英语学习：创业路演最容易出现的28个雷区

友谊的真诚

错误20：不了解公司的潜在风险
在讲演中，我会想测试一下，看你知不知道你的公司的潜在风险是什么。我想了解你的思考过程，以及你会采取哪些措施消弥这些风险。任何商业计划都不可避免地存在一定的风险，所以你要仔细考虑如何回答以下问题：
你认为你的公司有哪些主要风险？
你的公司在法律上有什么风险？
你的公司在技术上有什么风险？
你的公司在监管上有什么风险？
你的公司是否有任何产品责任风险？
你打算采取哪些步骤消弥这些风险？


Mistake #20: Not understanding the potential risks to the business.
I will want to test what you see are the risks to the business. I want to understand your thought process and the mitigating precautions you might take. There inevitably are risks in any business plan, so be prepared to answer these questions thoughtfully:
What do you see are the principal risks to the business?
What legal risks do you have?
What technology risks do you have?
Do you have any regulatory risks?
Are there any product liability risks?
What steps do you anticipate to mitigate such risks?

友谊的真诚

错误21：不能解释你的预测中的主要假设
为了让我相信你的财务预测，我会让你详细解释你做出的一些主要假设，并且你还得让我相信这些假设是合理的。我会针对这些假设中的数字提问，而且我希望你能给出令人信服的、经过深思熟虑的答案。


Mistake #21: Not being able to explain the key assumptions in your projections.
In order for me to believe your financial projections, I will want you to articulate the key assumptions and convince me they are reasonable. If you can’t do that, then I won’t feel you have a real handle on the business. I will push back on the numbers in the assumptions and I will want you to have a cogent, thoughtful response.

友谊的真诚

错误22：没有解释清楚为什么你的产品和技术与竞争对手存在差异
我想知道相比现有竞争对手的产品或技术，你的产品或技术强在哪里，或者有哪些差异。要知道，我很可能对竞争产品和技术有一定的了解，所以你必须要好好回答。比如：“我们跟Instagram相比有以下三个重要的差异：1.我们更易于使用；2.我们有比它更好的编辑功能；3.我们生钱的速度比它快。”


Mistake #22: Not articulating why your product or technology is differentiated from a competitor.
I will want to know why your product or technology is better than or different from what is already out there. You can assume I will know about competitive products or technology, so you need to have a good response. For example, “We are different from Instagram in three important ways: (1) we are easier to use; (2) we have better editing functions; and (3) we are monetizing earlier than Instagram was able to.”

友谊的真诚

错误23：不能讲述出一个清晰的营销战略
能够做出一个好东西，并不代表你就能把它卖出去，或是用户就会用它。所以我会关心你打算怎样对你的产品或服务做营销。你打算使用哪种展示渠道？你打算怎样以具有成本效益的方式接触到目标客户？你打算怎样使用Facebook、Twitter、LinkedIn和Pinterest等社交媒体？你打算怎样做内容营销，在BusinessInsider.com、Fobes.com和AllBusiness.com这些网站上发软文？你会去做搜索引擎营销吗，你能证明它有效果吗？你打算采取哪些步骤让你的产品快速卖出去，或者让用户迅速采用？


Mistake #23: Not being able to articulate a coherent marketing strategy.
Just because you build something great doesn’t mean it’s going to sell or get user adoption. So I will care about your plans to market your product or service. What outlets are you going to use? How can you cost-effectively get to prospective customers? How will you use social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.? Will you do content marketing and put sponsored posts on sites like BusinessInsider.com, Forbes.com, and AllBusiness.com? Will you do search engine marketing and can you show it will be productive? What steps will you take to get some rapid sales or adoption of your offering?

友谊的真诚

错误24：不告诉我你的产品或服务取得了哪些早期反响
别忘了向我展示你的产品或服务获得了哪些早期反响，尤其是知名网站或出版物上的评价。请在一张PPT页面上附上这些文章的标题，并且注明有多少篇文章、多少份出版物提到了你的公司。


Mistake #24: Not telling me what early buzz or press you have gotten.
Don’t forget to show me any early buzz or press you have received, especially from prominent sites or publications. Feature the headlines in a slide on your deck. List the number of articles and publications mentioning you.

友谊的真诚

错误25：不告诉我你的公司已经获得了哪些上升动力，或是目前拥有多少顾客
对我来说，最重要的一件事就是你的公司是否已经有了上升动力，或是有了受顾客欢迎的迹象。如果你做了一款手机应用，那么你的下载量是多少？每周新增的下载量又是多少？如果你是一家软件公司的话，是否已经有某家知名公司成为了你的用户？你的早期上升动力能够如何加速？你获得这种上升动力的主要原因是什么？记住，要向我展示你打算如何扩大这种早期的上升动力。


Mistake #25: Not telling me what traction or customers you have already gotten.
One of the most important things for me will be signs of any early traction or customers. If you have an app, how many downloads have you gotten and how many additional ones are you getting a week? Have you gotten any brand-name customers if you are a software company? How can the early traction be accelerated? What has been the principal reason for the traction? Show me how you can scale this early traction.

友谊的真诚

错误26：不能告诉我你打算将我的资金如何进行投资，以及需要多长时间
我肯定想知道我的钱是如何被投资的，以及你计划的烧钱速率是多快（这样我就能明白什么时候你可能需要下一轮融资）。同时我也能根据你的资本需求来了解你的融资计划是否合理。另外，这也能使我结合对其他公司的投资经验，评估你的预期成本（比如工程人员聘用成本、营销成本、办公成本等）是否合理。


Mistake #26: Being unable to tell me how you will invest my investment capital and how long it will last.
I will absolutely want to know how my capital will be invested and your proposed burn rate (so that I can understand when you may need the next round of financing). It will also allow me to test whether your fund-raising plans are reasonable given the capital requirements you will have. And it will allow me to see whether your estimate of costs (e.g., for engineering talent, for marketing costs, or office space) is reasonable given my experiences with other companies.

友谊的真诚

错误27：没有向我兜售你的知识产权
对于很多公司来说，他们的知识产权都是公司能否成功的一个关键因素。投资人会特别注意你对以下这些问题的答案：
你的公司拥有哪些核心知识产权？（如已有专利、正在申请的专利、版权、商业秘密、商标、域名等）
你有哪些法律依据表明你的知识产权没有侵害第三方的权益？
你的公司的知识产权是如何开发出来的？
有没有可能你的某个团队成员之前任职的企业会对你的知识产权提出要求？


Mistake #27: Not selling me on your intellectual property.
For many companies, their intellectual property will be a key to success. Investors will pay particular attention to your answers to these questions:
What key intellectual property does the company have (patents, patents pending, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, domain names)?
What comfort do you have that the company’s intellectual property does not violate the rights of a third party?
How was the company’s intellectual property developed?
Would any prior employers of a team member have a potential claim to the company’s intellectual property?

友谊的真诚

错误28：对产品或服务解释得不够好
创业者必须清晰明确地阐述产品或服务的构成，以及它的独特之处在哪里。所以你很可能会被问到以下问题：
用户为什么会注意到你的产品或服务？
对于你的产品来说，最重大的发展节点是什么？
你的产品或服务的主要差异因素是什么？
你从你的产品或服务的早期版本中了解到了什么？
你打算添加的两三个核心功能是什么？
你打算每隔多久对产品或服务进行更新或升级？


Mistake #28: Not explaining the product or service well enough.
The entrepreneur must clearly articulate what the company’s product or service consists of and why it is unique, so expect to get the following questions:
Why do users care about your product or service?
What are the major product milestones?
What are the key differentiated features of your product or service?
What have you learned from early versions of the product or service?
What are the two or three key features you plan to add?
How often do you envision enhancing or updating the product or service?

友谊的真诚

结论
并非所有这些错误都是致命的。随着你不断练习，并且有了更多向顾问和投资人进行路演的经验，你也会逐渐了解到他们关心什么、不关心什么。最后，记住一定要根据这些经验和教训对你的PPT、项目摘要和讲演内容进行修改。


Conclusion
Not all of these mistakes are fatal. And as you practice and make more presentations to advisors and investors, you will learn what they care about and what doesn’t resonate with them. So make sure to adapt your PowerPoint deck, Executive Summary, and presentation from these learnings.