Thanks PG. Could not agree more on getting users as early as possible, and getting as much feedback as you possibly can from them.
In our example, we produce and sell incomplete ebooks, knowing full well we may get a few refund requests, precisely because it's invaluable for us to know how to convert a paying customer, and to ask those customers for feedback.
Agreed on all above. Think it's important for them to know you've thought deeply about your space and the problem you're solving/product you're building. All of this comes naturally if you love, and are committed to, what you're doing.
Absolutely. As paul buccheit likes to say, limited life experience + overgeneralization = advice. Take what I'm saying with several grains of salt, and recognize that every interview will be VERY different in tone, style, and content
yes, absolutely important. something we really struggled with early - both the one sentence and the 30 second that people instantly GET. this is not just for investors, but for anyone - potential partners, hires, your mom, etc. and keep in mind this is def a work in progress - you'll improve on it and often change it substantially over time!
All great questions. Think ours are more targeted at YC/similar extremely early stage investor conversations, where the answer to some of those questions (and this is 100% ok) can be "I simply don't know right now", especially how many people you'll need to hire (just a core team to build the first product) and a detailed view on feature set (just a few features that you think people will really LOVE).
nhashem, great point. i think its important to get users as fast as possible, and what investors really care about is what you LEARNED from those users (what they like, don't like, data that supports your hypotheses). better a poor product + hundreds of early users than a polished product that hasn't been launched, imo
think there's a good balance between customer development/research and your own instinct/vision