The idea, and more importantly, the presentation thereof -sales pitch- usually answers by itself a whole range of questions, including: target market & opportun

The idea, and more importantly, the presentation thereof -sales pitch- usually answers by itself a whole range of questions, including: target market & opportunity, positioning, ballpark estimate of market size, competitive advantage; and also, more important co-founding qualities: sales, and marketing quality of the pitcher, and a ballpark estimation on the "level of entrepreneurship" he is. This weeds out 99% of the idea-guys in 2 sentences. They get their obligatory nod, smile, ask a fun poke question, or two, pretend not to know anything about computer voodoo, then proceed striking up a conversation with a more interesting fellow. IFF they pass this, then, and only then, we can proceed to poking more in-depth questions, and sizing up eachother. Otherwise, it's a waste of both of our time.