Startups

How to Avoid Startup Clichés and Buzzwords When Pitching Investors

Using jargon can make you sound like you’re trying to fill space instead of providing meaningful data

Published

2 years ago

Feb 16, 2024

Entrepreneurs frequently seek startup funding through a variety of channels. Yet, none seem as challenging as successfully pitching to experienced investors. After all, investors are pressed for time and eager for opportunities. These characteristics make it challenging to motivate them, especially if you’re bombarding them with a pitch full of jargon.

What are the drawbacks of using buzzwords and clichés when seeking seed money in a series A, B, or other funding rounds? For one, if you’re getting too technical with non-technical types, you risk confusing them. Investors who do not fully comprehend what you are discussing will not simply write a check, regardless of how positive, energetic, and confident you may seem.

Another issue with using commonly used colloquialisms is that they often lack substance. Words and phrases such as “leading edge,” “unicorn,” and “We’re going to be the Amazon/Apple/McDonald’s of [fill in the blank]” may look enticing on paper. They sound much more enticing in person because they’re throwaway lines without any true meaning.

Finally, using jargon can make you sound like you’re trying to fill space instead of providing meaningful data. For example, you could mention in your pitch that you provided top-notch customer service and support to promote engagement and loyalty. They are merely opinions without clear, objective statistics to support your statements. Investors require more than that to support a business, product, or project financially.

Certainly, it is feasible to develop a pitch and an accompanying pitch deck devoid of clichés, slang, and overused terms such as “breakthrough” and “pivot.” You just have to take the time upfront to implement a few strategies.

1. Share your startup story from an authentic perspective.

It’s hard to beat the power of authenticity when sharing the origin story behind your product. Watch just one episode of “Shark Tank,” you’ll immediately see how a compelling backstory can captivate even the most skeptical investors.

Will you still need to provide evidence for everything you say as you delve further into your pitch? You can count on it. Nevertheless, leading your pitch with the genuine and refreshing “Why?” behind your startup can set you apart immediately.

2. Incorporate concrete data and outcomes whenever feasible.

Investors typically spend very little time reviewing pitch decks. Since pitch decks may be your only initial contact with an investor, your deck must be substantial. One effective method to strengthen your pitch is by incorporating tangible data and results.

Suppose you want to demonstrate the necessity of your company or product. Proprietary market insights can help you demonstrate why you believe you are more likely to succeed than fail. Investors are well aware that the failure rate among startup entities is high. Your task is to provide substantial evidence to help them understand that investing in your company and team is a sensible decision.

3. Use industry-specific terminology sparingly.

Is it sometimes unavoidable to use industry jargon when delivering your investor pitch? Sure.

Let’s say you’re working on developing an app. You will use app-related language, likely including technical terminology by default. In this case, you’ll want someone not in your industry to review each technical term. This will enable you to determine if they understand what you’re trying to convey.

It’s always a good idea to do this with both your pitch and your pitch deck and supportive materials. Find a friend or family member who is not affiliated with your business. Invite them to sit through your presentation and review your slide deck. What questions do they have? Does your startup’s unique value proposition resonate with them? Or are they struggling to understand what you’re saying?

Their answers will help refine your pitch, making it less reliant on trendy clichés or “inside baseball” terminology.

4. Enhance your presentation with visuals.

Whether you’re preparing your pitch presentation or your pitch deck, look for relevant visuals. These could include various content types, such as product videos, photographic images, infographics, and charts. Strong visuals can replace buzzwords and engage investors on a deeper level.

This doesn’t give you free rein to purchase stock images online and insert them into your pitch. Your visuals should all contribute to your pitch. Before sending your pitch to any investor, carefully review your visuals. Could any of them be removed without compromising the essence of your pitch? A “yes” answer means that you should remove them. Otherwise, they are simply serving in a temporary capacity.

Over time, refine your pitch and the pitch decks you create. With each revision, focus on replacing technical language with precise words, phrases, data, and visuals to make your startup appealing and understandable to investors.

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Mike Szczesny

Mike Szczesny is the owner and vice president of EDCO Awards & Specialties, a dedicated supplier of employee recognition products, branded merchandise, and crystal trophies. Szczesny takes pride in EDCO's ability to help companies go the extra mile in expressing gratitude and appreciation to their employees through custom awards. He resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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Startups

How an LLC Can Help Shield Your Personal Assets

Published

4 days ago

Aug 1, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

You are a freelance designer, and your client sued you over a trademark mistake. If you believe that your personal savings are safe, then you may be wrong. You are operating as a default sole proprietor. You and your business are the exact same person. As a result, your personal bank account, your car, and even your home are legally up for grabs.

However, if you start an LLC, you can build a legal shield between your business liabilities and your personal life. These days, you can easily form an LLC online.

How Does This Legal Shield Work

When you start an LLC, your business gets a distinct legal identity. Now, your LLC can open its own bank accounts, sign contracts, take out loans, buy equipment, and be held responsible for its own actions. You are not liable. This boundary between you and your business is called the “corporate veil.”

Visualizing the Separation

Inside the Shield (Business Assets)

Everything your company owns is included in this shield. If your business faces a debt collector or a lawsuit, only your business assets are at risk, such as:

Money in the business bank account
Inventory and raw materials
Office equipment, computers, and company vehicles
Business intellectual property

Outside the Shield (Your Personal Assets)

You don’t have to worry about your personal assets, such as:

Your personal checking and savings accounts
Your home and personal real estate
Your family vehicles
Your retirement funds (401k, IRA) and personal investments

What LLC Protection Covers

Business Debts and Contracts

When your LLC signs a commercial lease, hires a contractor, or buys inventory on credit, these are the obligations of the LLC. Your creditors will come after the assets of the LLC if your business can’t pay.

Lawsuits

If your business is sued over a contract dispute, faulty service, or an operational issue, lawsuits will be filed against your business. All your personal assets are safe.

What LLC Protection Does Not Cover

Personal Torts

The term “tort” refers to an act that causes harm or injury to someone else. The LLC shields you from the mistakes of your employees and general business liabilities. However, it never protects you from your own personal actions. For example, if you personally commit fraud, you can be sued personally.

Personal Guarantees

Vendors often hesitate to lend money to new, growing businesses. Such businesses don’t have long credit histories. Lenders often require you to sign a personal guarantee.

How Owners Accidentally Destroy Their Protection

The legal shield provided by forming an LLC only works when you run your business properly. The corporate veil can be pierced when a court decides that your LLC is not legitimate and strips away your protection in a lawsuit. This usually happens when you make one of the following three mistakes.

Commingling Funds

Many small business owners often mix their personal money with their business money. You are commingling funds when you use your business debit card to buy your personal groceries or you deposit a client’s payment directly into your personal checking account. The legal wall crumbles when you don’t treat your business and personal finances as completely separate.

Missing an Operating Agreement

An operating agreement is the legal document that outlines:

How your LLC is run
Who owns what percentage
How profits are handled

If the creditor’s lawyer finds out that an operating agreement is missing, they may argue that your LLC is just a shell.

Falling Out of “Good Standing”

When you start an LLC, you must file annual reports and pay franchise taxes to keep it active. The state will place your business in “Administrative Dissolution” or bad standing if you miss any of these deadlines. You could lose your limited liability protection if you operate a business under an inactive or dissolved LLC.

Startups

Move Fast without Breaking People: Product Safety Lessons for Ambitious Startups

Published

3 weeks ago

Jul 15, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

Fast growth can hide product risks until customers get hurt, especially when safety comes late in development. A software bug can be patched, but a chair, charger, or smart device can cause a burn, fall, cut, or crash.

For founders moving from a prototype to mass sales, the cases handled by Michael Kelly Injury Lawyers in Boston show why launch goals should not push testing, warnings, and foreseeable risks aside. A product claim can involve the design, how a unit was made, user instructions, or several firms in the supply chain.

Why Minimum Viable Should Never Mean Minimally Safe

A minimum viable product should test whether people want an idea, not how much danger they will accept. Teams can delay colors or premium finishes, but not guards, safe heat limits, sound wiring, or clear instructions.

Set Safety Rules Before the Build

The product brief should define who will use the item, where, and what could happen during setup, cleaning, storage, wear, or mistakes. It should also consider what a child, guest, tired worker, or first-time buyer might do.

Shared rules help teams move faster. Designers know which guards must remain. Engineers know which parts cannot fail. Suppliers know what cannot change without review.

Test How People Really Use It

A neat demo is not the real world. Users place products on wet counters, soft rugs, or rough ground. They skip a guide, use the wrong cable, or handle an item in unexpected ways.

Testing should cover misuse without predicting every extreme act. When a risk can be reduced through a guard, lock, stop switch, or clear signal, that design change is often greater than a warning alone.

How Design and Manufacturing Risks Differ

Some risks are built into the design. Others arise when production fails to match the approved plan. Teams need to identify the source before choosing a correction.

Design Problems Start with the Plan

A design problem can affect every unit. A base may tip, a blade may sit too close to a hand, a control may activate too easily, or a battery space may trap heat.

Final inspection cannot repair a flawed plan. The team may need a new shape, shield, limit, material, or control, followed by testing before more units ship.

Manufacturing Problems Break the Plan

A manufacturing problem occurs when a unit or batch does not match the approved design. A fastener may be missing, a weld may be weak, a wire may be damaged, or the wrong component may enter production.

Good records help define the scope. The team should know who made each part, which batch used it, what checks occurred, and where units went. Fast trace work can keep one fault from becoming a wider crisis.

When Customer Feedback Signals More Than Dissatisfaction

Support teams hear about delays, difficult setups, strange sounds, and refunds. Most reports are routine. Yet heat, smoke, sparks, breakage, sharp edges, sudden movement, falls, or failed guards require review.

Treat Complaints as Safety Data

One report may lack key facts, but similar reports can reveal a pattern. Staff should record the model, batch, date, use, photographs, and outcome, then alert someone who can pause sales or order testing.

Teams should not blame unusual use before asking whether another reasonable buyer could make the same choice. A support ticket can be the first sign of a hazard that lab testing missed.

Preserve the Product and the Record

After an injury, the product can help explain what failed. A repair, disposal, or undocumented test can remove evidence. The same applies to old labels, manuals, test files, customer messages, and design notes.

Startups should keep relevant items safely, record who examines them, and preserve earlier versions of instructions and warnings. This history can show what changed and why.

Why Warnings Must Reflect Real Use

A warning works only when a user notices it at the right time. Dense text at the back of a manual may not help during setup. The message should name the hazard, explain the harm, and state what reduces the risk.

Placement matters too. A charging risk belongs near the port. A weight limit belongs where weight is added. Even so, warnings should not replace a safer design when the hazard can reasonably be removed.

How Founders Can Preserve Speed without Cutting Safeguards

A delayed launch, redesign, or recall can feel like defeat. In practice, early action can prevent harm, protect trust, and give the team better facts for the next version. The strongest startups move quickly because their systems protect people.

When a product injures someone, legal guidance can help preserve the item, collect design and manufacturing records, identify responsible companies, and examine whether a defect or unsafe choice caused the harm.