What they say:
We conservatively project…
What they really mean:
We read a book that said we had to be at least a $90 million company in five years, so we reverse-engineered the numbers.
What they say:
After we determined our future profitability we cautiosly divided by 2.
What they really mean:
We accidentally divided by 0.5
What they say:
Were projecting a 10% margin.
What they really mean:
We downloaded business software and didn’t change any of the assumptions
What they say:
The project is 99% complete
What they really mean:
Sure were 99% complete but to complete the remaing 1% it will take twice as long as the 99% and cost three times as much.
What they say:
Our calculations show that we have a nine-month lead
What they really mean:
After doing market reasearch, we really tired to not to find out who has a nine-month lead
What they say:
We have no competition.
What they really mean:
Only Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and Sun have announced plans to enter the business.
What they say:
Our team has a great deal of experience…
What they mean:
…consuming the product or service
What they say:
A select group of investors is considering the plan.
What they really mean:
We emailed a copy of the plan to every investor on the internet.
What they say:
We seek a value added investor.
What they really mean:
We are looking for an extremely lazy, uninformed, and unintelligent investor.
-Harvard Business Review August/July 1997
