How to make your startup stand out in a crowded market, according to investors

At TechCrunch Disrupt, three investors took the stage to break down what makes—and breaks—a pitch deck. Jyoti Bansal, founder-turned-investor; Medha Agarwal challenges; Jennifer Neuendorfer of January Ventures shared with the audience their candid opinions on what works in a presentation — and what doesn’t.

Biggest pet peeve? Too many buzzwords.

The more AI a founder uses in his pitch, the less likely the company is to use AI, Agarwal said. “People who are doing really innovative things will talk about it, and it’s built into them, but it’s not the core of their presentation,” she told the audience.

Bansal, who built and sold several companies before becoming an investor, boiled down investor expectations to three key questions. First, he wonders whether there is a big enough market to address. Does the founder’s idea have the potential to become a huge company? Is the problem it solves really worth solving?

The second thing investors want to know is why this The founder is the one who must build the company. “There has to be something unique about you,” Bansal told the audience, adding that this included having special founding team members or having special skills. “Why do you win? If the problem is interesting, there will be 20 other companies trying to solve it, so why do you win and what are your chances?”

The third thing investors want to see is some validation, Bansal said. “The traction is with customers,” he said. “Validation might be initial customer feedback, or revenue, or something, but it’s a form of validation.”

Bansal noted that these three questions all lead to the ultimate test: Can this become a multibillion-dollar company?

The session also covered how AI startups can differentiate themselves as the space becomes saturated. Bansal stressed the importance of experience in the field and a clear competitive strategy. Neuendorfer said the companies that catch her attention are those that are working to enable new behaviors rather than just incrementally improving an existing process.

Agarwal offered more tactical advice to founders, saying they should explain how AI technology will enable their product. Formulate clear market entry strategies; And show how their business will be more efficient than incumbents.

She added that it is also very important to be honest about the competitors out there. Some of you “lost some credibility with me because I wasn’t on your segment,” she told the founders in the audience.

Finally, investors shared advice on how to navigate this rapidly evolving landscape. Agarwal urged the founders to stay abreast of industry developments. Neuendorf recommended staying connected to founders’ networks to share tools and ideas.

Bansal’s advice was simpler: “Focus on building your product.”