Entrepreneurs/Inventors NEVER EVER SAY THIS!

The Deal Killer that Entrepreneurs & Inventors Should NEVER say!

You got the meeting! Congratulations!

You begin to pitch and everyone is smiling. Suddenly, the smiles vanish. The room turned cold. You feel resistance building and poof, the potential deal dies right before your eyes!

What did you say? Maybe this...

"My XYZ loves this idea."  

At worst, replace "XYZ" with "Mother", "Friend", "Aunt" or any other inexperienced person.  

At even worse, replace "XYZ" with a famous/wealthy person who did not invest.

Here is why this is such a bad idea and exactly how it sucks the oxygen from the room. 

First, No one Cares what your Mother, Aunt or BFF think. That's not a thing in business. (Unless they are professionals in the field of use.)

Second, when a rich person sees a great idea they move into action. They don't simply tell you it is good. They open doors and maybe even checkbooks.

Here is how it plays out.  

True Story: 

I once had an inventor tell me, "Steve Jobs said he thought my invention would revolutionize the cell phone industry."  

My follow-up question was, "Did he invest?"  

The inventor said, "No."

Do you think if Steve Jobs believed his invention would revolutionize the cell phone industry he would let the inventor leave? No way!

Actions are the only real gauge of interest. When Andy Bechtolsheim (Founder of Sun Microsystems) saw the Google Prototype he said, "[I think this will revolutionize computers]" with a $100,000 check. (I don't know what he actually said because the $100k check spoke louder)

Instead, if you want to tell how great your idea is, try to explain milestones you've reached.

For example:

a. We've had 3 meetings with Mass Retailer ABC and we are going back for a fourth.

b. In our competitive tests, we outperformed by 4.7 times the #1 brand and we can sell 1/3 cheaper.

c. We have purchase orders from 123 retailers and we need help filling them.

Any of the above show you are moving to revenue and that you can back up the interest.

Your Mom's opinions don't really matter. But you kind of knew that anyway, didn't you?

Kiss your Mom. Stick to facts!

Happy Innovating