“I’d like you to invest in my product…… want to see a demo?”
“I’m looking for an investor. Let me show you my demo?”
Demo, Demo, Demo.
Look I know you’ve spent a ton of time, studying the market, understanding your competition, gathering user input, coding, and building the perfect system. But you know what? Take a memo….. I don’t give a crap about your demo!
I don’t want to be your subject matter expert. I don’t want to be down in your weeds. I have weeds of my own.
The time to show me a demo is when I say, “Hey, you know what? I’d like to see a friggin demonstration!” Otherwise, I’m really not interested. It’s a waste of our time.
I am not in your market, I don’t know your users. I’m not a coder. I’m a business guy. When I invested in startups (something I haven’t done in a decade and won’t be doing again soon, so forget about asking), I invest in entrepreneurs and business cases. I’m a business strategy coach. Sometimes it’s appropriate to look under the hood. When I’m ready for you to prove that you have a product that works, when I want to see your engine, I’ll let you know.
Now there are times that a demo is important. There is a time when seeing is believing. Put on your headphones and look at this video.
Not Just Surround, but 3D sound rendered on standard headphones.
Did you hear that? That’s a demo where the image and sound speak louder than words. I guarantee your product ain’t that good. Won’t blow my socks off like this. So let’s put the demo aside. Let’s put away our toys and talk business. Oh, and I never invested in this either, because the technology is better than the business.
Here’s what counts, when you’re looking for an investor or an advisor.
- Why do people need your product? What problem does it solve?
- How many people have this problem?
- Why will they buy what you’re selling?
- How will you sell it?
- How much will it cost to acquire a customer?
- How much do you make per customer?
- Why should anyone trust that you can pull this off? Who’s the team?
….. and then, maybe then, I’ll want to see your demo.
