The document outlines 9 steps to become investor-ready for startups. It summarizes each step with a quote from industry experts, including finding passion, identifying market pain points, refining your target, building an amazing team, networking extensively, avoiding buzzwords, preparing for tough questions from investors, delivering an impressive pitch, and celebrating successes. It also provides an overview of the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition, including historical trends showing growing interest in clean energy, life sciences and IT startups over time. The competition offers a substantial cash and in-kind prize package to the winning team.

1. Courtesy of the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition
at The University of Texas at Austin
9 Steps to Become
Investor-Ready

2. Step 1: Find your passion

3. “First, find something you are
passionate about, and then
perform a ton of validations
to vet your idea.”
♥
Rob Adams, Director of the
Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs

4. Step 2: look for market pain

5. “This year we saw a big uptick
in clean energy technologies,
such as the Seismos team from
the McCombs MSTC program,
winners of the Wells Fargo
Clean Energy prize.”
Rob Warren, Director, Global Venture
Labs Investment Competition

6. Step 3: refine your target

7. “You have to focus in order to create a
good pitch or a good business plan”
Michael Garel, Texas Venture Labs
Investment Competition winner 2012

8. Step 4: build an amazing team

9. “Successful businesses don’t depend
on unique ideas. Instead, they rely on
a team’s ability to execute–to build,
market, and sell a product that’s better,
faster, or cheaper, and to do so to near
superhuman perfection.”
Rob Adams, Director of the
Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs

10. Step 5: network like crazy

11. “For these guys to come to a competition
like this, it is a tremendous opportunity
for them to increase their network, get
feedback from the judges and keep on
track to launch the business.”
Rene J.R. Fernandes, Fundacão Getulio Vargas,
Competition Director for Latin America

12. Step 6: ditch the buzzwords

13. “Don’t use a term like ‘solutions provider.’
It’s too generic. It’s like saying your car
comes with physics—of course you’re a
solutions provider. It’s just a generic,
empty, junk-food statement.”
Rod Kurtz, Editor of OPEN Forum, GVLIC Judge

14. Step 7: be ready for lots of questions

15. What is the projected lifetime of the product?
Can you Explain the fixed and variable costs in your model?
What is your legal exposure in the
event of a product malfunction
or misuse?
can this idea be patented?
How will you
build the market?
What is your pricing model based on?
How many of your potential
customers will break down
into each price category?
Why are you using a flat pricing
model versus transactional pricing?
Are others doing
the same thing?
Why would customers pay for this service when other options are free?

16. Step 8: knock their socks off

17. “Visolis did an excellent job presenting their
venture and responding to the judges’
questions, and we are excited they are the
2013 Venture Labs Investment Competition’s
Global Champion.”
Rob Warren, Director, Global Venture
Labs Investment Competition

18. Step 9: celebrate your wins

19. “Our competition motto is Investor
Ready. That exactly describes the
business teams we are attracting,
and every year gets better.”
Rob Adams, Director of the
Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs

20. In 30 years:
TRENDS:
Shifts in GVLIC Teams:
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
No. of major investment
competitions in the U.S.
30 YEAR SNAPSHOT
million
awarded
countries
represented
judges
participated
students
competed
founded by two Texas MBA
students.
competition, because it
proves to be far from
moot.
SU
O2 I
Ohio S
Acqu
undis
Blac
Carne
After
raise
capit
The H
undis
HISTORY OF THE GLOBAL VENTURE
LABS INVESTMENT COMPETITION

21. 2013 COMPETITION profile
ENERGY
25%SERVICES
12.5%
GLOBAL FOCUS:
Australia
Brazil
China
Colombia
France
University of Oslo, Norway
This firm currently has 16 employ-
ees and generates $4.2 million in
revenue.
Auditude– 2005
University of California, Los Angeles
Acquired by Adobe in 2011 for $120
million.
uShip– 2004
The University of Texas at Austin
Privately held firm headquartered
in Austin. Raised $23 million in
private equity.
Honorable Mention:
Spectrohound– 2004
University of Manitoba, Canada
James Swirsky used his experience at
GVLIC to launch a movie production
company. His 2011 film “Indie Game:
The Movie” won awards at both the
Sundance Film Festival and SXSW.
40%
international
teams
Germany
Great Britain
India
Norway
Thailand
PRIZE PACKAGE:
Cash prize: $78,000
Hosting and cloud service: worth $24,000
Austin Technology Incubator launch package: valued at $25,000
Invitation to ring the NASDAQ closing bell: PRICELESS
2013 COMPETITION PROFILE
CLEAN
ENERGY
25%
LIFE
SCIENCES
25%
PRODUCTS
25%
SERVICES
12.5%
IT
12.5%
INDUSTRIES:
1984 2013
TRENDS:
Shifts in GVLIC Teams:
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
AND SERVICES
TECHNOLOGY
CLEAN ENERGY
PRODUCTS
IT
2014 projected shifts:
No. of major investment
competitions in the U.S.
4
18
1984 2013
No. of competing
teams
11
40
ra
ca
Th
un
K
Br
Cu
$2
Q
Th
Ha
an
20
co
O
Sa
Kn
th
eq
Sq
Un
Th
ee
re

22. Colombia
France
Privat
in Aus
privat
Honora
Spect
Univer
James
GVLIC
compa
The Mo
Sunda
Norway
Thailand
PRIZE PACKAGE:
Cash prize: $78,000
Hosting and cloud service: worth $24,000
Austin Technology Incubator launch package: valued at $25,000
Invitation to ring the NASDAQ closing bell: PRICELESS
2013 COMPETITION profile

23. Thanks for reading. Get more information on
entrepreneurship, faculty expertise, business
school news and more:
www.mccombs.utexas.edu
UT McCombs School of Business
@UTexasMcCombs