From Guy Kawasaki, here are the "10 Lies Entrepreneurs Tell". (And by the way, I strongly recommend Guy's book, The Art of the Start.)
1. In year three we're going to do $75 million, and our projections are conservative.
- Never ever say that, because no one ever believes it.
- Also not believable.
- Probably means they haven't said "no" yet...
- Let me get their names and phone numbers and I will call them.
- If you have a great idea, assume that ten companies are doing it. It's the first to scale, not the first to move, that matters."
- Either it's no, or they gave you a term sheet.
- They're not so stupid. They're not so slow.
9. Our patents make our idea defensible.
- Never true, except maybe in biotech and in medical devices. Patents don't matter. All that matters is your ability to implement and scale.
- Investors want 99 percent of the market, not 1 percent.