[This post is part of an on-going series of video interviews with members of the start-up community – see a list of links to the full series here.]
A CEO turned professional board member, volunteer, organizer, angel investor, and most importantly, advocate for entrepreneurs, Joe Caruso is a fixture on the early stage scene in Boston. Always quick to compliment, and hesitant to criticize, Joe wears his passion for start-ups on his sleeve. He has been an angel since long before it was a commonplace thing to do, and has countless deals and board stints to his credit. Despite all that Joe remains as enthusiastic, energetic, curious and approachable as ever. I consider him both a friend and a mentor. So when we got together for a bite of lunch last week, I figured it was high time to add him to the video interview series.
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Um, yes. Too much product detail. Empty calories. Get rid of them. Why? First of all, because you have to get through it in 15 minutes and there is no way. But more importantly because all that detail detracts from your message. Yes, you are justifiably proud of your incredibly sophisticated product and, yes, you need to educate your investors to some degree about its many intricacies. Your investor pitch is neither the time nor the place. You want to keep product details at the “only what is absolutely necessary” level. And with the ones you include, you want to focus on benefits, not features.