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Artemis Ventures, LLC 19981 How to Create A Killer Business Plan and Financing Pitch Christine Comaford Managing Director
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 19982 Bio § Engineer, entrepreneur, venture catalyst § 5x entrepreneur, 2 IPOs, 3 M&A, $100 million raised in last 5 years § Venture Catalyst specializing in Enterprise software & Internet enabling technologies § 1 other partner Kimball Atwood
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 19983 Did You Know? Most business plans are never read by a VC partner?
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 19984
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5 Did You Know? VC investments in Internet firms by 1H99 were over $6 billion -- nearly 2x of 1998 TOTAL! Source: IDC
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 19986 Did You Know? The #1 reason a startup’s valuation is cut is an incomplete executive team
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 19987 7 Steps to A Compelling Business Plan & Financing Pitch
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 19988 Know the Risks to Address § Financial § Market § Technology § Team
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 19989 6 Things You Must Have § Stable, working business models § Good business plan § Competent management § Great vision § Big markets § Good team
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199810 Business Model Components § Markets & Customers Profile and Segmentation Key Pain Points Size of the Problem in Dollars Location of those Dollars Competition § Products & Services Product Definition Value Proposition Total Cost Analysis Add-on Product Strategy
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199811 Business Model Components (cont’d) § Marketing & Distribution Marketing Strategy Sales Process Implementation Process Strategic Alliances § Financial Engine l Pricing Model Revenue Model Cost Structure
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199812 1 - State Credibility § Exec team l Pedigree (education, past startups) l Publicity (published pieces, notoriety, awards) l Connections (technology advisor to White House, etc) § Well-known board members, advisors (who are betting on this company)
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199813 Who You Need On Your Team § Visionaries (assorted positions) § Leaders (CEO, Managers) § Implementers (Sales, Marketing, Technology) § Infrastructure Builders/Supporters (Operations)
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199814 2 - Be Clear § Have 3 key points to deliver § Show and tell your story (use words AND pictures) § Repeat the 3 key points at least 3 times § Only tell stories that enhance your points
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199815 3 - Be Concise and Complete § Why is this a great idea? § How will it be executed? § How will risk be minimized, return maximized? § What are the sustainable barriers to entry? § 20 page plan (3-5 page exec sum with 1 page financials)
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199816 Complete Means… § Pain/Solution § Opportunity/Market Size/Market Analysis § Competitors: today and tomorrow § Product/Service Definition & Futures § Marketing Plan/Sales Strategy/Strategic Alliances § The Team: staff and extended § Financials (create a dynamic model)
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199817 4 - Be Compelling § This is a HUGE opportunity, we’re the best to seize it, here are 3-5 specific reasons why § You think this opportunity is HUGE today? Check it out in 2-4 years! § There is major PAIN, we remove it -- no doubt § We have the team, technology, right market, “just add water”
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199818 5 - Give Them a Reason to Believe § Create the excitement (greed), then… § Convey the long term vision (wow! Look at all the additional markets we can get into!), then... § Spell out the short term practicalities (hey - - these guys look like they could actually make this happen!)
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199819 6 - Give Them the Right Info What is your elevator pitch? In other words if you had to tell someone about your company on a short elevator ride, what would you say? § What product or service is sold? § Who is it sold to? § How much does it cost (average sales price)?
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199820 Right Info Cont’d How big is the target market? §What percentage of that market do you need to penetrate to reach $30 million in sales? § What is your key competition? § What is your KEY differentiation from the competition?
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199821 Right Info Cont’d How long would this differentiation last? §Do you have customers? How many? §Revenue? How much? §Strategic Alliances? With whom? § Is your technology complete? If not, when?
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199822 7 - Present Properly § Practice and know it cold § Have backup slides for key areas (such as market segmentation, financials) § Be ready with a reference list (for all key execs, both personal and customer references)
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199823 How Long Should a Pitch Be? § A VC pitch should be 20 minutes long (goal: book next meeting) § A customer pitch should be 30 minutes long (goal: convince them to bring the decision maker in) § A recruiting pitch should be 30 minutes (goal: check them out,sell the vision, decide next step)
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199824 Rx for Not Naturally Born Speakers § Best speech coaches: Silicon Valley: Steve Mandel 408 475 8202 Boston: Cheever Communications 781 639 1516
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199825 Great Entrepreneurial Resources § Read “Burn Rate” - Michael Wolff § Read “High Tech Startup” - John Nesheim § Check out www.vfinance.com, www.startupweb.com § www.artemisventures.com resources section has growing library of goodies
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199826 Entrepreneurial Resources
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199827 Do You Have These? § Right market § Right product/service § Right timing § Right info § Right priority § Right connections § Right team
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199828 Christine Comaford General Partner and Managing Director Thank You Q & A/Lab Time
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199829 Good Idea? Bad Idea? Your startup is HOT! You do 3 VC pitches and also get some fabulous press. 10 more VCs call you, and you book meetings with them.
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199830 Good Idea? Bad Idea? You get 2 term sheets for a $3mil investment both from 2 high value VC syndicates. One is for a $6mil pre money valuation and 1 board seat. The other is for an $8mil pre and 3 board seats. There are a total of 5 board seats. You choose the $6mil pre.
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199831 Good Idea? Bad Idea? Your startup’s product/service is nearly ready for beta. You can take $1mil to get through the beta, sign on a few customers, and make a few key hires, OR you can take $3mil to do even more. With the $1mil you’ll need to start fundraising again in 3 months, with the $3mil you’ll start fundraising in 12 months. You take the $1mil.
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Artemis Ventures, LLC 199832 Good Idea? Bad Idea? You have a skeletal exec team -- operations and technology only. You’ll hire a CEO, sales, marketing and business development once you’re funded. You set aside 15% of your pre-financing stock for the option pool.
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