May 4, 2011
In honor of the new ideas and busy capital trends we are seeing at Digital Hollywood this week, and before my more serious post following the conference on the current state of venture capital, a look at some famous quotes predicting our future (which has arrived):...
Apr 30, 2011
This week a friend handed me a torn-out page of the April 25th (2011) New Yorker magazine’s column “Shouts & Murmurs” by John Gillespie. Note that she didn’t email it to me, or post it (as I am about to do to all of you). And I...
Apr 22, 2011
I’ve been seeing a lot of business plans lately about companies built on the new ap platforms, or based on social media services, or with off-the-shelf software components combined to make a new product or SaaS offering. The exciting news is that these recently...
Apr 8, 2011
Recently I was working with my close friend, colleague and client, Oded Noy, discussing our strategic work as Mentors with early stage entrepreneurs attending L.A.’s Founders Institute http://www.founderinstitute.com/. We agreed that the initial, hidden...
Feb 26, 2011
Today begins a 5-part weekly series, posted each weekend, on strategies and tactics for raising capital, from preparation through presentation. • Preparing to raise investment capital, part 1 of 5: How much, from whom and when? • Preparing to raise investment capital,...
Feb 26, 2011
There are several questions you must ask yourself before you decide to go out for private or professional capital. How much and when? Do you need investment capital now, or can you continue to bootstrap your company from your own resources, and from friends and...
Feb 26, 2011
Your value proposition must be unique, and state your value to the investor. This is not the same as your product’s value to your customer, and it is not a feature or a benefit (both of which are focused on your product). What you pitch to your customer has little to...
Feb 26, 2011
Now that you know how much capital you want to raise from what kind of investor and you have settled on your unique value proposition (UVP), it is time to master your 30-second sound bite, based on that value proposition. It will take some time to get comfortable with...
Feb 26, 2011
Investors have limited time and short attention to focus on your pitch – they are very busy, and receive thousands of pitches each year. Many have a screener, often called a “D-Girl” (regardless of gender – this term from Hollywood, when the Development Girl screen...
Feb 26, 2011
Your pitch piece has gotten past the screeners and into the hands of a real investor, and he wants you to present it to him and his partners. He schedules a 45-minute meeting. You have taken all the steps to this moment and they have worked. • determining your...
