I attended the Rise of the Rest tour with Steve Case, AOL founder, in Portland Maine. It was great to see the growing entrepreneurial community and support group in Maine. There were eight Maine startups that gave their pitch to get Steve to invest $100K in their company. Rapport, a company providing sustainability software platform, was the winner for the evening.

Knowing a lot of the companies as a Top Gun (Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development) program mentor, I was puzzled as to why one won over another. All the companies had strengths, innovation and a developing track record. I think the key was simplicity. Rapport said quickly that they are "like QuickBooks for sustainability." They did not explain sustainability or demonstrate their product or give customer testimonials.

Keep it simple. This is true in many other aspects of business, especially in strategy. Clear, memorable focus that your staff can get quickly and repeat it to others. Clear, memorable position of your product for customers, too. "Quality is job one" was marketing to customers, and trying to guide employees. Steve Job's focus was simplicity; think of the iPod and iTunes. And many more examples.

The challenge for you is how can you make your complex business and strategy simple for your customers, staff and investors.