The Rise Of The Explainer Video

During my time at TechCrunch Ive seen thousands of startups and written about hundreds of them. I sure as hell dont know all the secrets to building a successful company, but there are a few things Ive seen that seem like surefire ways to ever-so-slightly grease the road to success. Heres an easy one: make a video demo and prominently promote it somewhere where new visitors can find it. One that shows off the core function of your product without making people think theyre watching an ad or a pitch. And answer, as thoroughly as possible in 2-3 minutes, what it is that youre bringing to the table.