But, if you're down into the "social proof" and "pitch/presentation" items, they are signals of whether you can market yourself. Do you have the discipline and talent to express yourself in the most plausible and positive terms?
If you can always do an excellent, comprehensible, compelling pitch, then yes, that does mean you'll get more looks and months-of-runway than other startups that are bad at pitching themselves. That's life in the big city.
You can be incredibly slick, with a Lessig level of timing matching your slides to your words, but that's not a perfect pitch. A perfect pitch is what gets you funded. you need to cut through all the VC's defenses surprise and delight them in a way that makes them want to give you money.
Maybe you do know this, but it's worth pointing out the perfect pitch isn't some generic bullshit that plays well on youtube, it's tailored precisely to one guy. your guy. your funder.
1. Traction
2. Team
3. Product
4. Social Proof
5. Pitch/Presentation
What do 'social proof', pitches and presentations have to do with building an exceptional company? I can understand if these are qualities needed to raise money in Silicon Valley, but "qualities of an exceptional startup"?
Instead of trying to do everything well (traction, team, product, social proof, pitch, etc.), do one thing exceptionally. As a startup you have to be exceptional in at least one regard.
Ok, I'll just work on getting my pitch pitch perfect then. Or maybe I'll work on my social proofs. I could have sworn I was in Silicon Valley, but it's been warm lately, maybe this is Hollywood after all.