Investors at TechCrunch Disrupt Urge Startups to Ditch Buzzwords, Focus on Fundamentals

SAN FRANCISCO – Venture capitalists at TechCrunch Disrupt advised startups to avoid overusing trendy buzzwords like "AI" in their pitch decks, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating a deep understanding of the problem they are trying to solve. The investors stressed that a clear articulation of a large addressable market, the founding team's unique advantages, and early customer validation are key to securing funding.

During a panel discussion at the conference, Jyoti Bansal, a founder-turned-investor, Medha Agarwal of Defy, and Jennifer Neundorfer of January Ventures shared their insights on what makes or breaks a pitch deck. According to TechCrunch, their biggest collective pet peeve was "buzzword overload."

Agarwal noted that overuse of terms like "AI" can be a red flag. "The more a founder says AI in the pitch," she said, "the less AI the company likely uses. The people who are doing things that are really innovative, they’ll talk about it, and its built in, but its not the core of their pitch."

Bansal, who has built and sold multiple companies, distilled investor expectations into three core questions that founders should address: whether there is a large enough market to tackle. Investors prioritize pitches that clearly articulate a large addressable market, highlight the founding team's unique advantages, and showcase early customer validation to prove the viability of the business.