1. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
RESEARCH CONSULTING
Entrepreneurial
Computer Science
Yonah Alexandre Bronstein, PhD
Session 9
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

2. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Session Outline
APOLOGIES
Administrative Stuff
Homework Check… 5 yr Rev/Exp Projection?
Chapter 6 Overflow: Art of Recruiting
Chapter 7: Art of Raising Capital – Part 1
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

3. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Administrative Stuff
Schedule:
Mainsoft CEO “ a real Israeli start-up” on Dec 26th:
Final Exam: “Virtual VC” training:
9 projects with 15 minutes to present their Investor Pitch (12’ hard stop)
Virtual VCs (class students & industry experts) invest their virtual $
Sunday January 9th, 12noon – 15:00, Bldg. 37 Auditorium (#202)
Final Files Submission: Monday Jan. 3rd, midnight.
So we can print a booklet of all Executive Summaries
So there is time for a final feedback from me before the show…
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

4. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Homework Check…
5 Year Revenue/Expense Projections, with a Business-person’s help…
Students’ turn?
$ is the  “idea” & “business”
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

5. Ch.6: Reference Checking
Goals: Consistency & Complete Picture boss/peer/report
Good Questions:
What contributions did Candidate make to the organization?
What are Candidate’s specific skills?
What is Candidate best/worst at?
Would you hire/work-for Candidate again?
Should I speak with anyone else about Candidate?
Unsolicited References (cold calls into previous organizations; ask operator to connect to folks who…)
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

6. Ch.6: CS Angle / Personal Experience
“Managing Programmers = Herding Cats”, check:
Programming languages/tool sets
Work group experience vs. Lone Ranger style
Ego… (High $$  High Ego  Low Cooperation Capabilities)
Don’t mix business (conditional giving) with family (unconditional giving)
Hiring is very hard to do Intellectually; find someone in your organization with a good & tested Gut Radar…
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

7. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Ch.6: Final Wisdom
Since recruiting is so difficult to do right, plan for failure!
Set up an initial trial period (e.g. 90 days) upfront.
Review performance – on both sides…
Adjust if needed & possible, terminate otherwise.
And:
Don’t assume you’re ever done: recruiting – in both directions – must be done every day… (and that’s true in both business & family relationships…)
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

8. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Ch.7: Raising Capital
Gist:
Can raise $ from:
Venture Capitalists (“VC”)
Angels
Foundations
Government Entities
F3 : Family, Friends, Fools
Good pitch is necessary, but not sufficient: need to build something meaningful, long-lasting & valuable.
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

9. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Ch.7: Get an “Intro”
Intro = “This is so-and-so and I think you should…”
“Cold call” ok to try, but at the risk of quick dismissal. (G.K. story: “a friend told a friend who told an associate who told a partner not to bother looking at a company.”)
From whom? Anyone with credibility with investor:
Current investors
$ Professionals (lawyers, accountants)
Other entrepreneurs
Professors… 
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

10. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Ch.7: Show “Traction”
Traction = Tire grips the road and moves car forward.
“Sales” really
But not necessarily measured in $$:
Enrollment (if membership model applies)
Visitors (websites, museums, …)
Field tests (action)
Agreements to test or pilot (written words)
References from potential customers (oral words)
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

11. Ch.7: Personal Experience
ASTAV raised funds (and motivated workers) for a couple of years based on one quote:
“I spoke with Tim Sutton, our CEO, and he believes that the technology could be a benefit to Positive's service portfolio. I continue to think the idea sounds valuable, and we would likely add support as soon as it became available.” – Steve Dispensa, co-founder & CTO, Positive Networks
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

12. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Ch.7: Investor Funnel
Business Plans life in Investors’ hands:
2000 enter through all the doors ( , website, friends)
200 are moderately credible (from executive summary)
100 are interesting enough to read (the whole plan)
40 get thoroughly investigated (“due diligence”)
10 get funded (one or more times)
1 makes $$$
Game: avoid being eliminated!
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

13. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Ch.7: Clean Up Your Act
Intellectual Property (Who really owns the idea? Previous employer? Founder? Patent infringement?)
Capital Structure (Too much stock in founders unwilling to share? Control by inflexible investor? Over/Under-priced previous rounds?)
Management Team (Related co-founders? Unqualified friends in CxO positions? Criminal convictions?)
Stock Offerings (Stock grants vs. options? High valuation sales to relatives? Solicitation of “unqualified” investors?)
Regulatory Compliance (Nonpayment of payroll taxes, Noncompliance with country rules?)
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

14. Ch.7: Disclose What Cannot Be Cleaned Up
Earlier rather later, will help credibility.
“Mea culpa” rather than blaming others.
Previous failures are nothing to be ashamed of.
“Getting up and trying again” shows that you are an entrepreneur. (Frog in the glass of milk fable…)
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.

15. ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
Q & A ?
For Next Session?
Take in feedback from midterm
Sleep on it (pray if it seems too hard )
Act on it! (without waiting till end of semester…)
Infinite Loops are OK here…
ABUSE SUPPRESSION TECHNOLOGIES, ACTIVITIES, VISION.
©2008 ASTAV, inc. – Confidential & Proprietary – Contact for pricing.