Business Plan Survival Tips After the Dot-Com Collapse March 2, 2001

CanadaStartups.com - MAC 2001 Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved What I’m Here to Share CanadaStartups at a Glance Survival Tips: Pre and Post Dot-Com Capital vs. Revenue Eyeballs vs. Dollars Growth vs. Explosion Magic vs. Market Research Some Things Haven’t Changed

CanadaStartups.com - MAC 2001 Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved CanadaStartups: At a Glance Canada’s first online resource dedicated to the Canadian Internet Startup Provides members startups with tools to network, connect and promote Over 300 members from coast to coast Facilitated millions in early stage investment Brought national attention to the Canadian startup community

CanadaStartups.com - MAC 2001 Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved Capital vs. Revenues Then VC funding was a necessary step in any business Overnight growth was paramount for first mover advantage Raising money was the number one priority The end goal was IPO Now Emphasis now on controlled growth, as first mover less critical Top and bottom lines are necessary steps in any business Number one priority is generating revenue End goal is continued profitability

CanadaStartups.com - MAC 2001 Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved Eyeballs vs. Dollars Then Currency of the internet era was eyeballs, traffic, exposure Ridiculous amounts of money spent on advertising, promotion Business plans talked about page views, click throughs, etc. Now Currency of the internet is dollars…period. Money being more wisely invested in sales, public relations, product development. Eyeballs don’t matter unless they can be converted to $$$$’s

CanadaStartups.com - MAC 2001 Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved Explosion vs. Growth Then First mover advantage would ward off competition Key to first mover advantage was explosive growth The race was a sprint to the starting line Now First mover is nice, but trivial in grand scheme Explosive growth is harmful if market isn’t ready for the company Big money losing firms are now small money losing firms Race is a marathon to the finish line

CanadaStartups.com - MAC 2001 Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved Magic vs. Market Research Then IDC, Gartner, Forrester, Giga, all ruled the business plan world The Internet is going to be an $X trillion market All we need is 0.001% and we’ll all be rich Now Who are your customers? How do you know they need what you have? Why are they going to pick you out over everyone else? Now prove it!

CanadaStartups.com - MAC 2001 Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved Some Things Never Change It’s all about people Hire slowly and fire quickly Know when you’re swimming with sharks, and how to deal with them Lay it on the table now! Watch out for egos It’s not the beginning of the end, it’s the end of the beginning