How Pitching Investors is Different Than Pitching Customers - Michael Seibel

TL;DR

Customer and investor pitches must differ because customers know the problem and care about a personal solution, while investors may not know the problem and care about building a big business. Founders should use industry jargon and let customers talk more in customer pitches, but eliminate jargon and marketing fluff in investor pitches.

Key insights

• Customers typically know the problem deeply and are personally interested in the solution; investors often do not have the problem and care only about the solution’s potential to build a large company
• Using industry jargon builds credibility with customers but hurts with investors, who need jargon-free explanations.
• Marketing language (e.g., “platform,” “most unique ever”) is fluff that investors must filter out; it obscures what the startup actually does.