1.
How to write an Executive Summary within 24 hours
Dr
Bernard
Leong
Co-­‐Founder,
Chlkboard
&
SGEntrepreneurs.com
Partner,
Thymos
Capital
LLP
hCp://www.bernardleong.com
TwiCer/GMail:
bleongcw
1

2.
The
Big
Picture
2
2

3.
What
is
the
problem
you
are
trying
to
solve?
Once
you
work
that
out,
ExecuOon
is
key.
What
type
of
resources
do
you
need
to
solve
Are
there
customers
or
your
problem?
there
is
an
exisOng
Mentors,
Partnerships
or
market
for
your
Resources?
soluOon?
Who
are
the
exisOng
players
from
partners
to
compeOOors?
How
are
they
benchmarked
against
your
3
idea?
3

4.
Why
write
an
ExecuOve
Summary?
• Organizes
and
clears
the
confusion
and
ambiguity
of
your
business
idea.
• Correct
posiOoning
to
convince
potenOal
investors.
• PotenOal
investors,
partners
and
clients
have
no
Ome
for
your
grandmother
stories
about
the
idea.
4
4

5.
Criteria
for
ExecuOve
Summary
• Organized
and
Understandable.
• Use
plain
language
and
vocabulary.
• Present
the
Problem
and
SoluOon
on
the
same
page.
• The
Purple
Cow
effect:
making
your
summary
disOncOvely
different
even
if
it
confines
to
basic
rules.
5
5

6.
Language
Avoid
Phrases
like
... Use
Phrases
like
...
“We
would
like
to
be
the
leading
provider
of
...” “We
aim
to
become
the
leading
provider
of
...”
“We
want
to
be
the
best
in
...” “Our
company’s
core
competency
is
...”
“Based
on
our
financial
projecOons,
we
esOmate
“We
will
make
$X
by
the
end
of
the
year.” our
sales
revenue
to
be
$X
and
profit
margins
to
be
$Y.”
6
6

7.
Layout
of
ExecuOve
Summary
• IntroducOon
-­‐
Type
of
Business
• Problem
&
Opportunity
• Technology/Service/Product
• Management
Team
• Business
Strategy
&
Route
to
Market
• Financials
• Exit
Strategy
7
7

8.
The
Mantra
• Name
of
your
Company/Project/Idea.
• Logo
and
Tagline.
• Mission
Statement
8
8

9.
Type
of
Business
• What
is
the
Industry?
• Product
or
Service
based?
• How
Product
or
Service
delivers?
• Who
are
the
customers
to
your
business?
B2B,
B2C?
9
9

10.
When
is
an
idea
an
opportunity?
• Create
or
add
value
to
customer.
• Solve
a
significant
problem,
removing
a
pain
point
or
meeOng
demand.
• Have
robust
market,
profit
margin
and
money
markeOng.
• Good
fit
with
founder
&
management
team
at
the
right
Ome
&
place
10
10

11.
Industry Sample
Introduc:on
MaterialSoi
aims
to
be
the
provider
in
creaOng
proprietary
fabrics
that
can
withstand
harsh
Materials
Engineering
Product condiOons.
We
sell
our
fabrics
to
the
users
in
the
defence
and
coal/mining
industry.
RealTime
is
a
Singapore
based
company
that
focuses
on
delivering
an
innovaOve
real
Ome
IT
based
Product adverOsing
soluOon
to
brands.
Our
chief
consumers
are
brand
marketers
and
digital
markeOng
agencies.
11
11

12.
Problem
&
Opportunity
• You
are
selling
the
soluOon
to
a
problem.
• What
is
the
“blue
ocean”
you
are
exploiOng?
• Is
there
any
interest
in
your
business
lately?
• Lies,
Damn
Lies
&
StaOsOcs
12
12

13.
Opportunity Example
Descrip:on
Recently,
the
Singapore
government
has
allocated
S$13.5B
into
high
technology
research
and
development
and
placed
their
efforts
in
three
industries:
biomedical
sciences,
renewable
Facts/StaOsOcs/News energies
and
digital
media.
The
soluOon
we
proposed
is
in
the
life
sciences
market,
where
we
can
reduce
drug
development
process
by
a
half
with
our
technology.
Based
on
the
assumpOon
that
Singtel
has
sold
a
100K
iPhones,
we
esOmate
each
smart
phone
will
EsOmate purchase
about
5-­‐10
applicaOons
and
spent
on
average
S$10
on
them
each
month.
13
13

14.
Technology
or
Idea
• You
must
make
your
technology
or
idea
understandable
to
your
audience.
• For
an
execuOve
summary,
never
put
too
much
jargon
into
your
descripOon.
• Make
comparisons
on
how
your
soluOon
can
increase
producOvity
and
efficiency.
14
14

15.
Technology Example
Descrip:on
MaterialSoi
uses
an
improved
composite
ceramic
material
to
build
fibres
which
can
efficiently
hold
vehicles
on
muddy
grounds.
Materials Our
soluOon
supercedes
the
present
ones
with
half
the
cost
but
twice
the
material
strength
to
hold
vehicles
above
muddy
grounds.
Our
soluOon
uses
a
proprietary
based
algorithm
developed
to
resolve
blurred
objects
Digital
Media of
movies
in
a
format
1000
Omes
beCer
than
the
formats
which
are
adopted
by
the
industry.
15
15

16.
Team
• Diversified
and
Complementary
Skill
Sets.
• Get
Grey
Hairs
and
put
them
in
your
advisory
board.
• Don’t
give
too
much
Otles
to
your
team.
• Be
mature
about
your
experience.
16
16

17.
People Example
Descrip:on
John
Ho
is
the
CEO
of
MaterialSoi.
Prior
to
joining
this
company,
he
was
the
Vice
President,
Sales
in
Nippon
Fabrics,
a
MNC
Experienced specializing
in
fabrics.
His
experience
with
the
market
will
help
to
generate
sales
lead
for
the
company.
Larry
Pang
is
the
founder
of
Project
AceFire.
Currently
a
second
year
undergraduate,
he
has
spent
a
year
working
in
Prof
Johnston’s
Young
Rookie mulOmedia
laboratory.
He
will
act
as
the
CTO
of
AceFire
and
will
seek
to
find
a
CEO
who
can
mentor
and
guide
the
team.
17
17

18.
Route
to
Market
• How
do
you
sell
your
service
or
product?
• Who
are
the
customers
or
clients?
How
do
you
reach
them
quickly?
• What
are
the
markeOng
channels
on
your
product?
18
18

19.
Market
Research:
Customers
• Who
are
the
customers
for
the
products
or
services?
Iden>fy
common
characteris>cs
&
behavior.
• Who
and
where
the
major
purchasers
for
the
products
are
in
each
market
segment?
• Indicate
the
rela>ve
reach
for
customers
and
how
they
purchase
the
product
or
service,
and
what
influences
their
buying
decision.
19
19

20.
Market
Size
&
Trends
• The
size
of
the
market
based
on
market
segment,
demographic
by
sex,
region
or
country
and
poten>al
profitability.
• The
poten>al
annual
growth
for
at
least
3
years
or
the
compound
annual
growth
rate
(CAGR)
of
the
business
based
on
industry.
• Major
factors
affec>ng
market
growth,
for
e.g.
industry
trends,
socio-­‐economic
trends,
popula>on
changes,
government
regula>on.
20
20

21.
How
to
EsOmate
Market
Size
• Start
with
simple,
reasonable
and
valid
assumpOons.
• Approximate
to
the
closest
figure
(10K,
1M)?
• PracOce
makes
perfect
by
making
esOmates
to
problems.
21
21

22.
PracOce
Problems
• What
is
the
average
number
of
internet
users
are
there
per
household
in
Singapore?
(Hint:
Think
about
how
many
people
per
household.)
• How
many
hospitals
are
there
in
the
first
Oer
ciOes
in
China?
(Hint:
define
the
first
Oer
ciOes
-­‐
how
many
of
them,
then
work
out
how
many
hospitals
per
city
on
average
based
on
a
certain
radius?
• How
many
seats
are
there
on
a
A380?
(Think
from
the
numbering
of
seats)
22
22

23.
• How
many
seats
are
there
on
a
A380?
(Think
from
the
numbering
of
seats):
–Start
from
seat
number
30-­‐65
in
economy
class,
take
an
average
of
10
seats
=
350
seats.
–First
Class:
4
seats
per
land
and
only
4
rows
=
16
seats
–Business
Class:
6
seats
per
row,
and
15
rows
=
90
seats
–Economy
class
on
2nd
floor
=
11
x
8
=
88
seats
• Total
number
of
seats
=
544
seats
• Actual
number:
450-­‐654
(depending
on
which
airline).
23
23

24.
4
Ps
of
MarkeOng
24
24

25.
Business
Strategies
• How
do
you
generate
revenues
and
subsequently
profits
for
your
business?
• What
is
your
business
model?
• How
are
the
revenue
sources
available
for
your
startup?
• What
business
strategies
do
you
use
to
generate
revenues?
25
25

26.
Route
to
Market/
Example
Descrip:on
Business
Strategy
MaterialSoi
engages
directly
with
known
industry
partners
in
the
fabric
industry.
The
company
does
not
deal
directly
with
customer
Partnerships/Licencing base
but
sells
via
resellers
or
fabric
distributors.
One
alternaOve
strategy
to
generate
revenues
is
done
via
licensing
of
the
proprietary
technology
to
other
fabric
producing
companies.
RealOme
offers
the
customers
a
free
beta
version
of
the
soiware
with
limited
features
so
that
they
can
enOce
them
to
buy
the
premium
version
Freemium
Model (with
addiOonal
features)
of
the
soiware.
The
company
is
currently
in
negoOaOons
on
strategic
relaOons
with
different
gaming
companies.
26
26

27.
Revenue
Sources
• How
many
different
revenue
streams
will
the
business
model
generate?
• What
is
the
source
of
each
revenue
stream
(sales,
service
fees,
adver>sing,
subscrip>on)?
• What
is
the
rela>ve
size
&
importance
of
each
revenue
stream?
• How
quickly
is
each
revenue
stream
likely
to
grow?
27
27

28.
Revenue
Streams
• Single
Stream:
Company
relies
on
one
predominant
revenue
stream
stemming
from
one
product
to
service.
• Mul/ple
Streams:
Company
collects
mul>ple
revenue
streams
from
different
products
or
services.
• Inter-­‐dependent:
Company
sells
1
or
several
products
or
services
in
order
to
s>mulate
revenues
from
another
set
of
products
and
services.
• Loss
Leader:
Company
collects
mul>ple
revenue
streams
but
not
every
revenue
stream
is
independently
profitable.
28
28

29.
Revenue
Models
• Subscrip>on/Membership:
Customers
pay
a
fixed
amount
at
regular
intervals.
• Volume
or
Unit-­‐Based:
Customers
pay
a
fixed
price
per
unit
and
receive
a
product/service
in
exchange.
• Adver>sing
Based:
End-­‐user
is
exempted
but
adver>sers
pay.
• Licensing
and
Syndica>on:
Customer
pay
a
one
>me
licensing
or
syndica>on
fee
to
be
able
to
use
or
resell
the
product
• Transac>on
Fee:
Customer
pays
the
company
that
facilitates
the
transac>on.
29
29

30.
Risks
&
Barriers
to
Entry
• Who
are
your
compeOtors?
• How
do
you
prevent
your
compeOtors
trumping
you?
• What
are
the
problems
you
face
against
them?
• Don’t
assume
that
you
are
the
only
one
or
have
indefensible
patents.
30
30

31.
Barriers
to
Entry/
Example
Descrip:on
Compe:tors
MaterialSoi
faces
the
risk
of
a
saturated
and
tradiOonal
ceramics
industry
mindset
not
to
adopt
new
technologies.
To
miOgate
the
risk,
TradiOonal
Industry
Mindset the
company
will
launch
markeOng
campaigns
and
present
the
product
in
various
conferences
to
provide
industry
players
an
awareness
of
the
product.
The
compression
format
of
RealTime
soiware
cannot
be
replicated
based
on
the
proprietary
Unique
Selling
Point algorithm
used
in
performing
the
compression.
We
are
in
the
process
of
patenOng
the
product
to
act
as
a
deterrence
against
our
compeOtors.
31
31

32.
SWOT
Analysis
32
32

33.
33
33

34.
Financials
• How
much
do
you
need?
• How
much
equity
you
want
to
give?
• How
do
you
raise
that
amount
of
money?
• Can
you
bootstrap
without
raising
funds?
34
34

35.
Financials Example
Descrip:on
MaterialSoi
seeks
US$300K
as
an
iniOal
investment
to
build
a
proof
of
concept
and
will
raise
US$2M
to
bring
the
prototype
to
Fundraising market.
The
company
generates
revenues
via
sales
in
producing
fabric
for
the
defence
and
coal/mining
industries.
RealOme
generates
revenues
via
the
number
of
purchases
made
on
the
premium
version
and
online
adverOsing
with
the
huge
Bootstrapping traffic
generated
by
visits
from
the
site.
The
company
seeks
to
bootstrap
via
hisng
1M
sales
target
within
two
years.
35
35

36.
36
36

37.
Who
do
you
raise
funds
from?
• Friends,
Family
and
Fools.
• Business
Angels.
• Venture
Capitalists.
• Government
InsOtuOons.
• FoundaOons
and
Agencies.
• Private
Equity
Firms
• Banks
37
37

38.
38
38

39.
39
39

40.
Source:
Meng
Weng
Wong
and
published
on
SGEntrepreneurs.com
hCp://sgentrepreneurs.com/dummys-­‐guide/2009/03/05/a-­‐map-­‐on-­‐venture-­‐capital-­‐in-­‐singapore/
40
40

41.
Exit
Strategy
• What
happens
to
the
company
in
3
to
5
years
Ome?
•
Possible
Exits:
–IniOal
Public
Offerings
(IPO)
–Trade
sale/Merger/Management
Buyout
–Family/Company
Succession
–Wind
it
Down!
41
41

42.
Exit
Strategy Example
Descrip:on
MaterialSoi
hopes
to
exit
in
3
years
with
a
profit
margin
of
20M
via
a
trade
sale
to
a
larger
player
Trade
Sale/Buyout within
the
industry,
for
example,
Cepheus
Ceramics.
RealTime
seeks
to
IPO
in
3
years
as
an
exit
IPO strategy.
42
42

43.
Appendices
43
43

44.
Top
10
Lies
by
Entrepreneurs
1. Our projection is conservative.
2. (Pick your favourite market research company) predicts our market to be US$50B.
3. (A big MNC) is signing our contract next week.
4. Key employees will join us as soon as we get funded.
5. Several investors are already doing due diligence on us.
6. This big company is too old, big, stupid and slow to be a threat.
7. Patents makes our business defensible.
8. All we have to do is to get 1% of the market.
9. We have 1st mover advantage.
10. We have a world-class proven team.
44
44

45.
Top
9
Lies
by
Investors
1. I liked your company but my partners don’t.
2. If we get a lead, we will follow.
3. Show us some traction and we will invest.
4. We love to co-invest with other venture capitalists.
5. We are investing in your team.
6. I have lots of bandwidth dedicated to your company.
7. This is a vanilla term sheet.
8. We open doors for you at our client companies.
9. We like early stage investing.
45
45

46.
References
• StarOng
Up,
New
Venture,
McKinsey
&
Co.
• The
Art
of
the
Start
by
Guy
Kawasaki
• Singapore
Entrepreneurs
blog
(Dummy’s
Guide)
hCp://www.sgentrepreneurs.com
• Gladstone,
Venture
Capital
InvesOng
• CompeOOve
Strategy,
Michael
Porter
• Crossing
the
Chasm,
Moore
• ACRA
-­‐
hCp://www.acra.gov.sg
46
46

47.
Resources:
Intellectual
Property
hCp://www.ipos.gov.sg
47
47

48.
Resources:
Business
Info
hCp://www.business.gov.sg
48
48

49.
Resources:
InnovaOon
&
Tech
hCp://www.exploit-­‐tech.com
49
Go
to
this
page
only
if
you
are
looking
for
a
technology
to
commercialize
49

50.
Resources:
Business
RegistraOon
hCp://www.acra.gov.sg 50
50

51.
Resources:
CommuniOes
hCp://www.sgentrepreneurs.com 51
51

52.
Resources:
Other
CommuniOes
hCp://www.e27.sg
hCp://www.youngupstarts.com
52
52

53.
“Study
the
past
if
you
would
define
the
future.”
-­‐
Confucius 53
53