The worksheet was prepared to guide
young companies
that get the opportunity to make formal presentations at a Venture Fair. It can
also be used to prepare smaller presentations to prospective investors. Some
companies have discovered an unexpected use for this as a
planning tool. By
seeing what topics must be covered, a company can identify
key commercialization
steps,
strategic issues, and critical
relationships as a basis for then writing
its formal business plan.
Congratulations!You have been selected as one of the companies to be featured at the
upcoming Venture Fair. This annual event is focused on promising seed-stage and
early
stage
venture companies.
Each presenter will have the opportunity to make a 5—8 minute presentation about
his or her company. To support your oral presentation, you have the option to
use PowerPoint, charts, or hand-outs.
The distinguished panel of judges will listen to all of the company
presentations before selecting the "Company Most Ready to Receive Funding." The
winning companies (First and Second-place) will be honored at the Reception
(5:30—7 p.m.) along with the company selected as the "Peoples’ Choice" winner.
As a guide, we have developed a specific list of questions in 7 major categories
for you to consider. Eight minutes is not a lot of time. So the best advice is
"Keep it
simple!"
If your presentation were to be written out as text, the maximum length would be
the equivalent of 22 sentences — an introductory sentence plus no more than
3 sentences for each of the 7 major topics. The number of slides or
transparencies that can be handled is probably 14 or less (i.e.,
an average of 2 per topic). This means a new "visual" every 30 seconds.
No presenter will be permitted to exceed the 8 minute limit. At a recent
Mid-Atlantic Venture Fair, some of the most effective presentations were from
people who told their whole story not in 8 minutes but in just 5! They
were relaxed and familiar with what they planned to say, they had obviously practiced out loud (very important), and they did not read
their presentations but instead interacted "naturally" with their
visual
materials.
Remember: the goal of your oral presentation is not
to be comprehensive. Your goal is to sound interesting and plausible and to
motivate people to talk with you "one-on-one" during the break-out sessions.
Venture Concept
~ In a single introductory sentence, please provide a very, very abbreviated
description of the company’s
basic
market opportunity... its technology... how its technology is or will be
protected... any regulatory approvals that may be required... its manufacturing,
distribution,
marketing and
sales methods... funding to date as well as future funding requirements...
and the general credentials of the
management team.
Here is an example of such
an introductory sentence. To see how such a sentence functions, read it aloud...
slowly... and distinctly:
By adapting proprietary multiplexing software which can be licensed on a
non-exclusive basis from Paul Murkee Research Laboratories ("PMRL")... and
by then utilizing such software (along with proprietary enhancements)... in
conjunction with off-the-shelf vendor circuitry... that is integrated in a
novel way,... the founders of TeleTeen Technology Communications, Inc.
("3TComm") (one founder has left Bellcore after 25 years of technical and
management experience and the other founder has joined the Company after 7
years in national sales for a major office products company)... after having
invested $350,000 of their own cash... now intend to raise $1.4 million...
to support the commercial roll-out,... through both distribution and VAR
channels,... of a plug-and-play black-box component,... in embodiments for
both commercial markets (Year 2 sales forecast: $5 million) and the consumer
market (Year 2 sales forecast: $11 million)... that will allow single phone
lines to carry up to four channels of voice-grade information
simultaneously... which 3TComm's device will route via hard-wiring (i.e.,
standard existing UTP wiring)... to four discrete send/receive devices (all
of which must be on the premises).
Protecting Proprietary Rights
– Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the two most
important (but definitely not all ) of the following issues
If proprietary technology results
from this project, who will own the discoveries?
Manufacturing
– Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the following
issues
How will the resulting products be
produced? In-house manufacturing and assembly? In-house assembly of
components that have been manufactured by outside sources? Commercialization
by out-licensing production and distribution
entirely
by others?
Marketing, Sales and Distribution
–
Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the following issues
How will the company take its
products to the market (direct sales vs. rep-based selling vs. a marketing
arrangement that is contracted or licensed to a third party)?
Given the selected approach, how will
this process be managed?
How will the company establish and
support its distribution functions?
Does the project require lengthy
clinical trials and FDA certification before market introduction can begin?
Is some other kind of approval
required (UL, trade group, etc.)?
Does the company understand what is
involved?
Has the time required for obtaining
these approvals been estimated realistically?
Does the budget include adequate
provision for such approval procedures?
Take a company that interests you. Compose a
sentence that fairly and accurately and completely describes this
company.
As a test, keep in mind that this sentence should be meaningful both to the
company itself (i.e., to "insiders") and also meaningful to someone who would
first be exposed to the company strictly through your written description of it.
In addition to factual information, can you write a sentence that conveys the
company’s opportunity in the marketplace and how it will
operate
in order to fulfill this opportunity? Try it.
Neatness.
These simple little sentences often turn out to be not-so-easy to write. Please
feel free to make this written exercise as messy as it needs to be. Cross-outs,
arrows, marginal insertions, etc. are wonderfully helpful and are encouraged. In terms of legibility and neatness, when you’ve got the
words, the sequence, and the concept right, the only requirement is that you be able to read the sentence. It can always be made neater later.
We'd be pleased to hear from you...
BLUE ROCK CAPITAL makes long-term equity investments in promising seed-stage
and early-stage ventures in the Mid-Atlantic region from the Carolinas to New
England. The Fund emphasizes
information technology, business services, and related fields. It does not
invest in biotechnology, invasive medical devices, pharmaceuticals and certain
other situations.
Below are brief video
presentations prepared for the Building Global
Innovators (BGI) contests organized by the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and the University of
Lisbon.
