Peter Cowley and Paul Anson Angels, Dragons (or Comedians)? Peter Cowley and Paul Anson

Topics Pitching to Angels How the investment environment is changing Personal experiences Other sources of funding Martlet Pizza time

Pitching to Angels Peter Cowley Cambridge Angel Mentor/investor/charity chair

Format of event Audience/location size? PPT allowed? Hand-outs allowed? Gadgets/widgets to pass around Pitch length and Q&A length Which team members are on the stage and how many speak? Dress, sitting/standing Peter Cowley

What angels want to see (or not) Be genuinely enthusiastic/passionate! Need to build trust Need to believe that team can deliver Angels soon put off by stated facts that they know (or suspect) to be wrong Avoid management speak Avoid slick salesman approach Peter Cowley

Must have topics – part 1 Core business sound bite words Market being addressed Confidence that either market will grow or company can grow into the market Where youre at right now – market research, technology, sales/grants Peter Cowley

Must have topics – part 2 What you will use the money for That you are not a one product/service company Team Monetisation opportunity Investor exit route and forecast return multiple (10x?) Peter Cowley

May have topics Competition Defensibility? Patents/copyright etc Market justification SWOT slide Existing shareholding Existing IP Deeper description of technology/service Peter Cowley

PPT guidelines Depends of time allotted Say max one slide per minute, 30 point font? Use images, drawings etc Must avoid too many words – 4 to 8 lines of 10 or so words Graphs of market growth, sales, cash flow etc Can embed videos Peter Cowley

Ending Essential that there is a very concise overview with the ask - £xxxK cash (possibly saying at a pre-money valuation of £xxxK). Ask for questions (if format allows) If possible, ask who is interested in following it up. Peter Cowley

Q&A Listen to the question! Decide which team member is answering what Make sure all team members speak Do not lie! Say you dont know and will check Avoid bull-shitting Take control if questioning is going off at a tangent – you havent got long and the tangent may be of no interest to others Peter Cowley

What is happening? BBAA 2009/10 figures suggest membership stable (around 5000, perhaps 20% of market) but only 10-15% active. Applications increased, proportion presented decreased. 2.5% of all applications (9640) successful (down from 2.7%) Number of investments increased 8% Value of Angel investment dropped 12.6% Overall investment value did not change The feeling is that not much changed but there is increased competition and reduced availability due to lack of exits. Paul Anson

Personal Experiences VC funding is less available to pre-revenue businesses & sector critical – e.g cleantech Some large angel deals –groups are syndicating and co- investing with VCs. Are Angels plugging the gap? Experience suggests many angels are looking after current investments, but new angels are appearing The angel networks are busy so are screening more There continues to be an appetite for early stage investing, seeding a business and providing support Good quality deals are getting investment, but take advantage of all sources of income. Paul Anson

Other sources of income Friends and family Bootstrapping Grants Loans R&D tax credits Business accelerators Corporate venturing Sales! Ventures that demonstrate funding initiative are more likely to be successful. Paul Anson

Co-invests with other angels Equity cash from £1bn engineering company Possibility of synergy Any sector Cambridge centric £250K this year rising to £500K+ from 2012 Done deals: Neul, Psychology Online Close: Pasmarine, Isotera Peter Cowley

Questions, please! Peter Cowley