Archive for August 28th, 2012
Hello All
I’ve used the enclosed, or variations on it, many times now.
It clearly sets out the background material that anyone thinking of investing in your idea, business plan, corporate change, new product development either financially, operationally or emotionally will need.
Please note this doesn’t try to do the detailed number modelling, though I plan to provides some templates for this in the future it is my experience that each business has their own preferred template for the detailed modelling.
This is designed to set you apart from your competition by making the decision to go with you easy!
Please remember I provide this for free, this means it is;
- free for you to download, use, change, pass on (please mention the website) and use
- free of any liability on my part for how you use them and any consequences that arise as result of using them or any derivative you might create themselves
- free of any warranty on my part for any errors and omissions contained in them
- I hope you enjoy using them and I hope they help you make better decisions.
Share and Enjoy!
I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to stakeholders, executives, investors and general hangers on! I’ve never seen one that was too short -other than on real, decision-making quality, content! Ten slides is more than enough, with the right content, and in 10 minutes you can pitch for 20k as effectively as you can pitch for 20M. Trust me on this one, that’s why I’m on the beach today!
Every pitch needs both a business plan and a return on investment presentation completed before you formally approach any potential stakeholders. Here are the ten slides you need:
- Problem and market need. Give the “elevator pitch” for your startup. Explain in analogies your mother could understand, and quantify the “cost-of-pain” in money or time. Fuzzy “management speak” terms like “not user-oriented” or “too expensive” will turn people off very quickly. People with money do not have patience for BS!
- Solution product & technology. Here is how and why it works, including a customer-view of the benefits. Make sure to communicate the relevance of your product / services to market needs. Describe your technology patents, your USPs, and why that makes you better than competitors and/or alternative approaches. Remember, nothing is unique or at least can’t be done a different way….or not at all!
- Opportunity sizing. Define the characteristics of the overall industry, market forces, market dynamics, and customer landscape. You need data from industry experts like Forrester or Gartner for credibility, and try and build it into a time-sensitive market growth model that shows how your market/marketing will change (Eg the Hi-Tech Marketing Model) this will evidence that you really understand your market and that you understand that change is constant.
- Business model. Explain how you will make money and who pays you (real customer). In this section, you need to be accurate and realistic about recurring revenue, profit margin, and volume growth. Know your numbers and how they are calculated, this is where you will get the most questions!
- Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry.
- Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans. Here is also a good place for a rollout timeline with key milestones. Make sure your marketing budget matches the scope of your plan.
- Executive team. Evidence domain knowledge and experience. Explain everyone’s involvement, and quantify the risks they are taking
- Financial projections. Project both revenues and expense totals for next five years, and past three years. What is the current valuation of the company? Show breakeven point, burn rate, and growth assumptions.
- Funding requirements and use of funds. What is the level of capital funding sought during this stage? What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment? Show a breakdown of the intended uses of these funds.
- Exit strategy. What is the timeframe of return on investment? What is the planned exit strategy? What is the timeframe for the exit? What is the rate of return expected for the investor?
Hand out copies of the slides before the presentation for note taking, with proper cover sheet, with brochures, product samples, or other marketing material you may have. Offer to do a demo later to those who are interested, very few senior executives are, NEVER try to squeeze it in the presentation.
My last recommendation is practice, practice, practice. Show energy and enthusiasm, and remember if you lose their attention, you may as well walk out of the room.
In a separate posting I have provided a sample business plan/case template for you to use, enjoy!
TTFN, mine’s a Cubra Libra!
The BBB.