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"Great mind thinks alike. Creative minds think differently."
- Saba Karim

Things not to say to an investor

Our numbers are conservative. More likely than not, you're numbers are probably made up - so you're better off admitting that instead. And don't even think about saying you just want 1% of the market. That is the most cliche phrase in the investor world. Do your research and find your total addressable market. Don't go saying, I want 1% of everyone from everywhere.

We have some big contracts lined up. Cool - but until you have pen on paper, anything could go wrong, so don't add maybes to your deal - otherwise you could end up losing the investment if a contract on the table fails.

We're attracting some great names to join our team. Again, until you have them sitting in your office, it's just you and your co-founder so far. So don't make promises you can't keep, especially when you're relying on someone else. People can suck sometimes. 

Other investors are also interested. Now, this may be true, but seriously, investors get haggled all day with deals... so don't make them rush yours based on someone else wanting to buy in. Let them do what they need, and be respectful of their time.

We don't have any competition. That just means you didn't do enough research, ie. Have you heard of Google. Every single day someone pitches me an idea and says we're the only ones doing it, but behold, I'll Google it right there and boom - something comes up. If you're going to win, it's because you do something better, not because you're the only one trying to satisfy that market. So be honest with yourself and spend 2-minutes searching.

We can get the product to market before XYZ corporation. Wrong! If a corporation believes in a product, they could come in and reproduce your two-man operation within 60-days... giving the manpower and budget they have. Instead, figure out ways to partner up with these corporations as a way to avoid being eaten up - or find markets they simply can't or won't satisfy as easily as you could. 


Something to sleep on

Stick to your specialty