Joseph F. Dooley

1
Entrepreneur Bootcamp Presenting to Investors

• Presented by
• Joseph F. Dooley
• President
• Dooley Associates
• jdooley_at_dooley.com

2
Housekeeping

• Please turn off cell phones and pagers
• Feel free to take notes and ask questions

3
Why This Seminar

• Purpose is to help entrepreneurs understand the
  need to develop a message that resonates with
  investors. From my experience, entrepreneurs were
  not preparing adequately before getting in front
  of investors (e.g., VCs, angels), and thus not
  getting funded. Observations
• Valuations were too high
• Market analysis was suspect
• Little to show for with previously invested money
  
• No real customers
• Value propositions were not clearly articulated
• Presenters were not well prepared

4
First Things First

• The Idea Simple is good
• The Offering What is it?
• The Need Do people really want this?
• The Value Proposition Develop your pitch,
  K.I.S.S.
• The Capabilities Money, people, technology, time

5
Challenge Your Assumptions

• Define the Product/Service Offering
• Is this a competitive offering?
• Is this a complementary offering?
• Is this something totally new?
• Evaluate the Market
• Is there an existing market?
• Is it growing? (prove it, and use numerous,
  conservative sources)
• Whos your customer?
• Will your customer buy from you? (barriers
  recession, locked into competitors offering,
  relationship-based)
• Can your customer afford your offering?
  (barriers offering itself is too expensive, too
  complex to setup, requires hardware, requires
  cooperation from partners)

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Challenge Your Assumptions

• Clarify the Value Proposition
• Why should a customer buy from you?
• Cant competitors do the same thing for the same
  price (or even cheaper)?
• Whats the real need for your offering anyway?
• Assess Appropriateness of Valuation
• How are you valuing your company? (e.g.,
  discounted cash flow analysis, comparison to
  similar companies, wild guess)
•  
• Miscellaneous
• Dont mention partnerships unless they are
  signed, sealed and delivered
• Have a real management team in place, not
  so-and-so will be joining us once were funded

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Showtime!

• Company
•  
• Focus Strong introduction and quick background
  on the company
• Time 1 minute
• Topics
•  
• Date of inception and incorporation
• Industry
• Types of products/services
• Need being fulfilled
• Number of employees
•  
• Management
•  
• Focus Credentialize the company
• Time 2 minutes
• Topics
• Names

• Prior employers
• Degrees
• Schools

8
Showtime!

• Offering
•  
• Focus Get the investor interested
• Time 3 minutes
• Topics
• Description of products/services in laymans
  terms
• Current state of offering (idea, prototype,
  production)
• Existing/pending patents
• Market potential/size/growth rate
• Competitors
• Distribution channels
•   
• Value Proposition
•  
• Focus Convince the investor to invest
• Time 2 minutes
• Topics

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Showtime!

• Financials
•  
• Focus Path to profitability
• Time 2 minutes
• Topics
• Current and projected revenues and expenses
• Expected time of profitability
•  
• Conclusion
•  
• Focus Strong close to get the money!
• Time 3 minutes
• Topics
• Total money raised to date
• Pre-money valuation
• Total amount seeking
• Per share value and percentage of the company

10
Words of Advice

• Perform dry-runs at least three times before the
  day of the presentation and at least once the day
  of the presentation
•  
• Make sure there are no errors in the
  presentations content/format
• Ensure technical issues are resolved (e.g.,
  laptop, projector)
• Dont use multimedia unless it absolutely
  pertains to your offering
• Control your environment as best you can
• Dont act like Pavlovs dogturn off your gadgets
• Ensure your delivery is smooth, confident and
  compelling
• Dont talk technicalunless youve been
  specifically asked to address a technical
  audience
• Selling is more important than impressing

11
Words of Advice

• If the CEO doesnt present well, then get someone
  who does
• Look at your audience (dont turn your back to
  read the slides)
• Share the presentation delivery with a team
  member (or at least have a team member there to
  cover you)
• Read your audiences body language
• Speak naturally by pausing in your conversation
  so someone can interject questions
• Dont B.S. If you dont know the answer to a
  question, say so and promise to get back with the
  answer

12
Words of Advice

• Avoid The Eleventh-Hour Panic
•  
• Dont work on the presentation on the airplane
• Have a backup for your presentation (e.g.,
  diskette/CD, your colleagues laptop, with your
  secretary)
• Dont rely upon a print shop in the city youre
  arriving at to have the hardcopies printed and
  bound
• Dont assume a projector and screen will be
  available
• Arrive the night before
• Get a good nights rest!

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Sources of Funding Other Than Venture Capital

• Alternative Financing
• Private/Corporate Foundations
  http//fdncenter.org/funders/grantmaker/
• Government Grants http//www.sba.gov/sbir/
• Government-Backed Loans http//www.sba.gov/

14
Conclusion

• Questions, comments and complaints can be sent
  to
• Joseph F. Dooley
• jdooley_at_dooley.com