I have written several posts lately about the value of business plans and the nature of the pitch to raise money.

The MIT Sloan Management Review weighs in with a new article Why Business Plans Don’t Deliver which offers some ideas about how to avoid the common pitfalls.

In short, the article seems to focus on the Pollyanna aspect of many plans … we’re great, our team is awesome, the market is huge so we only need a little of it, we should make a ton of money … those factors that I have seen in a countless number of plans during my career.

The article seems to focus on start-up companies, too, reporting that Executive Summaries have limited value because not enough work has been done to create a solid foundation. In my experience, that’s not always the case.

If you’re working on a business plan, this is a good checklist of what to avoid.