center for cei entrepreneurship & innovation technology venture sequence 9/6/05

Center forceiEntrepreneurship & Innovation

Technology Venture SequenceTechnology Venture Sequence9/6/05

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Business PlanBusiness Plan

• A document that defines your business and presents a compelling argument to you, your potential employees, partners and investors that your company will be a successful enterprise

• Typically 10-20 pages

• Reasons for writing a business plan:– Sell yourself on the business– Obtain financing– Arrange strategic alliances– Mitigate avoidable risk– Obtain large contacts– Attract key employees– Prepare for mergers and acquisitions– Motivate and focus management team

• The two key reasons:– Obtain financing– Mitigate avoidable risk

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Table of ContentsTable of Contents

• Executive Summary

• Business Description

• Market Research

• Marketing Plan

• Development Plan

• Intellectual Property

• Regulatory Approval

• Management Team

• Critical Risks

• Financing and Exit

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• Executive SummaryExecutive Summary


• Market Research

• Marketing Plan




• Management Team

• Critical Risks


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Executive SummaryExecutive Summary

• The executive summary should summarize the business plan. Investors expect the executive summary to include the following information:

• Questions:– Is the essence of the business clearly explained?– Does the company have a clearly defined competitive advantage?– Is the management team discussed?– Are financial projections included?– Is the amount of capital and how it will be used included?

Information on this slide comes from Chip Vara’s manuscript on Business Plan Development with the permission of the author. Mr. Vara works for Enterprise North Florida Corporation.

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• Business DescriptionBusiness Description

• Market Research

• Marketing Plan




• Management Team

• Critical Risks


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Business DescriptionBusiness Description

• This section should contain the relevant company history, corporate objectives, current market conditions and a brief product description. The purpose of this section is to give the reader a general understanding of whom the company is and what it is attempting to do.

• Questions:– Is the corporate history clearly stated?– Is the market situation, opportunity and strategy clearly stated?– Are the products and their unique features clearly stated?


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• Market ResearchMarket Research

• Marketing Plan




• Management Team

• Critical Risks


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Market ResearchMarket Research

• This section describes the dynamics of the overall market and how it operates today. This section will include information about the market size and growth rate, what market needs are being met and by what products, what market needs are not being met, who the major competitors are and what segments exist. This is also the place where the distribution strategies by the market are explained and why. The company’s product or service should be described and how it will meet specific unmet market needs.

• Questions:– Is the overall market adequately described?– Are specific target markets identified?– Is the competitive landscape adequately described?– Are specific competitors and their products identified?– Are the unmet needs of the target market identified?– Is the product’s value proposition defined?– Are the competitive advantage and barriers to entry described?– Are potential strategic relationships described?


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• Market Research

• Marketing PlanMarketing Plan




• Management Team

• Critical Risks


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Marketing PlanMarketing Plan

• This section will describe all aspects of the company’s market strategy? This should include the price, the product features and benefits, the role of promotion and the distribution channel of choice. The information from this section must be directly traceable to the assumptions used to drive the financial model.

• Questions:– Are all aspects of the marketing strategy clearly stated?– Is the marketing strategy realistic, defended by the market analysis and low

risk?


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• Market Research

• Marketing Plan

• Development PlanDevelopment Plan



• Management Team

• Critical Risks


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Development PlanDevelopment Plan

• This section should address all aspects of the product development effort and must contain sufficient detail to convince the reader that the management team not only understands the technology and have the capability of delivering the product prototype, but also have a program to insure customer acceptance.

• Questions:– Are the product development milestones realistic and clearly defined?– Are the costs to achieve the milestones clearly defined?– Is staffing adequate to achieve the milestones?


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• Market Research

• Marketing Plan


• Intellectual PropertyIntellectual Property


• Management Team

• Critical Risks


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Intellectual PropertyIntellectual Property

• The company’s intellectual property strategy will be explained in this section. For example, in addition to describing the existing patent or patent application, this section will also describe what additional patents are likely to be added to the company’s IP estate.

• Questions:– Is the IP status adequately described?– Does the IP provide a competitive advantage?


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• Market Research

• Marketing Plan



• Regulatory ApprovalRegulatory Approval

• Management Team

• Critical Risks


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Regulatory ApprovalRegulatory Approval

• An investor will interpret government regulation as an additional risk. This section should educate the reader on the regulatory process, support the company’s regulatory posture and explain why this risk is minimal.

• Questions:– Are the regulatory requirements adequately addressed?– Is a clear regulatory strategy described?


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• Market Research

• Marketing Plan




• Management TeamManagement Team

• Critical Risks


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Management TeamManagement Team

• This section will contain summary biographies of the key management personnel, members of the Board of Directors and Board of Advisors. This section should also acknowledge deficiencies in the management team and list the new requirements for any new positions.

• Questions:– Are the bios of key management included?– Are boards of advisors and directors included?– Are future staffing needs addressed?


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• Market Research

• Marketing Plan




• Management Team

• Critical RisksCritical Risks


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Critical RisksCritical Risks

• This section should address the major commercialization and management risks as well as the investment risks.

• Questions:– Are the major commercialization risks addressed?– Are the management team risks addressed?– Are the competitive risks addressed?


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• Market Research

• Marketing Plan




• Management Team

• Critical Risks

• Financing and ExitFinancing and Exit

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Financing and ExitFinancing and Exit

• This section should present the company’s financial position, should list major assumptions used to generate financial statements and should include capital requirements.

• Questions:– Is the company’s financial position clearly stated?– Are the capital needs and milestones clearly stated?


center for cei entrepreneurship & innovation technology venture sequence 9/6/05

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