Start-up
wisdom
humor
Caroline Cummings
Director of Entrepreneurial Development | Eugene Chamber of Commerce

Top 10 Reasons Why A Start-up Fails

The Single
Founder
1

The Wrong Team
2

Marketing-
Heavy
Tech-Heavy
2

Wrong
Legal
Team!
3

4 Boiling the Ocean

Not Talking to Customers
5

Stealth to
Long..
6

Slow to
Launch…
6

7 Stuck on Original Idea

Wrong
Location!
8

Founder-itis!
9

Spending
too much
money
10

Lessons…

Go With Your Gut!!!

Ask potential business attorney…
• Emerging growth business before?
• How much time for you?
• Raised multiple rounds of financing?
• Create/Read a Capitalization Table?
• Developed a PPM?
• Compensation packages for new hires?
• IP protection?
• Global expansion?
• Experience with exits – M&As, IPO, quit?
• Talk to current/former client?

Date BEFORE Marriage!

Key Team Must Have Skin in the Game!

Don’t Take “Dumb Money”

Include Customers in your R&D
k
Ask Listen Do Than clude
In

Believe You Can Win!

Local Support for Entrepreneurs
Willamette
Angel
Network

Mission…
To improve the climate of Oregon’s Willamette
Valley emerging growth-oriented companies

Focus…
• Education
– Workshops, webinars, coaching, mentoring…
• Networking
– Pub-Talks, socials, Ning community…
• Capital Development
– Angel and venture development, strategic
partnerships…

www.smartups.org

smartups.ning.com

• The first investor conference of its kind
• Regional approach to entrepreneurial dev
• Corvallis this year – Eugene next year…
• Modeled after Angel Oregon and Bend
Venture Conference

Model…
• 25 accredited investors at $5,000/each
– $1 M personal net worth or $200K/year
• 200 attendees
• 44 business plans
• 6 companies pitched 10 mins
• 5 companies pitched Ignite (3.5 mins)
• One winner: $125,000 in seed funding
• One conference/year (Corvallis/Eugene)

Goals…
– Connect entrepreneurs
with expertise and
financing for success
– Increase skills of
entrepreneurs
– Increase number and
engagement of angel
investors
– Promote our region as a
vital market for new
venture development

May 13, 2010 in Eugene

Local angels…
• Accredited Angels from Lane County
– Worth minimum of $1M in assets
– Earn minimum of $200K/year
• Review business plans
• Eugene Chamber conducts due diligence/
screening for good deal flow
• Company pitches 4x/year
• Chose whether to invest
– Individually
– Co-invest

Summary to engage…
• Attend Smart-ups on Jul 23rd at OES
• Subscribe to smartups.org RSS Feed
• Free Review of your exec summary/PPT
• Join smartups.ning.com (community)
• Join OEN.org | “virtual membership”
– $35 students/40 individuals

Thank You!
carolineineugene@gmail.com