3. Writing a compelling business plan
■ Elements of a successful and fundable plan
■ Some sample plan outlines
■ Analysis of a classic venture capital-funded business plan
■ Fatal flaws and deal killers – how to avoid them
■ "Tips and Tricks" for writing the plan
4. Elements of a successful
and fundable plan
■ Markets and Customers (compelling…)
■ Management Team (proven…)
■ Products and Services (proprietary…)
■ Business Plan (content, format, presentation)
■ Financing (ROI, pro-formas…)
5. Concept
Market development
Steady state
Product development
Seed
Seed
Still working,
you formulate
your ideas in a
business plan
outline, and
you start to
build your
management
team
You quit
your job to
pursue
business
planning full
time. Your
co-founders
may remain
working
Funding is
obtained.
Your team
members
join you in
the business
launch
Concept
Operational Stages of Company
Growth —When to WriteYour Plan
6. Some fatal flaws and deal
killers – how to avoid them
■ Lofty Mission Statement (e.g., reduce world hunger, plow 10% of profits
into charity…)
■ Missing any of the 5 basics of success w/o acknowledging the fact
■ Imputed ROI not attractive
■ Fixation on "control," overt greed
■ "Distributed leadership," or professed"socialist" management philosophies
7. Components of the Plan
• Executive Summary (1 pages)
• Company Description (0.5-1 page)
• Products or Services (2-3 pages)
• Markets (1-2 pages)
• Technology (1-2 pages)
• Competition/Competitive Advantage (1 pages)
• Business Model/Key Customers (1-2 pages)
• Operations (1 pages)
• Management (1 page)
• Financial Projections (1 page)
• Financing and Use of Proceeds (0.5-1 page)
11. Product or Service
• What product or service will your company offer?
• What’s different or unique about your offering?
• What customer problem does it solve?
• What is your sustainable competitive advantage?
• Who are your current and future competitions, and how is your product
better?
12. Market
• Market must be right.
• We look for unexploited niches.
• Where are the customers with open wallets?
• Where are the customers pain points?
• How long does it take to develop solution and recognize revenue?
• Are gross margins substantial?
13. Market Size
• A Total Addressable Market (TAM)
• Top-down analysis
• The Served Available Market (SAM)
• Segment of the market that you intend to address
• The Share of Market (SOM)
• Bottom-up approach
14. Technology
Here’s where you can use some technical jargon (but just some)…
Describe the following:
• Main components of solution
• Features and functionality
• Underlying technology
• Development environments
• Compatibility with other relevant products
• How your product fits the relevant technology value chain
• Patents and Patents Pending
• Save the deep technical description for a white paper
15. Business /Technology
• Who cares?
• Who is in the customers organization really suffers? (Hints: it’s not CTO
or CIO.)
• So what?
• Is it “must-have” or “nice to have”?
16. Competition/Competitive Advantage
Competitors include:
• Direct competition
• Substitute solutions
• Potential entrants
Barriers to Entry may include:
• Patents (pending)
• Key partnerships
• Key customer relationships
• Expert management team
• Superior product, functionality
• Time to Market
• Cost advantages
• Switching Costs
* HINT:The competition section is
a good place to indicate who
your comparables will be for
valuation’s sake.
17. Business Model/Key Customers
• How will you make money?
– Product sales, royalties, licensing
– Upfront payments vs. recurring revenues
• How does your customer make money? How do you fit in their picture?
• Products versus consulting and services
• Maintenance, upgrades, upsales, etc…
• Who are your existing customers?
• Which customers will you target, and when?
• Be reasonable
18. Sales and Distribution
• Show that you know how to build a business.
• Specific about sales channels and key customers.
• Realistic about market development and sales forecast.
• Best guess
• Worst case
19. Management Team
• Full resume of top management, specially CEO, CTO, andVP of Sales
• BOD
• Demonstrate that the cofounders and early employees have deep
domain experience and record of success.
• Point out any VP/Sr. Director holes you may have
• A void in the management is better than having a B-player
20. Financial (I)
• Income statement (profit and loss statement)
• Cash flow statement
• Balance sheet
• Breakeven analysis
• Cap table
• Monthly for the next two years, and yearly for additional three years
21. Financial (II)
• Build forecasts from bottom-up and include key assumptions (be able
to validate analyst forecasts)
• Plan for 20-25% market penetration by year 5
• Discuss and forecast headcount ramp
• Include additional financing rounds
• Give ‘em a chart and a graph
22. Financing and Use of Proceeds
Include:
• Funding required
• Milestones
• Hire key management
• Growth capital
• Technology development
• Manufacturing
• Future financing requirements
• DON’T include a valuation
23. Executive Summary
• Write it LAST
• Make it a stand-alone document
• Start with a problem/solution paragraph
• Summarize each section of the business plan
But, spend most time on:
• Product description
• Competitive advantages
• Business model & projections
• Management team
Keep it short- Less than 2 pages
24. Packaging the Plan
• No right/wrong way: the need of reader is essential
• What are the challenges/ questions that can be raised by reader:
answer these.
• Include supporting materials
• Don’t make unsupported statements
• Designate an outside reviewer/ reader that can critique plan
25. Additional Tips
• Include your contact information!
• Spell check
• This is a living document and will need to be modified as you get
feedback.
• Create a versioning system to keep track of any updates.
• Keep track of who has your plan, and which version they have (you’ll
get specific questions)
26. Case Study
Qualcomm Will Invest US$4 Million into a Korean Venture Company
In a news conference on February 1, 2010, at the Seoul Grand Hyatt Hotel
Paul Jacobs announced that Qualcomm is the world's best company in
telecommunications chip industry and will invest US$4 million into a local
chipmaker, PULSUS Technologies. In Cooperation with Korean industry,
academic and governmental institutions, Qualcomm’s planned R&D center
will expand research collaborations with Korean organizations and focus
on advances in next generation mobile communication technology.
PULSUS Technologies is a leading developer of Digital Pulse Modulation
Amplifier (DPMA) and has over 60 percent of the market share.
Qualcomm was particularly interested in PULSUS's SoC (System-on-Chip)
technology that was developed for the first time in 2003, and digital audio
standard for next-generation cell phones.The Ministry of Knowledge
Economy and KOTRA used Global Alliance Project Series (GAPS) program
to get Qualcomm's investment. GAP is an investment attracting program
that introduces Korean companies to global companies, and GAPS has been
operating it since last year.
Paul Jacobs, Chairman of Qualcomm said, "I'm very happy that I have
invested into an excellent Korean venture company, and I hope that this
investment will be a foundation for PULSUS to advance in the international
market." He went on to say, "It is very meaningful for Qualcomm to
establish the R&D center in Korea, and I will continue to contribute to the
Korean IT industry." (IT Times)