» Funding

Building a Pitch Presentation

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:13:07 +0000

Excellent advice on building a pitch slide deck for seeking venture capital: http://www.altgate.com/blog/2008/09/vc-pitch-deck-a.html

Should you outsource the writing of your business plan?

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:34:04 +0000

I am often asked to work with innovators to create a business plan. If you don’t feel that you are the best persuasive writer, then I do recommend hiring someone with experience to coach you through this process. HOWEVER – a word of caution: do not hire someone to do the entire business plan for you. Why?

Well, when you are headed to raise money, sell an idea, etc. you have to be quick on your feet and know 3-4 levels deeper than what actually goes into your bizplan. You have to distill that to a 15 page power point and when you pitch, you’d better be ready for anything. I’ve never met anyone that can read a full bizplan, memorize it and be ready to take any one of the areas on in detail when put on the spot.

Sure, paying thousands of dollars might get you a plan that gets you in the door with angels and VC’s but I’d bet against your success in the pitch. I’ve seen too many pitches in my life go really bad and even then, those people did their own plan. You have to nail it and frankly, if they are not willing to do the heavy lifting – research, interviews, etc, then they shouldn’t be in business. This tells me they don’t care enough.

Why would you enter the ice cream business if you aren’t willing to go taste the flavors of all the places in your neighborhood and interview neighbors on their thoughts about the ice cream available to them today? The same applies for any venture. You don’t have to write it in the end but if you don’t do all of the research, interviews and due diligence, then you shouldn’t be in the business.

Fear of Success

admin — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:08:40 +0000

It has come to my attention that many innovators are afraid of what success means. Not in the sense that they don’t want money and attention for their work as much as the fear of how success impacts their lab time. The process of innovation is such an important part of many innovators identity that there is a fear success might inhibit their ability to spend time involved in their passion.

It is important to understand that this is probably more perception that fact. The key is to find the right commercialization partners who complement you and understand your position. Of course this means giving up a lot of control and ownership of that current innovation but allows you to succeed with your commercialization while returning to the lab for improvements or the next project. Having one of your technologies succeed also does not mean a granting authority will cut you off on future projects. Commercial success is a key criteria for many grants so success commercially should only improve your ability to secure funding for future projects.

Data Driven World

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:01:41 +0000

Pitching an idea, creation or innovation can be exciting and fun but how do you ensure you secure the “Buy-in” you are looking for? Let’s face it, you are often your only champion so before you go and tell someone you need to partner with you about your great idea, remember they are unlikely to view it the same way. So how do you approach a potential partner, investor or customer?

Provide them data. I have discussed “pain” before and this is an extension of that same point. You have to paint a picture of your innovation in the context of facts that apply to your audience. That could be return on investment, it could be competitive technical data on performance. Regardless of what it might be, do your homework and arm yourself with data to answer any question that can come your way. If you can’t quantify why your idea is better, faster, cheaper, more profitable, few people will listen and fewer will join your cause.

What is the value of your idea?

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:23:26 +0000

One lesson that is hardest to swallow for most inventors or technologists is that your idea is the key driver of value that everything else revolved around.

The reality is that everything revolves around execution.

Learn this lesson early and save a lot of heartache. Unfortunately, only a small minority of ideas ever see the light of day. Did you know that over 95% of all patents never make a dime? I mention this not to scare you away from pursuing the market but instead to help you get a grasp of the effort ahead. Be prepared to work hard – very hard. Learn how to sell yourself so you can remain on top of each negotiation and each opportunity. Remember, if your innovation is good enough to land funding, a VC will gobble up a significant portion of your equity, so try to develop the market yourself as long as you can and build value around your idea so that you improve your leverage.

Presenting to Investors

admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:29:44 +0000

By far the number one mistake innovators make when pitching to investors (or even selling their innovation for that matter) is loading the presentation with technical jargon and data and all in 10 pt. font. Investors are in this for money and they want to get a basic understanding of:

Who you and your team are
What is your experience
How does the technology work at a VERY high level
What is the financial picture and exit strategy

They want to make money and get out. Usually nothing more and nothing less. I’ve seen so many presentations choc full of images and graphs. Make your presentation simple, no more than 15 pages of power point and try to make all of your points on 3-5 bullets per page.