To investors, he says, the pitch focuses on the size of the opportunity and why you think you can build a great company from this. To customers, the focus is what you can do for them and to potential partners, it's a combination of the two. Inc., a charter customer. Here's what we're building, here's why we think it's important to you, here's why we think we can do it well. Yes, they're useful as shorthand, but they also make you sound like everybody else when your pitch should be explaining why you're different and better.
Loose lips sink ships.
Know whom you're talking to. So you call him and he says he has time this afternoon. It sounds like a bonehead thing to do, but you can do it so easily. Whether it's a presentation, a conference or a cocktail party, there's always some schmoozing time built in. MIT's Mr. Morse recommends working cocktail parties in teams, with people to find investors who are interested in your business and funnel them to the CEO, who will be in plain view, but slightly out of the traffic, so his pitch won't be interrupted.