The document provides tips for startup founders on how to conduct effective research when pitching investors. It advises founders to understand the investors' interests, priorities, and typical concerns in order to tailor their pitch appropriately. Researchers should focus on substantiating claims, understanding basic accounting principles, and highlighting the most important elements of their business plan to efficiently convey their idea to investors within time constraints.

1. HOW TO GET A CLUE
or, Startup Research for Scientists, Engineers, and Other Geeks
@mengwong
mengwong@pobox.com
Founder Institute Singapore
13 April 2011
mengwong.com/sg/capital/

3. PITY THE POOR INVESTOR
who hears ten pitches a day

6. The Art
Project
Profit?
Eww, no.
I’m a social entrepreneur.

7. Patently
Obvious

8. Patently
Obvious

10. Due Diligence
u’
! Yo
dom
!
ents
comm
wing ! U
e the follo
mak o
w us to
r, allo
eed f urthe ,
e proc ntation: tance Acc
N re w s: for ins
IO Befo our prese ciple
R EJ ECT ab ou ty s . ntin g prin ap
accou
SING claim !
AI stant iated tand basic
NDR ET TER
! !
U unsub not unders ad to
E F RM L
o t we h
TUR FO you d e. ry, bu
VEN !
com. d aloud ea d time. We
ch slid ’re sor
ot-
for a d o not rea he allotte
d rt
please nt way ove rsus
do ve
!
u we
! yo lan to
r, you p
prene
u what e you
ar Entre ise about e d li k
De ! e prec sound
e mor doing. illion ”, you er.
ould b lready b ribe
pla n y ou sh re a ew ord “m large num e will desc
ess nt we ! you a d th ely w
! busin ck
e ited conte es. Please what me you sai impressiv ents which
ide d
! sl erson pitc
h. nsolic e s er v t er y t i as an elem
e of u ention it d will look a ! ev ught that w r more key pitch
! in
-p volum the att e o o efore
to the t and w th d one ides b
ately , due le to give i refer you, omitte ills gu
fortun were unab dy know to ! it w. on-sk
n unde r o entati
! U ive, we ea re bel g pres
rec e dy we alr aterials read. We a fo llowin shtml
mebo your m o you un w the pitch.
ask so . review t revie : ecting
in us to rning them Please er investor n e s/perf
it aga asked u th e sourc
e you , we are ret any o sentation Z ge.com/re
ecaus re ra
! B disclosure DAs. ill
. We w ime ! P ://www.ga
non ig n N tion. ocess t ! ht
tp
le to s esenta iligence pr wer some
unab our p
r d ie ited to
resse d by y in our due expert rev focus
is lim
g n
e we re imp like to be r pitch to a tment
ld u inves

11. Technology Cluelessness
Prior Art:! ! ! ?
Cutting Edge:! ! ?
Innovation:!! ! ?
How to Build it:! ?

12. Market Cluelessness
What Does
the Customer
Want:! ! ! ! ?
Who is the
Competition:! ! ?
Name of your
Industry:! ! ! ?

13. Research & Development

14. Research & Development
money into ideas

15. Research & Development
money into ideas ideas into money

16. Technology
Research & Development

17. Technology Technology
Research & Development

18. Technology Technology
Research & Development
know the state of the art

19. Technology Technology
Research & Development
know the state of the art be able to advance it

20. Market
Research & Development

21. Market Market
Research & Development

22. Market Market
Research & Development
know the industry

23. Market Market
Research & Development
know the industry start selling to customers

25. Alpha geeks
scratching
their own
itch

26. Alpha geeks tech research
scratching
their own
itch

27. Alpha geeks tech research
scratching tech development
their own
itch

28. Alpha geeks tech research
scratching tech development
their own market research
itch

29. Alpha geeks tech research
scratching tech development
their own market research
itch market development

30. Be the Customer
Do absolutely everything a Spend money to buy existing
frustrated customer would. solutions, only to find they’re
imperfect.
Spend hours looking for
solutions. Do the time!
Ask for help on forums. You may already be doing
this in some area of our life.
Go to industry conferences. What is it? Ask friends and
colleagues what you’re really
Ask your friends and
good at – surprise yourself!
colleagues for advice.

31. Ten Years of your Life
This could very well be the What’s more important than
biggest accomplishment of making $10,000 a month
your life and living the good life?
Or the biggest failure. Not everybody has an answer
to that question.
What do you care about
enough that you can say, “all Not everybody is destined to
that matters is that I tried”? be an entrepreneur.
“I wrote, so I would have Go tell your ego that that’s
something to read” –author okay.

34. MBA Market Research
Market Sizing
top-down / bottom-up
Customer Research
Price Sensitivity
Competitive Research
Features / Benefits /
SWOT / etc

35. Why do Profits Matter?
Money is a measure of value.
Ceteris paribus, the entrepreneur who delivers a greater profit
contributes more to society. (modulo “right livelihood”.)
Capitalism means you get to capture the NPV of future earnings
and use that to enable the next generation of entrepreneurs.
You can’t take it with you when you die; it’s just a game.
Startups are a humanity more than any other field of business.

36. Competitive Research
Don’t skate to where the puck is.
Skate to where the puck will be.
—Gretzky
Crunchbase.com. ListIO.com.
LMGTFY.com.
An invention must make sense in the
world in which it is completed, not
the world in which it was begun.
—Kurzweil

37. Art and
Science
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncinco/5482521736/

39. %"!"#$"
!"#$"

40. %"!"#$"
!"#$"

41. %"!"#$"
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"(
!"#$"
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"(

42. !"#$%&'&"()*
%"!"#$"
!"#$%&'&"()*
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'&"()!
!"#$"
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'$('&'
!"#$%&'&"()*
“D” for dead

43. !"#$%&'&"()*
%"!"#$"
!"#$%&'&"()*
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'&"()!
!"#$"
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'$('&'
!"#$%&'&"()*
“D” for dead

44. !"#$%&'&"()*
%"!"#$"
!"#$%&'&"()*
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'&"()!
!"#$"
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'$('&'
!"#$%&'&"()*
“D” for dead

45. !"#$%&'&"()*
%"!"#$"
!"#$%&'&"()*
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'&"()!
!"#$"
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'$('&'
!"#$%&'&"()*
“D” for dead

46. !"#$%&'&"()*
%"!"#$"
!"#$%&'&"()*
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'&"()!
!"#$"
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'$('&'
!"#$%&'&"()*
“D” for dead

47. !"#$%&'&"()*
%"!"#$"
!"#$%&'&"()*
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'&"()!
!"#$"
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"(
!"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'"( !"#$%&'$('&'
!"#$%&'&"()*
“D” for dead

49. DIFFERENTIATION
make new mistakes! —Esther Dyson

52. Why My Startup Doesn’t Already Exist

53. Why My Startup Doesn’t Already Exist
1. Actually it does. I’m a clone. 6. Previous teams too early;
… but I’m adding a twist! external enabler was absent.
2. Nobody’s ever had the idea 7. Lacked secret sauce:
before. internal enabler was absent.
…actually they have, I just 8. Previous teams built too slow
don’t know it. or too big.
3. It’s nice, but nobody cares. 9. Previous teams weren’t agile
enough to keep up with
4. It’s nice, but too expensive. competition.
5. Previous teams couldn’t
execute.

54. secret sauce, please
Industry Experience ++
Domain Expertise ++
I have a PhD + –
I have an MBA – –
I dropped out of college ++

55. why you?
why now?
are you riding some sort of
disruptive wave?

56. WE HAVE NO COMPETITION
“They tried and failed?” “No. They tried and died.”

57. WE HAVE NO COMPETITION
“They tried and failed?” “No. They tried and died.”

58. PAUL BARAN
April 29, 1926 — March 26, 2011

59. PAUL BARAN
April 29, 1926 — March 26, 2011