Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Few investors these days have the time or patience to read a full business plan, so a better way to catch their eye is with a tightly written and well formatted two-page executive summary. This is your elevator pitch and customer value proposition, and is your key to getting an investor to read even the remainder of the summary.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. They must amplify your “elevator pitch” to investors, as well as key points from the business plan and the financial model.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2023

Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” These must remain focused on scaling the business.

Elevator Pitch 228

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 228

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

Over the past 20+ years, as an angel investor, former venture capitalist and private equity investor, and serial entrepreneur, I have seen and written, a wide variety of pitch decks and business plans. Beyond discussing facing adversity and overcoming obstacles, many of them have shared their business plans with me.

Business Plan 124

Business Plan Elevator Pitch Equity Private Equity 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. They must amplify your “elevator pitch” to investors, as well as key points from the business plan and the financial model.

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2020

Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” These must remain focused on scaling the business.

Elevator Pitch 336

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 336

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2014

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. For aspiring entrepreneurs, or if your last startup failed, it’s all about standing out above the crowd of others like you. Financial model.

Entrepreneur 270

Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Angel Investor 270

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

One thing I have learned the hard way in business is that implementing new ideas is usually much more difficult than conceiving the idea in the first place. That’s why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great “idea” person. A full plan may be no more than 20 pages.

Elevator Pitch 315

Elevator Pitch Cofounder Dividend Leadership 315

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Product Development – Getting Funded as The Goal In a traditional product development model, entrepreneurs come up with an idea or concept, write a business plan and try to get funding to bring that idea to fruition.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

Sure, there is always some seed funding (10% of overall deal flow), but you can bet that this money goes to entrepreneurs who have been there before and won. Your friends and family are really the only answer until you have a significant revenue stream. Practice every step, including the elevator pitch to get the first meeting.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

An "elevator pitch" is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Elevator Pitch 283

Elevator Pitch Startup Differentiation Distribution 283

Up and Running

MARCH 14, 2018

If there’s one thing I can’t stress enough, it’s the importance of rehearsing your pitch. I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs think, “Oh, I know my business inside and out—pitching will be a breeze!” I’ve seen many entrepreneurs crash and burn when delivering their investor pitch—and ramble on and on.

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Angel Investor 164

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2012

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You need to show your summary revenue and expense projections for three to five years.

Business Plan 244

Business Plan Elevator Pitch Viral Lead Generation 244

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2018

It’s great to start with a big dream as you contemplate a new business, but finding the money you need takes more than dreaming. As an advisor to young entrepreneurs, I find that many are a bit naïve about how the investment process really works. Tie investment return to revenue rather than a fixed date.

Elevator Pitch 215

Elevator Pitch Equity Revenue Differentiation 215

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

In addition, like an entrepreneur with a new business, you have to factor in all the indirect costs previously covered by employers, including training, health care, and time off for vacations. In fact, thinking like an entrepreneur is a good strategy today for success, even if you are currently in a long-term employment situation.

Employee 246

Employee Elevator Pitch Differentiation Social Media 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2018

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. There is no crowd of successful entrepreneurs. Pitch your company, not your product. Written business plan.

Elevator Pitch 164

Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Angel Investor Business Plan 164

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

We were positing that 20 years of teaching “how to write a business plan” might be obsolete. Startups, are not about executing a plan where the product, customers, channel are known. Startups are in fact only temporary organizations, organized to search –not execute–for a scalable and repeatable business model.

Lean 298

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 298

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Unless you are a serial entrepreneur with a string of successes behind you, you need a business plan to convince investors that you can build a business out of the dream that has been driving your passion to change the world. This is your elevator pitch hook, which you must be able to deliver in 30 seconds.

Elevator Pitch 163

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Silicon Valley Revenue 163

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 24, 2021

In order to determine your course of action and overall business strategy (financial, marketing etc.), it’s wise to create and implement some kind of business plan with a lean canvas approach as your guide. Since the traditional business plans tend to take weeks or even months to prepare, they’re also rarely updated.

Lean 88

Lean Elevator Pitch Startup Business Plan 88

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

Unless you have a detailed plan for where the money is going to go, you might run out of cash much more quickly than you imagine, then end up having to give up on your business. Cash flow issues, the type where a company is bringing in plenty of revenue but is struggling to meet expenses can be really challenging for startups.

Elevator Pitch 242

Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Networking Venture Capital 242

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2014

Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” These must remain focused on scaling the business.

Elevator Pitch 285

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 285

Up and Running

DECEMBER 16, 2014

To grow a business, most entrepreneurs know that they should be implementing PR strategies. But where do you start, and what are the best approaches to public relations for an entrepreneur? ” We recently featured an excerpt from her book, which offers even more great tips on networking for entrepreneurs.

Public Relations 117

Public Relations Small Business PR Entrepreneur 117

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2018

Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” These must remain focused on scaling the business.

Elevator Pitch 139

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 139

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Build a prototype product.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 260

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs tackle starting a business as a random walk into a business minefield, and they count on their street smarts, thick skin and pure determination to get them to their destinations alive. One preparation example is the value of building a business plan before you start.

Elevator Pitch 120

Elevator Pitch Burn Rate Startup Metrics 120

Gust

OCTOBER 11, 2011

An “ elevator pitch ” is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Elevator Pitch 174

Elevator Pitch Startup Differentiation Distribution 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2015

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. There is no crowd of successful entrepreneurs. Pitch your company, not your product. Written business plan.

Elevator Pitch 120

Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Startup Angel Investor 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

Remember the goal is an overview presentation that will pique investor interest enough to ask for the business plan and a follow-on meeting, not close the deal on the spot. Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors. Business model.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

Remember the goal is an overview presentation that will pique investor interest enough to ask for the business plan and a follow-on meeting, not close the deal on the spot. Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors. Business model.

Elevator Pitch 234

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 234

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

Remember the goal is an overview presentation that will pique investor interest enough to ask for the business plan and a follow-on meeting, not close the deal on the spot. Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors. Business model.

Elevator Pitch 235

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2016

Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” These must remain focused on scaling the business.

Elevator Pitch 120

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 120

Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2012

But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. ABC Shark Tank Angels via Elite Daily.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 179

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

I’ve heard many entrepreneurs deliver their pitch as if they’re auctioning off their grandmother’s antiques. It must be because they think they need to address every aspect of their business plan in one fell swoop, but doing so makes them seem anxious, tense, and nervous. 160 is average revenue per user (ARPU).

Sweat Equity 122

Sweat Equity Churn Rate Elevator Pitch Forecast 122

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 17, 2014

So, this blog entry aims to help make this exercise a little less daunting for entrepreneurs. Your Executive Summary is your verbal elevator pitch. Or, this can be high-level projections about revenue and expenses. Thinking Aloud business plan executive summary Ralph Arnheim' Understand Your Audience.

Elevator Pitch 154

Elevator Pitch Early Stage Venture Capital IP 154

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You need to show your summary revenue and expense projections for three to five years.

Elevator Pitch 226

Elevator Pitch Viral Lead Generation Metrics 226

Gust

AUGUST 19, 2012

Remember the goal is an overview presentation that will pique investor interest enough to ask for the business plan and a follow-on meeting, not close the deal on the spot. Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors. Business model.

Elevator Pitch 146

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 146

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You need to show your summary revenue and expense projections for three to five years. Marty Zwilling.

Elevator Pitch 138

Elevator Pitch Viral Lead Generation Business Plan 138