In support of this viewpoint, I offer an anecdote about the development of our product messaging. Our product is a software + services reverse auction procurem

In support of this viewpoint, I offer an anecdote about the development of our product messaging. Our product is a software + services reverse auction procurement solution (go, go enterprise market!). When we started out, our sales staff used a metaphor: "like eBay, but in reverse". Our current training instructs sales staff to avoid that metaphor at all cost, because there are more differences than there are similarities. Your description is concise, and incredibly apt. That metaphor became a burden. Time during a pitch is incredibly valuable, whether it's in front of a VC or a customer. Time spent explaining how your product is not like something else involves a lot of negative language. It's not like this... ... only it's more like... You don't want to spend your time on these conversations. That's why we now train staff to avoid the metaphor, and to shut it down immediately if someone introduces it.