There is a widespread myth that the most important part of building a great company is coming up with a great idea. This myth is reflected in popular movies and books: someone invents the Post-it note or cocktail umbrellas and becomes an overnight millionaire. It is also perpetuated by experienced business people who, for the most part, don’t believe it. Venture capitalists often talk about “the best way to pitch your idea” and “honing your elevator pitch.” Most business schools have business plan contests which are essentially beauty pageants for startup ideas. All of this reinforces the myth that the idea is primary.

The reality is ideas don’t matter that much. First of all, in almost all startups, the idea changes – often dramatically – over time. Secondly, ideas are relatively abundant. For every decent idea there are very likely other people who’ve also thought of it, and, surprisingly often, are also actively pitching investors. At an early stage, ideas matter less for their own sake and more insofar as they reflect the creativity and thoughtfulness of the team.

What you should really be focused on when pitching your early stage startup is pitching yourself and your team. When you do this, remember that a startup is primarily about building something. Hence the most important aspect of your backgrounds is not the names of the schools you attended or companies you worked at – it’s what you’ve built. This could mean coding a video game, creating a non-profit organization, designing a website, writing a book, bootstrapping a company – whatever. The story you should tell is the story of someone who has been building stuff her whole life and now just needs some capital to take it to the next level.

Of course a great way to show you can build stuff is to build a prototype of the product you are raising money for. This is why so many VCs tell entrepreneurs to “come back when you have a demo.” They aren’t wondering whether your product can be built – they are wondering whether you can build it.

现在有一种广泛流传的传说，是说一个伟大的公司当中，最重要的部分是一个出色的主意。这个传说在畅销书和流行电影里多次出现：有人发明了即时贴，或者鸡尾酒雨伞，第二天就成了一个百万富翁。但是真正有商业经验的人，绝大部分都不相信这一点。风险投资家谈论的往往是“把你的主意实现的最好办法”和“磨亮你的电梯”。很多商业学院都有很多让人眼花缭乱的商业计划着眼于怎样才能让一个好主意有个盛大的开幕式。所有一切，都加强了这个传说。

然而现实却是，一个好的主意不算什么。首先，在几乎所有的开始阶段，这个“好主意”会随着时间而改变，而且往往变的很戏剧化。其次，好的主意相对来说是比较多的。对于每一个好主意，几乎都会有其他人也想到了，而且，也在积极的推进到投资人面前。在最初的阶段，一个好主意更多的不是反映出来它有多么好，而是反映出来提出它的团队是非常有创造性和善于思索的。

你需要真正集中的地方是如何磨砺你自己和你的团队。当如此做的时候，请牢记起步意味着做出东西来。因此你最重要的背景不是你从哪个名校毕业你在哪个名企工作过，这些是你已经取得的。最重要的背景是，你可以做一个视频游戏、创建一家非营利性组织、设计一个网站、写一般书、步步为营的经营一家公司，等等。你现在讲给投资人的，正是某人（你）已经建立起来，只需要投资来提升等级的。

当然，最好，你能把你需要钱的原型建立起来。这是为什么很多风投对创业者说：“等你有一个原型了再来找我吧”。他们从不怀疑你的东西能否做出来，他们只是怀疑，你是否能做出来。

[原文在百度空间已经关闭]