preparation tips for an angel funding ask

April 12, 2013 Karen Linder

PREPARATION TIPS FOR AN ANGEL FUNDING ASK

Karen Linder,Angel Investor

TIP: PREPARE, DON’T RUSHTeam, Product/Service, Market

Supporting Documents

You, yourself

Pitch Quality and Clarity

Angel.co

Gust.com

Investor Search Engine

Share Your Profile with Multiple Groups

Track Investor Interest

1. One Line Pitch

“This is what we do / make.”

(and why we’re great)

One Line Pitch

“A time saving tool Moms love”

“We capitalize on the return of mass marketmanufacturing to the US and competition that isbound to rising costs of imported product.”

“Helps small business owners grow and retain their customer base.”

“Organic agriculture company seeks $25K seed capital at $3m valuation to complete $6.5m Series A at $10m valuation.”

“Food / Drink”

“X” is a development stage biotechnology company based on licensed technology focused on providing gene technology for developing high-performance cell lines used in the bioproduction of fuel ethanol, industrial enzymes, and pharmaceutical products; and for creating transgenic plants that are resistant to a broad spectrum of diseases and environmental stresses.”

One Line Pitch

“”X” is a development stage biotechnology company based on licensed technology focused on providesing gene technology for developing high-performance cell lines used in the bioproduction of fuel ethanol, industyrial enzymes, and pharmaceutical products; and for creating transgenic plants that are resistant to a broad spectrum of diseases and environmental stresses agriculture.”

One Line Pitch – Edit!

PROFILE, CONT…

2. Business Summary

3. Management Team

4. The Problem

5. Your Solution to the Problem

TIP: HAVE A BETA / PROTOTYPE

Nebraska Pre-seed Fund (Prototype fund)

neded.com

TIP: EVEN BETTER, HAVE SOME IP

PROFILE, CONT…

6. Target Market

7. Current Customers

8. Sales / Marketing Strategy

TIP: PRODUCTION & SALES TIMELINE

Nitride Solutions, 2010

PROFILE, CONT…

9. Business Model

10. Competitors

11. Competitive Advantage

PROFILE, CONT...

12. Executive Summary

13. Current Cap Table

TIP: Founders should have “skin” in the game to share the risk with the investor.

If you ask investors to assume all the risk,

they need to be rewarded with a higher

amount of equity.

14. Business Plan

15. Financials

PROFILE, CONT…

TIP: FINANCIAL HISTORY > PROJECTIONS

Tip: Conservative

AND

Wild Projection

Visual Projections

ADDITIONAL PIECES TO APPLICATION

16. Investor Slides

17. The $ Ask

18. Company Valuation

19. Use of Funds

IF MULTIPLE FUNDING SOURCES

• Current Term Sheet• Permission to Share Due Diligence

20. Exit Plan

Acquisition?IPO?Share repurchase?

PITCH TIPS:

Handout

Samples

Demonstration and Visuals

SkyVu Biz Plan 2008

2013

“A picture is worth a thousand words.

A video is worth a million.”

Tip: Have Well-Designed Company Website and Pitch Deck

LIGHTENING ROUND PITCH TIPS

Visual over textLess techo-babble, more numbers

Practice and time your pitch

Consider suggestions, recommendations

LIGHTENING ROUNDPITCH TIPS

Think BIG

Prepare Answers for all Possible Questions

Prepare to Quit other Jobs

Don’t Exaggerate (Lie)

LIGHTENING ROUND TIPS

Be Nice. Act professionally.

Unethical behavior = No 2nd chance.

THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!

karenlinder@mac.com

@karenlinder

@kalinder

linseedcapital.com