1. Your Company Name [Note: Font size of your presentation should be the average age of your audience divided by 2]
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

2. Mission WHAT WE DO this the “Priceline for Wholesale Perishables"
or the “Norton Anti-Virus for Cell Phones"
[OK. I’ve looked at 10 companies today. What am I going to be looking at for the next 45 minutes? Why should I be enthused?]
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

3. Market
Your total available market. In other words, what your revenue would be if you got 100% of your target customers paying what you expect?
Is this market big enough to be interesting compared to everything else one could invest in these days?
For a Venture Mechanics deal, can this business conceivably deliver 7-figure distributable profits to the shareholders within 3-5 years?
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

4. Problem We Are Solving
Who is the customer? do they matter? what problem does the customer have today? why is that a big problem, why is it their biggest problem?
Ideal: We solve the most important problem for customers who are high gross margin, high growth companies in high growth sectors who move very quickly and frequently buy products from startups.
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

5. How We Solve The Problem
What is your solution? why is it unique? why has nobody done this before?
What has changed that allows room for a startup here?
Ideal: you have come up with a solution that you found due to exclusive domain expertise that is really hard for others to match.
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

6. Technology Status
If big IP piece, several slides on the state of technology development
Is there a lot of "R" left, lots of "D" left, or is the product done?
Ideal: all the risk of research is done, no major unsolved problems remain
[For a Venture Mechanics deal, big “R” is a non-starter. Seek VC or alternative capital sources. Remaining “D” required before the company can generate revenue would typically be in the range of $100K-$200K]
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

7. Customers What kind of market surveys have been conducted?
Are there customers that matter with high willingness to pay?
Ideal: reference-worthy prospective customers who are falling over themselves to get the product or service.
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

8. Get to Market Strategy
How will you get in front of the customer? Direct, Indirect, Distribution, etc.
Is there a channel that can allow this company to get their product to customers profitably?
Is anyone in the way of this startup reaching their customers?
Ideal: Product falls off the shelf fast; very easy, short sales cycle.
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

9. Per Customer Economics
What they will pay?
What will it cost us to acquire them? What will it cost us to service them?
Ideal: you can reach customers very inexpensively, yet get big revenue out of them.
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

10. Key Milestones
What happens when? beta, first customer shipment, breakeven cash flow, etc.
What information does each round of $$ buy?
Can the business be launched for <$250K initial round?
Can the business reach breakeven cash flow on less than $1M total capitalization?
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

11. Team
Why this is a world-class team with relevant skills to pull this off? What have they done before that is special and relevant? Have they done it before or are they learning on the job?
Include mug shots and their LinkedIn profiles.
Ideal: Done it before, recruiting is easy, key team in place, success follows all these guys yet they are hungry to build a company that they can get to keep, not risking all-or-nothing upside for 5-10 years.
[Note: In many cases there will be no team yet, just a germinator – Venture Mechanics will recruit the team.]
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

12. Financials
Forecasts: P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flows. Monthly detail for first year or two; quarterly Years 3 & 4, annual Year 5
More important… Key metrics: # customers, big revenue lines, COGS, gross margins, etc.
How competitive are the gross margin? How quickly does the company ramp, how many $$ invested before reaching profitability. Do these guys understand how a company ramps?
Ideal: Healthy ramp, not too many $$ and not too long to profitability, great gross margins.
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

13. Competition Overview
2x2 matrix of the competition with the two variables that matter on the X and Y
How is the company positioned in the landscape with all the other companies I've seen? How are companies in this category valued? Do I know about competitors that these guys don't have listed?
No big uglies to eat the startup’s lunch. Not a bunch of $$ already invested by other investors in companies attacking the same over-capitalized space.
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

14. Competition Specifics
The top 2 or 3 competitors, one/two liner on their story (funding, etc), one/two liner on why you beat them.
Do I believe these guys can win? Who are the two or three competitors to focus due diligence efforts on?
Ideal: no one else has raised significant $$ yet.
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

15. Comps and Exit Options
Companies in and around the space, valuations, revenues, gross margin
Will this be a valuable company if they execute?
Ideal: There are obvious big, well-valued companies around who would try to buy the company. All valued at very high multiples, but an underserved segment that allows a startup to build a valuable company
Copyright 2010 Venture Mechanics, LLC

16. Submission
Ideally, deliver directly to a Venture Mechanics partner or associate through a known referral source.
Otherwise, to