Today a founder shared with me his vision for helping people communicate more effectively. He’s starting out by building software that helps people understand how effective—or ineffective—their pitch is in communicating their message. He has studied effective communication and has experience working in the space, and he believes he can improve outcomes by helping people communicate more effectively.

I think he’s on to something. Listening to him today reminded me of a meeting I had. I was sharing an idea with a group of founder friends. When I finished talking, I asked them to tell me what they’d heard and what I’d left out that they wanted to hear. Their answers were eye-opening. Everyone heard something slightly different! I walked away realizing that I needed to improve how I communicated the idea and fine-tune it with my audience in mind.

Effective communication is important. Many people could use help improving their skills in this area (myself included). If you’re an early-stage founder trying to communicate an idea, take time to consider how you’re doing it and who your audience is.