Before answering that question, you have to answer two other questions. 1) Do you own a suit that actually really fits and 2) are you comfortable wearing it. If the answer to those two questions isn't "Yes", then skip the suit. Clean jeans without holes, a plain t-shirt, without obscure band names or sarcastic slogans, black leather shoes and a jacket will make you look far better dressed than badly fitting suit that makes you feel uncomfortable.
My rule for customer facing interaction: when talking to a customer or client, always be one notch more 'formal' than they are. If they are in t-shirts and jeans, then a collared shirt with no tie is ideal. If they are in collared shirts, then put on a tie and jacket. If they are wearing suits, so should you.<p>Investors are a totally different beast. In my opinion, most of them aren't going to be too concerned about how you dress other than judging if you present yourself well to your customers/clients (see above).
Yes, on the condition that you own a halfway decent (not £40 from a supermarket) suit and you're comfortable wearing it. I do and am, and always have - it's a sign of taking the other party seriously, to my mind. If it proves laughably formal (never has but I can imagine the environment where it would), removing both jacket and tie leaves a decent compromise almost anywhere.<p>On the other hand, I've known others (though surprisingly few) who couldn't look less comfortable and at home in a suit if you cut anatomically unfortunate holes in it and poured in itching powder. For them it's clearly a net loss, but I think many people unnecessarily put themselves in that group.
Once I saw an episode of the UK version of 'Dragons Den'. A couple of guys pitched some adventure sports equipment they had built and one of the investors, Peter Jones, told them off for not wearing suits to do the pitch and refused to invest in them.<p>After watching that, I developed the following opinion:<p>Any time somebody is evaluating you (for investment, for a job etc) they are going to have an idea in their head of what they want. They will put you through a filtering process and decide whether or not to let you through.<p>What most people don't consider is that the filter is not just there to help the decison maker, it's there to help them too. You get to present yourself however you want so you can choose the inputs to the filter.<p>If you don't want to have an investor who would think your choice of clothing is important, don't wear a suit. If you don't want to work somewhere that chooses to interview people based on the amount of bullshit in their CV, don't put bullshit in yours, and so on.<p>edit: I forgot to address the question with regards to customers. In that case the answer seems to be "whatever the customer expects" since you presumably don't want to put a barrier in the way of them buying your stuff.
I voted to wear for suits for investors, although I've never worn one to a meeting with either a client or an investor. It's just something I've always wanted to do, wear a suit in everyday life. Just never had the need.<p>I've engaged and closed over $200k worth of investments for various projects I've worked on over the years, and it's never been an issue what attire I've worn to a meeting. I've even had several investors told me they liked that I wore a T-shirt and didn't wear a "monkey suit" to the meeting. "Leave it to the people that have to," they told me. I suppose I can agree with that. :)
It depends on whether you normally are comfortable wearing a suit.<p>If it makes you feel uncomfortable or gives you a 'dressed up monkey' feeling then better dress for your own comfort.<p>If you are used to wearing suits, look good in one and feel more confident then by all means wear a suit.<p>Pitching is all about confidence, anything that helps your confidence is good.
Depends. I know a guy who works sometimes at Amazon and sometimes in the investment banking world. He dresses down for Amazon and suits up for bankers.<p>So, it depends on your audience. There's no one answer.
I answered Yes, but it's better to do some research about the audience and their style. Even in large organizations the styles can vary greatly. In my experience substance trumps style in most cases. If you choose to wear a suit, make sure it looks absolutely schmick!
It is best to play it safe. You can never go wrong with a suit. But if you are underdressed, it may work against you. These meetings are not the place to make a statement about life style. They are just meetings. As the saying goes: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
you look like a monkey willing to dance for change if you wear a suit but are clearly uncomfortable. wear whatever makes you most comfortable.<p>i once met a vc in a bar, when he came up to me and asked how i had managed to monopolize all of the beautiful women in the bar. at the time, i believe i was wearing eyeliner and clearly intoxicated.<p>i met the guy a week or two later, wearing torn jeans, a leather jacket, several rather elaborate rings, and a t-shirt that said 'proud to be awesome,' because that's the kind of clothes i normally wore at the time, and i didn't really think about what he'd think of it. we talked for a while and he gave me a hookup for a cto gig, i think largely because i made it evident how self confident i am.
Last time I wore a suit was at a funeral in 1992. I've not used one at all since, which includes for job interviews, a couple of pitches, business meetings, formal events and a presentation or two.<p>I find it's more important to be an honest representation of yourself rather than be wrapped in a layer of turd polish. Also if you are judged on your appearance over your skills and/or product, then you really don't want to work with the other party.