• Venture capitalists want to invest in honorable founders, but they need to generate above-average returns, which may or may not come from companies with that type of founder. It takes a lot of energy to buy and use something new, so if you’re a nice-to-have, it won’t stick. Nice-to-haves fall to the bottom of the to-do list. If the buyer doesn’t need your solution, they won’t be motivated to go through all the work to convince their people it’s a solid product, justify the budget spend, and then roll it out to the team at large. Here are some questions to consider to make sure you create a product that’s truly needed by your customers: • What problem is painful enough that a team of people will spend both their money and time to fix it? • If you are solving a need, how can you describe what you do differently, so prospects also see it that way? • What differentiates the customers who need you vs. the ones who don’t? • Where can you create the most financial value? • Where can you get permission to create case studies or get references? • How can you “sell money”? “Selling money” means proving to Make money by customers that your product will help them proving to customers make more money, spend less of it, reduce that your product the risk of losing it, or stay compliant will help them make (avoiding fines and legal risk). Your product more money, spend will fall into the need category if you can less of it, reduce the demonstrate how spending money with risk of losing it, or stay compliant. you will make them more money. If you say you’ll “increase revenue” or “decrease costs,” you sound just like everyone else. What’s equivalent to money in their minds? Leads, close rates, social activity, collections, employee engagement, or fulfillment. As much as we love and know engaged employees and fulfillment are vital, how do you prove to customers that you can help them make money? How can you make the case that you’re needed?