while i agree that the entrepreneur - investor connection is critical to the success of any new venture, it also seems that a credible quantitative story about magnitude of opportunity is not an unreasonable stepping stone along a path to fruition.

admittedly, some may attempt to conduct opportunity analysis rivaling in complexity to that of a genome shotgun sequencing algorithm, however, with reasonable effort and precision, this exercise can advance strategic discussions about addressable markets and the future direction of a young company.      

brycedotvc:

It will be found in the connection an investor makes to you, your product and your vision. Either they will believe it or they won’t. If they do, they’ll want to invest. If they don’t, they’ll simply keep wrestling with the question of “how big can this get” in an unresolvable circle of swirling doubt. All of the Excel wizardry in the world won’t resolve it.