How can a first time entrepreneur pitch himself to an investor?

The founding/management team is one of the critical areas investors look at in a startup. Usually the team is more important than the idea/product.

Investors like to see a proven track record of previous successes. But what if this is your first startup? How can a first time entrepreneur demonstrate his ability to execute if he doesn't have a prior business he can point to? What strategies can a first time entrepreneur follow to overcome this?

The immediate thing that comes to mind is talking about your successes while working for a previous employer, but that seems a bit weak to me. Is there a better way to answer this question?

How much customer development have you done?

IMHO, validation of initial assumptions on product / market / demand / price elasticity is more important today if we're talking about digital goods / services without inventory carry costs. Proven customer metrics and clear understanding of the funnel + sales cycle times trumps a list of CxO titles.

Sure, you need to be able to pitch and yes, you need to have the ability to develop the product / MVP, but in this world of sub 1M series seed rounds, assembling a large team with a equally large burn rate isn't as much of a requirement these days.