When we were building SupplyShift, we knew how to make the perfect platform for our customers. Or so we thought (spoiler alert, we didn’t). We planned for everything the market SHOULD need. But if the market is figuring out how to walk, your perfect race bike is not the solution, no matter how well thought out. Domain expertise is a strength that can turn into a trap.

If your messaging is about the latest feature you built, rather than the value it delivers (read: does it help your customer sleep at night?), here’s a shortcut to jump from feature to real value.

Almost every brilliant founder I talk to is absolutely dialed into building a great product. They listen to customers, iterate fast, find product/market fit, and hire smart people.

Then things change:

After the very first phase, your job is not to keep doing what you love most and continue building the product.
Your job becomes building the company.

When it comes time for you to sell your company, can you prove it?

Does your pro forma really tell the story of your business?