How far do you ‘open the kimono’?

Hi Everyone

I was at a mentor meeting today with an entrepreneur who needs capital for a very interesting internet business. This guy had done a pretty good job with his plan - better than most that I see. And he had lots of sense. Again rare. And he listened. Even rarer.

He got a lot of things right but he did not focus on ‘WIIFM’ (what’s in it for me) from the investor’s perspective.

With me was a venture capitalist. He was absolutely single minded! These are the questions that he asked:

-why is the company valued at $XX

-what share do I get and what’s my return?

-what do you want from me apart from the money?

-who are prospective buyers as the exit and why?

-you haven’t justified the revenue targets, not supported enough through the marketing strategies

- marketing budget looks low

All of these questions are about ‘how much money will I make and back it up’.

As the investor said:

‘You only get 1 shot so make it a good one. I want to see all of this in your plan.’

So, you’ve heard much of this before. That’s not the issue. But have you seriously and thoroughly covered all these issues in your written plan? If not, then go do it. Tick every box because your investor will.

Until next time.

Gail Geronimos