Start-ups & Entrepreneurs

• Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur • Or start a new company• But so few succeed • Do you have the idea, plan, innovation,

technical execution, talented team, marketing and work ethic to make it?

• You need a plan, to document it, and know how to pitch it to perfection. This is a rough guide, meant to help.

Questions to Present your Start-upAnswer these questions in when you pitch your start-up to VC.

• What does your company do?• What is unique about the company?• What big problem does it solves?• What is the Unique selling point (USP) of the product or services you offer?• How is your product a minimum viable product (MVP)?• How big is the market opportunity?• What is the market opportunity, who are the competition, the state of the niche current and in the

future?• Who are the team members, the founder, the board members, the current investors?• What is your target audience, and what personas within it do you see as your best future

customers and more ardent brand advocates?

Mission statement

• What does your company do?

• What is unique about the company?

USP

• In one line what does your company do?

• What big problem does it solves?

Motto

• Does your company have a branded motto?

• Does your company have three catch words? Is your logo impressive and memorable?

USP Continued

• What is the Unique selling point (USP) of the product or services you offer?

• How is your product a minimum viable product (MVP)?

Market Intro

• How big is the market opportunity?

• What is the market opportunity, who are the competition, the state of the niche – present & in the future?

Market• How is the market, is it large and growing?

• What does your product bring that is new to it?

• What are your goals in terms of percentage of the market you plan to get over what period of time?

• Why does your company have high growth potential?

Market

• What is the actual addressable market?

• What is the consumer segment we are looking at? The gender demographics.

Market

• How is the market, is it large and growing?

• What does your product bring that is new to it?

Market

• Why does your company have high growth potential?

• Do you have a marketing plan that covers all inbound and outbound strategies you will be using and who is responsible for each?

Advertisement

• Do you have a launch strategy in place for your first product?

• Do you have a USP encapsulating video on your primary landing page for mobile viewers?

Talent & Audience

• Who are the team members, the founder, the board members, the current investors?

• What is your target audience, and what personas within it do you see as your best future customers and most ardent brand advocates?

Audience

• What is your strategy for reaching your target audience?

• Why will your target audience choose you over the competition?

Team

• Who is the CEO and how was the idea started?

• What previous experience do they bring to the table?

• What motivates the founders?

Team

• How many employees do you have?

• How do you plan to scale the team in the next 12 months?

Team

• Who are the key members and what do they do?

• What key additions to the team are needed in the short term?

Products & Services (PaS)

• Why do users care about your product or service?

• What are the major product milestones?

PaS

• Provide a demonstration of the product or service.

• What are the two or three key features you plan to add?

Competition

• Who are the company’s competitors?

• What gives your company a competitive advantage?

Customer Acquisition

• What are the barriers to entry?

• How does the company market or plan to market its products or services?

Customer Acquisition

• What is the company’s PR strategy?

• What advertising will you be doing?

Traction

• What early traction has the company gotten (sales, traffic to the company’s website, app downloads, etc., as relevant).

• What has been the principal reasons for the early traction?

Risks

• What do you see are the principal risks to the business?

• What legal risks do you have?

End Game

• What is the likely exit – IPO or M&A?

• What key intellectual property does the company have (patents, patents pending, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, domain names)?

Financials

• How much equity and debt has the company raised; what is the capitalization structure?

• When will the company get to profitability?

Financials• How much of a stock option pool is being

set aside for employees?

• How much burn will occur until the company gets to profitability?

• What are the key metrics that the management team focuses on?

Financials• How much bootstrapping has occurred

with your company?

• Have you looked into crowd funding as an alternative to VC?