Er16

Keiretsu Forum’s Network 1 Asian Location: B E I J I N G, China 18 U.S. Locations: 3 European Locations: NEW YORK WASHINGTON L O N D O N, England New York Seattle B A R C E L O N A, Spain New Jersey Bellevue P A R I S, France (October 2008) Connecticut IDAHO CALIFORNIA Boise/Sun Valley IRELAND 2009 East Bay OREGON INDIA 2009 Orange Co. Portland Los Angeles COLORADO North Bay Denver San Diego San Francisco Silicon Valley Westlake Village © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Disciplined, Systematic Deal Flow Process 30-50 Web Site Application 8-10 4-5 Committee Deal Keiretsu Due 2-3 Review Screening Forum Diligence Meeting Multi-chapter sharing of Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 deal flow © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

JULY 13, 2009 THE MONEY GAME – “Perfecting the Pitch” “What’s most important is to adequately explain all the assumptions on which the plan [is] based,” says Larry Chaityn, New York chapter president of Keiretsu Forum, a global network of accredited angel investors. “Less is more. We want them to present a wealth of information in very few words.” Finally, when evaluating offers, entrepreneurs should think beyond who will write them a check. “Take a look at who can give you the best acceleration for your business,” says Mr. Chaityn. “Not just money, but industry contacts and high-level connections.” © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Mission WHAT WE DO this the "yahoo for X industry" or the "cisco for Y industry" [OK. I’ve looked at 10 companies today. What am I going to be looking at for the next 45 minutes? Why I should be enthused?] © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Market •  Your total addressable market. In other words, what your revenue would be if you got 100% of your target customers paying what you expect? •  Is this market big enough to yield a highly- valued company. Could this be a Cisco or Yahoo? •  For institutional VC you typically need opportunity for > $250M in revenues in a high margin business © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Problem We Are Solving •  Who is the customer? do they matter? what problem does the customer have today? why is that a big problem, why is it their biggest problem? •  Ideal: We solve the most important problem for customers who are high gross margin, high growth companies in high growth sectors who move very quickly and frequently buy products from startups. © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

How We Solve The Problem •  What is your solution? why is it unique? why has nobody done this before? •  What has changed that allows room for a startup here? •  Ideal: you have come up with a solution that you found due to exclusive domain expertise that is really hard for others to match. Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Technology Status •  If big IP piece, several slides on the state of technology development •  Is there a lot of "R" left, lots of "D" left, or is the product done? •  Ideal: all the risk of research is done, no major unsolved problems remain Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Customers •  Who has agreed to pay for the product? who are beta customers, etc.? •  Are there customers that matter with high willingness to pay? •  Ideal: reference-worthy customers who are falling over themselves to get the product Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Get to Market Strategy •  What is the acquisition cost/customer? •  How will you get in front of the customer? Direct, Indirect, Distribution, etc. •  Is there a channel that can allow this company to get their product to customers profitably? Anyone in the way of this startup reaching their customers? •  Ideal: Product falls off the shelf fast; very easy, short sales cycle. Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Per Customer Economics •  What they will pay? What will it costs to service them? what will it cost to acquire them? •  Ideal: you can reach customers very inexpensively, yet get big revenue out of them Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Key Milestones •  What happens when? beta, first customer shipment, breakeven cash flow, etc. •  What information does this round of $$ buy? Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Team •  Top 6-7 people with one bullet on relevant past. Q: Why this is a world-class team with relevant skills to pull this off? Why they can recruit from their networks? What have they done before that is special and relevant? Have they done it before or are they learning on the job? •  Ideal: Done it before, recruiting is easy, key team in place, success follows all these guys yet they are hungry for a defining moment in their careers in building a world-class company. Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Financials •  Forecasts: P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flows. Monthly detail for first year or two; quarterly Years 3 & 4, annual Year 5 •  More important… Key metrics: # customers, big revenue lines, COGS, gross margins, etc. •  How competitive are the gross margin? How quickly does the company ramp, how many $ $ invested before reaching profitability. Do these guys understand how a company ramps? •  Ideal: Healthy ramp, not too many $$ and not too long to profitability, great gross margins. Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Competition Overview •  2x2 matrix of the competition with the two variables that matter on the X and Y •  How is the company positioned in the landscape with all the other companies I've seen? How are companies in this category valued? Do I know about competitors that these guys don't have listed? •  No big uglies to eat the startup’s lunch. Not a bunch of $$ already invested by other VCs in companies attacking the same over- capitalized space. Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Competition Specifics •  The top 2 or 3 competitors, one/two liner on their story (funding, etc), one/ two liner on why you beat them. •  Do I believe these guys can win? Who are the two or three competitors to focus due diligence efforts on? •  Ideal: no one else has raised significant $$ yet. Copyright 2002-2004 Venture Mechanics, LLC © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Financing History •  How much went in so far, when, at what price? •  Cap Table: Who are current investors, how much do they own, who is on the board, how much are you raising now and at what price, how big is the unallocated pool? •  Ideal: First round guys are helpful, reasonable folks who've helped the company get their DNA right out of the chute. We know and respect them - they can give us a quick read on the pros/ cons of the team and the opportunity. © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Comparables •  Companies in and around the space, valuations, revenues, gross margin •  Will this be a valuable company if they execute? •  Ideal: There are obvious big, well-valued companies around who would try to buy the company. All valued at very high multiples, but an underserved segment that allows a startup to build a valuable company © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

Resources •  Term Sheets & Valuations –  Alex Wilmerding •  Venture Capital Due Diligence –  Justin Camp •  Raising Venture Capital for the Serious Entrepreneur –  Dermont Bekery © Keiretsu Forum NY 2009. All rights reserved

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Er16

by CenterNetworks on Aug 01, 2009

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