fundable ideas
TRANSCRIPT
#GetFunded
30 March 2015 | Bannister Hotel
What do investors look for in a start up?
#GetFunded
Does your Business need Funding?
Is you Idea Fundable?
A b o u t M e
Sibusiso ‘Prosper’ Sagoda
Founder: StartUp Edge
@L8prosper
Does Your
Business Need Funding?
Maybe No Yes
#GetFunded | 30 March
Does Your
Business Need Funding?
…Or you are using funding as a procrastination mechanism as
opposed to actually getting the work started…
#GetFunded | 30 March
Yes
• Product
• Team
• Market
#GetFunded | 30 March
What are you selling ?
Who is behind the product ?
What are you selling
Who are you selling to?
Core start-up elements
Marc Andreessen
…what's most dangerous: a bad team, a weak product, or a poor market?
Product
Validate the product • Need/use • Association • Perception • Innovative • User focused • Quality
#GetFunded | 30 March
Product Market Fit
Product Investment “I have put some work and thought into this product”
Team
• Qualified|Manageable|Passionate.
• The 3 Man team :
– The Entrepreneur
– The Manager
– The Technician
#GetFunded | 30 March
Market
• If there is no one to sell to, what’s the point of it all?
• “…if you get enough users, you'll eventually figure out a business model to monetize them…”
From indie.vc
• A new product creating a new market vs An existing market needing a new product.
• You can have a great team and produce the most innovative product…But if there is no market to consume that product, you do not have a business.
#GetFunded | 30 March
Market
Paul Graham:
“Make things people want.”
The one thing that matters is getting to product/market fit.
If you are not here yet, your answer to my question at the beginning should be: Maybe.
Lean Start
Is solution/problem fit the same as product/market fit?
#GetFunded | 30 March
No
In Summary
• Do you have a product that people need and are willing to pay for it?
• Is the Market big enough for you to grow/ scale the business?
• Do you have a team that can handle creating the product and flexible enough to handle growth?...
• Have you invested some valuable commodity of your own into the business?
• Can you prove all the above with verifiable stats?
Congratulations you are investable
#GetFunded | 30 March
Some things to note
• Know your Numbers (Investment, key ratios, Company valuation, Interest rates etc.).
• Investor or Lender (Loan vs Equity).
• You may have a ‘boss’ again.
• Change in management/Culture.
#GetFunded | 30 March
#GetFunded
Questions
#GetFunded | 30 March
