Let's deal with that, which is better not tell the investor at the meeting.
1. “Business plans for newbies”. Some startups think for some reason, that they don't need a business plan, and they prefer to think about their business “only in the context of the business model according to the Osterwalder scheme”. This, certainly, Okay, however, first of all, you need a business plan for your understanding of what you are doing and what indicators you expect to achieve after a certain time.
2. “We will make a product, and users will come by themselves”. Yes, the Dropbox effect leaves no one indifferent. But this is rather an exception., than the rule. In most cases, viral marketing starts working then, when the company already has a successful operating history and has spent a significant amount of money on marketing.
3. “We have no competitors”. This is a favorite phrase of most startups., even if their service differs from the original of the entire target group. It's still pretty good, many just don't try to do a little research on their competitors, dripping a little deeper, than Crunchbase or search Google. In addition, for an investor, the absence of competitors means the absence of a market..
4. “We have more functions, than anyone else”. Even if you have included all the functions from Facebook in your product, Twitter, Pinterest doesn't make you better than them. In practice, it turns out the other way around – the less function you have, the more obvious is the purpose of your service existence.
5. “Microsoft / Facebook is too big and slow, to be a threat to us”. Usually big companies do not pose a threat there, where the markets are very small. In other situations, it is extremely difficult to compete with huge corporations..
6. “We have the first mover advantage”. If you do not have a name on the market and protected intellectual property – Forget about it.
7. “We are not ready to risk our money”. This is the wrong approach – the investor would like to see people, who themselves are at risk, and do not just want to live on a salary from an investment.
8. “We received funding, now you can relax”. This applies primarily to those, who considers investments as the main goal of the business. However, attracting money begins a really difficult and responsible stage of the company's development., when should founders show investors, that they were not in vain invested in their startup.
9. “My product – very cool thing”. If you love so much, what did they think up and do, it doesn’t mean yet, that the whole world will love it. This applies primarily to those, who develops first “ingenious” technological solution, and then will come up with a problem, which this decision will decide. This is fundamentally the wrong approach..
10. “I will be the CEO, chairman of the board of directors and many others”. As a project founder, you must clearly define your role in the project. – pulling on the blanket is not worth it, it is necessary to delimit areas of responsibility and assign people, competent in their field.
