I attended a small start up event at local college just last week. There were around 8 different presentations all on new companies. There was a group of roughly 15 Alumni Investors in attendance. Some of the presenters are already in the revenue stage, others had just launched their business and some were still in conceptual phases. Some reoccurring themes were brought up throughout the presentations. The presenters were given roughly 10 minutes to talk about their business or idea, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. Some went longer and some did not make it that long. The basic goal of the event was to give these young companies an opportunity to receive feedback from the investors, who virtually all of whom have their own companies and have started multiple business ventures. Many have been involved with start ups in their past whether this meant mentoring, investing or both. The event was an opportunity for the presenters to not only receive feedback on their company, idea or vision but also on their presentation, how to present to inventors and what investors are looking for. The main points that came up throughout the presentations.
-What is the problem you are solving? Who are you solving it for? How do you solve it? These three questions need to be answered and addressed within the first couple slides if not the first slide.
Also, you need to assume that your audience (even if it is a group of well established and well educated investors) does not know anything about your product, your service, your technology or your business. A brief background covering the technology or what you do/intend to do needs to be in the presentation early on. Talk about your story, how you came to the idea or vision and your passion for it. The attention of the investors needs to be grabbed within the first couple slides. This could be tied into the big three questions that need to be answered in those early slides.
There seemed to be a problem in some of the presentations with entrepreneurs that were so into their idea and the technology that they neglected the need to go over basic terminology used and a brief background of the technology. One tip given to someone in this category was to go over more business and less technology. What you need money for, how much you need and how you are going to give a good ROI are all important to have in those early slides as well.
Other major topics that need to be addressed are competition and your company's business model. Neglecting to go over competition can cause you to come across as naive. You can talk about the advantages of you company/idea over competitors and how you differentiate your product or service from other companies in your area while going over what's out there. The business model is also important. Some presenters talked about their product or service but failed to address how they make money. The fee structure needs to be explained when talking about the business model in a clear, concise format. This may be a pricing overview of a web based service or how much your product sells for/costs to make comparison.
The team that someone is considering investing in is very important no matter how great or ground breaking your business is. One investor mentioned that there are five key things people look for when considering to make an investment.These are:
1.People
2.People
3.People
4.Market
5.Product / Technology
A basic concern that came up with a web based company was that “Why couldn't someone just take what you have and run with it?” Intellectual Property is always good but not always realistic depending on the nature of the business. If you have I.P. in place it will help this concern to discuss it. If not, you could talk about how your company is different enough from competitors that they could not duplicate what you do.
The presentation itself, which will most likely be a power point needs to be clear and understandable. A common presentation tip to investors is that your grandmother should be able to understand it (nothing against grandma). This ties back into previous points brought up that you shouldn't dive right into the complexity of the technology but should assume that your audience knows nothing about your product, service or idea. More Business, Less Technology.
Presentation Outline Suggestion:
12 slides.
7 bullet points per slide.
7 words per bullet.
One of the presentations was a company that has not only reached revenue of nearly 1M a year but has been profitable. Some encouraging data came out in the Q&A after what I felt was a promising business. The investors felt very strongly that this relevant data related to the market that the company had already tapped into should have been in the slides. Also, the three main points that need to be addressed early on were commonly neglected. What is the problem you are solving? Who are you solving it for? How do you solve it?
The presenters commonly had a lot of passion for their company whether conceptual or real. This is a great attribute, although the investors are typically not very easily impressed (doesn't mean they can't be). However great your idea or business may be to you the investors will bring up points and concerns you may not have previously contemplated.
Some websites where you can find investors, learn about them and connect with them are listed below.
TheFunded.com (allows you to search for investors)
AngelList.com (connect with investors)
