Whats the job of a Rodeo Bull? To kill the cowboy.

And the job of the Rodeo Clown? To keep the bull from doing his job.

I first heard this in the movie The Taking of Pelham 123. The hostage negotiator was explaining to the subway operator the importance of deflecting the bad guy’s attention away from the fact that the deadline would be missed. Be the rodeo clown. Deflect the bad guy’s attention.

This concept has sat in my brain percolating for a couple of weeks.

Does having a singular job, a specific job help the entrepreneur in building a business? Does focus and simplicity lend itself to success?

Over this past week, I spent some time with one of the TechStars teams in New York pitching companies and potential partners. It was clear quickly that while the product was simple, the explanation wasnt. People were getting lost quickly, the ideas within the presentation were creating questions rather than answers.

People that we were hoping to draw in, were being deflected from the guts of the product.

In each startup that I have been part of (well, each successful startup), we had a single mantra. We had a statement that we laid against everything we did to validate the action. For example, at Lijit, our guiding principle is “Publisher Value.” Everything we do is focused on adding value to our publishers. Its why we are so focused on customer service and communication.

At Techstars many of the teams are very young and excited about what they are doing. They are focused on “what will I look like when I get big” and excitingly talk about it. It comes out in their pitches; it shows in their passion. But, for some of them, it also shows in the mess of their pitches.

Here is a hint if you are pitching a company. Answer these questions:

1) why is your company important (or why does it exist)?

• what conditions in the marketplace drove the need for your business?
• what is the itch you are trying to scratch?
• How many people have the same itch?

2) why is your company the best at solving this problem?

• what do you do better than anyone else?
• why will people use your product?
• how much will it cost?

3) how close are you to solving the problem?

• Does your product work?
• Is anyone using it now?
• can you demonstrate success?

Startups, especially young startups spend too much time worrying about things that dont matter. Logos, names and what their tshirts will look like. They spend too much time on small feature sets and putting a ten pound bag of sand in a one pound container.

If you want to kill the cowboy, you have to understand your purpose. Everything else doesnt matter. Everything else is a rodeo clown.

So as the Techstars teams get closer to Investor/Demo day, I hope to see each of them simplify their pitches. Figure out their matra. Understand what it is about what they have built that it interesting. And then kill the cowboy.

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