"It’s a compliment when you are asked to skip the slides and just do the demo. Really." Back in 1999 I was at the bottom of the hierarchy of a 2000-person com

"It’s a compliment when you are asked to skip the slides and just do the demo. Really." Back in 1999 I was at the bottom of the hierarchy of a 2000-person company, presenting to the CFO. After two slides she said, "OK, what's your recommended solution?" I said, "I haven't finished laying out the problem!" She said, "That's fine, what are your recommendations?" I was young and stupid and insisted on showing her how significant the problem was before going on to the recommendations section. I had thought out the problem so well, and I felt upper management had to understand the arguments I was making. In retrospect, I can imagine that she had some trust in the tech people working there, and believed when she was told there was a problem. But I had run into so many mid-level people who didn't understand that there even was a problem, that I felt I had to sell the CFO something she was already sold on. I think this is part of that mystical quality, 'experience': realizing when the reality of someone you're talking to is different from the realities of the last 99 people you talked to, and adjusting the message accordingly. I can imagine that, in terms of evaluating pitches, VCs and angels inhabit very different realities than one's friends & colleagues.