"And I'm telling you, even then, convincing managers is not easier than convincing any other investor"<p>You should know your manager much better than you know your investor. If you know someone, you should be better equipped to share your vision with them.  Then, three things can happen a) your vision is rejected because it has a flaw you did not see b) your vision is rejected because it does not match your manager's situation (you should put more effort in getting to know your manager's situation!) or c) your idea is accepted.  Of course, (b) is really hard. Then again, most programmers I know don't evaluate their corporate structures and people as thoroughly as they evaluate code.