It's not even a deliberate misrepresentation - in most cases the people involved really, genuinely believe that they have come up with something that no-one else thought of.

The question is why investors, who are supposed to be well informed, continue to back companies that know so little about the industries and markets they're operating in.

And the funny thing is, we do X but with lower costs/higher margins than existing companies A, B and C because Y is actually a compelling pitch...