Waiting for the Demo/Advice From Paul Graham on Presenting Demo

It’s difficult being the non-technical founder. I don’t program so as far as the demo is concerned, all I can do is sit and wait. It’s agony.

But in preparation to present the demo, I found this very helpful nugget from the patron saint of startup founders, Paul Graham:

“A demo explains what you've made more effectively than any verbal description. The only thing worth talking about first is the problem you're trying to solve and why it's important. But don't spend more than a tenth of your time on that. Then demo.

When you demo, don't run through a catalog of features. Instead start with the problem you're solving, and then show how your product solves it. Show features in an order driven by some kind of purpose, rather than the order in which they happen to appear on the screen.

If you're demoing something web-based, assume that the network connection will mysteriously die 30 seconds into your presentation, and come prepared with a copy of the server software running on your laptop.”