applying for funding
DESCRIPTION
Some tips on business plans and investor readiness- a talk given at Sheffield Technology Park November 2009.TRANSCRIPT
Applying for Funding
AgendaBackground“Investment Readiness”?Business pitch for Poinsgo Ltd
Ed French
Technology investment for 7 yearsInvestment Director for EV Group Manage around £40m of investment money in early-stage technologyLargest technology specialist outside the SouthManage the SY money under subcontractSuccessful investor in technology
South Yorkshire Investment Fund
EV
£33m£6m £30.5m
Early-stage technology £50k-£1m
equitytech
Development Capital
£100k-£2m
Some of our investmentsSheffield based server cooling technologyBringing web video to TV setsWeb based medical image diagnosticsPlant derived food additive to replace asprin.
Investment readinessPresentation
Presentation“Talking the VC’s language”Covering all the topicsHaving ready answers
Content
ContentPeopleProgressBusiness model
An imaginary company
Poinsgo
Poinsgo is the fantastic company which will become the premier web-based destination for the intermediation of discerning drivers needs based on the application of an advanced LAMP server-side architecture and a Flash-based optimum user interface.
Poinsgo
Competitors
The innovative technology, backed up by patent applications, means that there are no competitors to Poinsgo.
Risks (probably buried at the back!)
Poinsgo is at risk from:Late delivery of code from the subctontractorChanges in legislation
Exit
Pointsgo will exit by:trade salemanagement buy backIPO.
Who wants to invest?
Poinsgo
Poinsgo is the fantastic company which will become the premier web-based destination for the intermediation of discerning drivers needs based on the application of an advanced LAMP server-side architecture and a Flash-based optimum user interface
Remove superlatives
Poinsgo is the fantastic company which will become the premier web-based destination for the intermediation of discerning drivers needs based on the application of an advanced LAMP server-side architecture and a Flash-based optimum user interface
Remove references to how...
Poinsgo is the fantastic company which will become the premier web-based destination for the intermediation of discerning drivers needs based on the application of an advanced LAMP server-side architecture and a Flash-based optimum user interface
So in English...
Poinsgo will be a nice website for drivers
Poinsgo 2
Poinsgo plans to build a website to help drivers find people with driving licences to take their speeding penalty point for them.
Competitors 2
Was: The innovative technology, backed up by patent applications, means that there are no competitors to Poinsgo.Becomes: Without Poinsgo, drivers would have to obey the speed limit, accept the fines or employ very expensive celebrity solicitors.
Risks
Best opportunity to build trust and credibility! Put near the front.Think through the real risks...
Risks 2
The legal status of the approach used means that the company would need only to trade in offshore localities, or to be entirely based overseas.Etc!
Exit
Pointsgo will exit by:trade salemanagement buy backIPO.
Exit 2
Don’t pad- often very opaque at the startThink about specific companies that might value the difference and what it does to their bottom-line.
Exit 3
At this stage Poinsgo is not clear who would be interested in acquisition. However, the cash flow, and access to a mailing list of users with loose legal ethics could be particularly valuable to organised crime syndicates!
Summary
Talk straight- top objective is to believableJust include what you know, or what you can find outNegative parts of the document, risks, competitors are the best chance to show your knowledge and investability
