There are lots of good articles out there about pitching, and surely everyone who pitches me has read some of them. Still, a few problems appear over and over again. If you’ve ever had to sort through resumes and cover letters, you’ve seen this effect: People tend to have the same misconceptions and therefore make the same mistakes.
What follows are four problems I see all the time, each of which makes me roll my eyes and sometimes even terminate the conversation early:
... Be dismissive of the competition. (Don't!!)
..... Have five-year projections. (Forget it!)
..... Gloss over your strategy for customer acquisition. (Don't!, this is important)
....... Do what you think you “should” do instead of what feels right. (Stick with your gut!)
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(Editor’s note: Jason Cohen is founder of Smart Bear Software. He contributed this column to VentureBeat.)
I’ve started three companies, and now I’m an angel investor. So I’ve been on both sides of the table.
-
Be dismissive of the competition.
-
Have five-year projections.
-
Gloss over your strategy for customer acquisition.
-
Do what you think you “should” do instead of what feels right.
This link has been bookmarked by 11 people . It was first bookmarked on 04 Nov 2009, by Navin Parray.
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Terry McCallWhat follows are four problems I see all the time, each of which makes me roll my eyes and sometimes even terminate the conversation early.
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Gary Edwards
(Editor’s note: Jason Cohen is founder of Smart Bear Software. He contributed this column to VentureBeat.)I’ve started three companies, and now I’m an angel investor. So I’ve been on both sides of the table.
There are lots of good articles out there about pitching, and surely everyone who pitches me has read some of them. Still, a few problems appear over and over again. If you’ve ever had to sort through resumes and cover letters, you’ve seen this effect: People tend to have the same misconceptions and therefore make the same mistakes.
What follows are four problems I see all the time, each of which makes me roll my eyes and sometimes even terminate the conversation early:
... Be dismissive of the competition. (Don't!!)
..... Have five-year projections. (Forget it!)
..... Gloss over your strategy for customer acquisition. (Don't!, this is important)
....... Do what you think you “should” do instead of what feels right. (Stick with your gut!)-
(Editor’s note: Jason Cohen is founder of Smart Bear Software. He contributed this column to VentureBeat.)
I’ve started three companies, and now I’m an angel investor. So I’ve been on both sides of the table.
-
Be dismissive of the competition.
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