If an entrepreneur creates a new venture, but doesn’t effectively communicate the venture’s value to its key audiences, has there been a noise?

The most innovative new idea in the world is of little value if customers don’t know why they should buy it, investors don’t understand why they should invest, and employees don’t believe there is enough opportunity to override the risks of joining up.

Most entrepreneurs understand the need to create clear, concise messaging about their new venture. There is no shortage of elevator pitches in evidence at any gathering of entrepreneurs, technologists, or venture capitalists.  What many people don’t realize, however, is that the positioning and messages that may resonate with customers is not the same as what will hold the attention of investors. The story that attracts critical early-stage employees is not the same as what’s attractive to strategic partners.

Each audience has its own point of view, driven by its own set of experiences, values, and needs:

• Customers have a business need. They need to fix a problem, relieve a specific issue, or improve a business condition—even if they can’t always articulate what that might be. They care about how a solution solves their particular problem, the ramifications of implementing a solution, the timeframe, and the cost—in terms of people, resources, and lost business opportunities.
• Investors want to maximize the return on their investment. They’re concerned about the business potential of a venture, breadth and depth of the management team, the reasonableness of financial models, time to payoff, exit strategy, etc.
• Employees come to early-stage ventures looking for challenges, excitement, and opportunities. They are often motivated by the need to create something new, to work with and productize innovative technology, or to just be part of an exciting fast-moving team.
• Strategic Partners want the opportunities that come with ground-floor involvement with a new venture—and the reassurance they have chosen the right team to be associated with. They’re hoping their reputations will be enriched by the association, and concerned that they’ve mitigated the relevant risks as much as possible.

How to handle all these conflicting goals and objectives?...

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