As Marc Andreessen says, “there are no bad ideas in tech, only bad timing.” So many ideas fail not because they are not good but because the time is not right.
This is especially true for high tech companies. It was not the right time for MySpace until it was the right time for FaceBook. Not the right time for Altavista until some years later, it was the right time for Google.
Pitch change
If you are pitching for fundraising, why do you think your idea is going to succeed now? What’s changed? Pitches may start with a problem, or a product, or a team; great pitches start with change. By identifying and responding to an undeniable shift in the world, entrepreneurs can create both big stakes and tremendous urgency for their proposition. When the world is changing, no one wants to be left behind.
So, why now?
For Sequoia Capital, ‘why now’ this is the best way to open any pitch to investors.
Help investors understand why the right time for your product is now. Explain clearly the big shift, break-through, or innovation that opens the window to create a substantial new company. Your company.
And if you need some ‘why now’ inspiration for your presentation, check our the Sequoia “Why now?” video playlist.