Workshop Girls in Tech - Italy #3
Andrea Baldini e Tomaso Rodriguez rivelano dalle loro esperienze personali e con un po’ di humor cosa (non) fare nel preparare e presentare pitch e business plan ad investitori.
by Junior Jedi Workshop
2. WHAT’S THIS?
THIS?
WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN?
HAPPEN?
Short workshop on some things you should (NOT)
do when presenting to investors…
…with a bit of humor and theatrics…
…for all the startuppers out there!
FORMAT: MISTAKE
RULE
Presented to you by Junior Jedi
2
4. It’s a story I want to believe in
RULE # 0
GOOD COMMUNICATIONS
4
16. BUSINESS CASE
• New product/service addressed needs
• Breakthrough innovation nearest comparable
• Business case: the reasoning for switching from the
existing to the new
• Always consider:
Pros
Cons
– Laziness of people
– Fear of the unknown
BE
CONVINCING!
• ...
• …
• …
• ...
• …
• …
16
19. METRICS
• Follow business model and strategy
• Financials should reflect them
• VCs love measurable things
– Make their job easier
– Help in proving the value of a concept
– Can validate an idea that «sounds good»
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20. METRICS FOR A WEBCO (OLD SCHOOL)
•
SEM
•
•
•
•
•
CAC
•
Lead Lifetime
Customer
Acquisition
Cost
•
Churn Rate
•
Recurring Sales
•
•
MWA
…
SEO
Retargeting
Affiliation
LTV
Lifetime
Value
Mob Ads
…
LTV > CAC ???
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21. YOUR OWN STRATEGY, YOUR OWN METRICS
• «old school» vs. start up VCs don’t like
buying user bases
• Key: acquire quality users at the lowest cost
possible
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22. So you got an idea? That don’t impress me much
RULE # 5
EXECUTION
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23. EXECUTION
•
•
•
•
Idea is NOTHING without execution
No plan = No money from an investor
Go-to-market plan coherent with strategy
Measurable performance
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24. How to segment and identify my segments
RULE # 6
FIND THE MARKET BEFORE IT FINDS YOU
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31. SHOW ME THE MONEY
• For VCs and investors valuation comes out of many
elements (strategy, focus, market, metrics, biz
model, etc., etc., etc.)
• Investors are (usually) in for the long term
• Market (usually) wins
• VCs reason BACKWARDS (exit and dilution)
• Incentives needs to be aligned
• CAVEAT: be certain to know what you are buying
with a certain valuation
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33. We are gonna find it out anyway…
RULE # 8
BE TRANSPARENT
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34. SECURITY BY OBSCURITY IS NO GOOD
• Be transparent on TEAM, don’t hide missing
pieces, be practical
• Be transparent on COMPETITORS, which
one keeps you awake at night?
• Be transparent on LOCK-IN, how you avoid
losing ground and user base or customers?
• Be transparent on anything, there is going
to be a Due Diligence if everything goes
well…
34
35. Feedback is good, secrets are not
RULE # 9
GET CHALLENGED BEFORE PRESENTING
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36. IRIDIUM CASE
• 66 low earth orbiting
satellites
• Allowing subscribers to
make phone calls all over
the world
• Cost of the project over
$6 bln
• IPOed in June 1997 for
$20 / share, in less than
one year price increased
to $ 72.19 / share
• In November 1998 the
service was launched
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37. IRIDIUM CASE (cont.)
(cont.)
• In May 1999 share price was just $ 3.06
• Bankruptcy in August 1999
“We’re a classic MBA case study in how not to
introduce a product. First we created a marvelous
technological achievement. Then we asked how
to make money on it.”
Iridium Interim CEO John A.
Richardson, August 1999
Source http://lfp-blog.com/how-themighty-fall
Hey! Did
somebody tell
these guys
that the
product is too
bulky???
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38. LESSONS LEARNED (AT HIGH COST)
Always get challenged,
feedback is good!
DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR
PRODUCT/IDEA, OR YOU’LL SEE
ONLY WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE
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40. One size doesn’t fit all
RULE # 10
GET INFO ON VC BEFORE PRESENTING
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41. GET INFO ON VCs BEFORE PRESENTING
• VCs will provide «smart» money for your business
• But every VC has its own expertise in terms of:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Geographies
Sectors
Network
Markets
Stages of growth
…
• Getting financed by a VC is like getting married,
you have to choose accurately!
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51. EXAMPLE OF BAD EXECUTION
• Ben-Gay is a cream to relieve
pains very successful in US
• When the company decided
to launch the Aspirin it was a
flop
• It was just a naming
problem… would you
swallow a Ben-Gay?
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