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Business and innovation

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Home » Scientific enterprise » Business and innovation » Vapourware and unobtanium: why overselling is not (always) a good idea

Vapourware and unobtanium: why overselling is not (always) a good idea

05 May 2025 Honor Powrie

There’s a fine line between having a genuine enthusiasm for a product and not being entirely honest about what it can do. Honor Powrie warns of the danger of “overselling”

Sofa too big for the room
Buyer beware It's wise to be careful of a product that a manufacturer claims does more than it really can. (Courtesy: iStock/t:mikkelwilliam)
What does the word “overselling” mean to you? At one level, it can just mean selling more of som

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Honor Powrie is an engineer who is now senior director for data science and analytics at GE in Southampton, UK. She is writing here in a personal capacity
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