A partner at a VC firm that invested in Lyft reveals the biggest mistake founders make when pitching him

• If you're a startup founder, having a deep knowledge of your industry is just as important as impressive tech or grand ambitions, according to Autotech Ventures partner Jeff Peters.
• Peters said the biggest mistake founders make when pitching him for an investment is failing to prove they understand how their competitors and potential customers think.
• There can be major philosophical differences between Silicon Valley software firms and transportation companies with decades of manufacturing experience.
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Jeff Peters, a partner at the venture-capital firm Autotech Ventures, wants to see more than impressive technology and an exciting roadmap from companies that pitch him for an investment. It's just as important that a company's founders understand how the incumbents they'll be selling to or competing against think, Peters said in an interview with Business Insider, and the biggest mistake founders make when they pitch him for an investment is failing to demonstrate that they understand the ins and outs of their industry.

"What we prefer is to invest in founders that not only have great technology, not only have a grand vision, but understand the set of challenges that exist, that are unique to our space in transportation," Peters said.

Some founders don't recognize the philosophical differences between transportation companies with decades of experience and Silicon Valley software firms operating in relatively new sectors, Peters said. Adopting new technology can be a major risk for a transporation company with a mature manufacturing operation.

"You can claim that your software solution has a 10% or a 10x improvement, but for a lot of these folks, it is a huge risk to deploy a novel solution," Peters said. "In a lot of ways, they're risk averse and risk averse for very good reason."

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source https://www.businessinsider.com/vc-former-lyft-investor-reveals-mistake-founders-make-during-pitch-2020-7