Attracting Capital: Roger Kitterman General Partner, Mi3 Venture Partners “What do Venture Capitalists Want to See”

2 Mi3 Venture Partners Early-stage, life sciences-focused venture fund based outside of Boston, MA Focus on bioengineering Geography not an issue – we go where the great technologies are More than half the portfolio based on technologies developed at universities or hospitals

3 What do VCs want? TO MAKE MONEY In a reasonable period of time Without too much risk VCs look at well over 100 deals to invest in one Triage is key VCs tend to be opinionated, poor listeners, with a short attention span when looking at deals

4 Challenges to attracting capital to “underserved markets” “Our firm is located in Boston. We don’t see a reason to invest in anything we can’t walk to.” “We never make investments if we have to change planes to get there.” “We only do spinouts with the top two or three universities. The rest don’t have the volume to make it easy for us to work with them.” “That would be a great company – if it was in the Bay area.” “We only invest in U.S. Delaware corporations.”

5 What do VCs look for in a deal Great technologies addressing large opportunities/markets Experienced management Clear path to exit in 3-5 years Reasonable capital required relative to the opportunity Opportunities that minimize risk IP that protects the business opportunity The farther away, the less hair is acceptable

6 Do NOT overprice the deal early on with angels or local investors fear dilution fear loss of control set up complex legal structures that may scare off investors present a plan that contains unrealistic projections

7 Strategies that work to attract capital Network – get the right advisors and use them Create external validation Target the right investors Remove as much hair as possible Reduce the risk as much as possible Coordinate to use your local LPs influence