SA|SAMS is a startup asset management service that assists investors in managing their startup investments. It provides services such as an unbiased second opinion on investments, daily management of startup operations, and access to vetted investment opportunities. For a fee, SA|SAMS handles activities like business strategy, product development, customer acquisition, and connecting startups to their network of investors. The company's team has decades of experience helping startups secure funding and succeed.
2. SAMSStartup Reality Check
11 out of 12 startups fail.
The dominant reason for failure is the startup’s
premature scaling in one or more of 5 dimensions:
- customer
- product
- team
- business model
- funding
Source: 2011 Startup Genome Infographics
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3. SAMSIntroducing …
Silicon Alley Startup Asset
Management Service (SA|SAMS)
We manage your tech start-up
ideas, investment and process
from concept to market.
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4. SAMS
Silicon Alley Startup Asset
Services (SA|SAMS) assists
accredited investors who want to
invest in a particular startup but
who do not have the time to
manage their startup investments.
About SA|SAMS
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5. SAMSAbout SiliconAlley.com
Since 1996, SiliconAlley.com has been dedicated
to the growth and evolution of the Internet industry.
It is both a community and a resource. A center of
excellence where industry best practices can be
explored and where vision and innovation are shared
to build new Internet businesses. It is a common
ground for both people providing services and those
in need of them.
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6. SAMS
• Second Opinion Service (SOS):
an unbiased, objective, independent assessment of your
proposed startup investment
• Startup Daily Management Services:
hands-on management of your startup’s daily activities
including: business strategy, product architecture,
design/development, customer development and support
services
• Investment Opportunities:
selected opportunities to invest in Silicon Alley endorsed
startup companies
What We Provide to Investors
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7. SAMSSilicon Alley’s Second Opinion Service
OBJECTIVE | UNBIASED | INDEPENDENT
We offer an unbiased objective assessment of your current or proposed
start up investment. By written report, we provide an independent objective
and unbiased report on your investment, both pros and cons relating to
your current stats and the accomplishment of startup milestones.
Our fee for our SA Second Opinion Service (SA|SOS) is $2500 and is
usually recoupable from other fees within a 90-day period. It takes a week
to generate the SOS and is delivered in writing and additional verbal
presentation by phone call discussion after receipt of SOS.
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9. SAMSOur Key Startup Deliverables
Business
Strategy
Product
Development
Customer
Development
Support
Services
・ Go-to-market
strategy
・ Investor
documents
・ Investor intro
and negotiation
・ Board member
selection
・ Wireframing
・ MVP* design
・ MVP* build
・ MVP* testing
・ Brand strategy
・ Marketing
strategy
・ SEO/Social media
plan
・ Business
development
・ Public relations
・ Education
・ Real estate
・ Legal
・ Accounting
・ HR & recruitment
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* MVP is the Minimum Viable Product, the most pared down version that can still be released.
An MVP has three key characteristics:
a. It has enough value that people are willing to use it or buy it initially.
b. It demonstrates enough future benefit to retain early adopters.
c. It provides a feedback loop to guide future development.
• MVP* Design
• MVP* build
• MVP* testing
• Product (language)
localization
• Business analysis
• Go-to-market
strategy
• Investor documents
• Investor intro and
negotiation
• Board member
selection
• Reference accounts
• Sales strategy
• Marketing strategy
• Business development
• Public relations
• Product videos
• Education
• Real estate
• Legal
• Accounting
• HR & recruitment
10. SAMS
Our Best Practices / What We Believe In #1:
Pivot* & Achieve Market Validation Early!
• Release the product sooner and confirm data
matches expectations.
• If data does not match expectations, pivot*
until traction and market validation is obtained.
• Scale at the appropriate points only after data
validation.
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* A pivot is where a start-up company decides to switch direction in how
they make their revenue. This is often after their first plan results in failure.
11. SAMS
Our Best Practices / What We Believe In #2:
Don’t Waste Time; Speed-to-Market is Key
• It’s not cool, it’s cool work.
• Mentor employee relationship.
• The episodic nature of
different time zones working
together.
• Start building the idea right
away, not sitting in classes.
24-Hour
Work Cycle
On- Off-
Shore Shore
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12. SAMS
Our Best Practices / What We Believe In #3:
A Concurrent Product & Customer Development Process
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Wire-
framing
MVP Design:
2-3 Rounds of
Development, Testing
& Pivots
MVP
Testing
MVP
Launch
Brand
Strategy
Marketing
Strategy
SEO /
Social
Media
Plan
Business
Dev.
Public
Relations
Customer Development:
Product Development:
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Strategy/
Planning
Note: For most startups, Customer Development is almost an afterthought. We recognize that the business
and marketing functions of a startup is as important as engineering and product development, and therefore
deserves an equally rigorous methodology to guide them.
15. SAMS
Our Best Practices / What We Believe In #4:
Localization for Technology That Will Be Sold Globally
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Technology localization is more than just traditional
language translation.
We use an intensive localization process based
on our assessment of the various requirements
of the local market, including:
Technical
Requirements
Cultural
Requirements
Linguistic
Requirements
16. SAMSOur Tech Skill Sets
Mobile:
・ Android
・ Windows Phone
・ PhoneGap
・ HTML5
・ jQuery Mobile
Process:
・ Lean UX
・ Pen Testing
・ SCRUM/Kanban
・ threat modeling
・ wireframing
・ Growth Hacking
Databases:
・ mySql
・ sqlLite
・ mongoDB
・ ravenDB
・ noSql
Framework:
・ Backbone.JS
・ jQuery
・ Zend
・ ASP.NET
・ Spring
Languages:
・ Java
・ C#
・ PHP
・ Ruby
・ JS
・ C/C++
Market
Validation:
・ Google Analytics
・ SEO
・ Copy Writing
・ Blog
・ Social Marketing
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17. SAMS
Startup Selection Criteria:
What We Look for in Startups
Products which can be built quickly at low cost
Reasonable flexible valuations
Low maintenance principals; ability to listen well
Innovative technology - not just better mousetrap
Credentials and track record
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20. SAMSInvestment Fee Structure
81/19 !
Quarterly
Retainer
Milestone
Bonus
Profit
Share
Optional
Milestone
Bonus
Fee
A quarterly
retainer that’s
less than what
professional
service firms
charge
Series A,
Vendor Finance,
Joint Venture, Sale,
Cash Flow,
Refinance, IPO
Investor gets
100% return of
the capital first.
Then split the
balance 81/19
Optional based on
type of services
rendered to the
startup
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21. SAMSIllustrative Calculations
Potential Return on Investment:
Investment
= $100k
Investor’s 81% Profit Share = $729k
(In this scenario, investor makes 8.2x his original investment.
SA’s 19%
Profit Share
= $171k
Investment:
$100k $200k $300k $400k $500k $600k $700k $800k $900k $ 1 mil
Capital:
$80k
Retainer:
$20k
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22. SAMSOur Core Team
Miles J. Rose
・ Founded SiliconAlley.com in 1996
・ Liquidity events: Consumer Search
(sold to NYTimes 2006);
Squashware software to Adobe
・ Advisor to Oddcast, the Humo
Network
・ Guest lecturer at NYU
・ Named to Silicon Alley Top 100
・ Received Mayor of New York’s
citation for hosting WWWAC
BizSig meeting during Internet
World
・ Featured in articles in New York
Times, Wall Street Journal and
other business publications
Arthur Bierer
・18 years of experience at
Microsoft as a Software
Developer and Product Guy
・ Built Internet Explorer 1.0
・ Worked as Windows developer,
worked with Anders Hejlsberg
on the C# language
・ Founded the NY International
Technology Meetup which
sponsors monthly events for
technologists
・ Founded abDevLabs along with
3 companies in the past year
since leaving Microsoft
Norman S. Rosenthal
・ Over 25 years management and
technical experience in
technology companies
・ Positions included VP of Sales,
CMO, COO, VP of BusDev and
President
・ Presently CEO of Tempest
Systems, a cutting edge
technology-consulting/ advisory
firm providing business
development services to 100+
hardware and software
vendors.
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23. SAMSWhy Partner with Us
• SiliconAlley.com Startup Asset Management Service is for
investors who don’t have time to manage their investments
with turnkey services to ensure success (Go-to-market strategy, Investor
documents, Investor intro and negotiation, Board member selection, Wireframing, MVP design, MVP
build, MVP testing, Brand strategy, Marketing strategy, SEO/Social media plan, Business development,
Public relations, Education, Real estate, Legal, Accounting, HR & recruitment)
• Proven best practices get things done faster and cheaper
• Access to an extraordinary large set of tri-state area angel, VC,
institutional and strategic investors
• Founders have combined 50+ years of relevant experience
• SiliconAlley.com’s long-standing reputation assisting Startups
to investment capital
• Hybrid resource teams and offices (faster, lesser cost)
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24. SAMSNext Steps…
• Do you have a startup in whom you are
contemplating an investment?
• Would you like an unsanitized and objective 2nd
opinion from a recognized authority in the industry
in order to make a more informed decision?
• Are you seeking ways to ensure that your investment
provides an ROI in line with your expectations?
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25. SAMSContact Info
If you are an investor and need a "2nd opinion" on a
company in which you are contemplating a cash infusion,
please contact:
Miles J. Rose
Miles@SiliconAlley.com
646-961-3827
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