Investor repellers, i 10 errori da non fare – 21 giugno 2012– Andrea Baldini, Tomaso Rodriguez, Umberto De Feo
Vi riveleremo dalle nostre esperienze personali e con un po' di humor cosa (non) fare nel preparare e presentare pitch e business plan ad investitori!
Getting Real with AI - Columbus DAW - May 2024 - Nick Woo from AlignAI
Investor repellers - Junior Jedi Workshop
1. Workshops
Investor Repellers
“10” mistakes to avoid when
you present to investors
Andrea Baldini – Tomaso Rodriguez
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
3.
4. It’s a story I want to believe in
RULE # 0
GOOD COMMUNICATIONS
4
15. SOME EXAMPLES
• Advertising
• Add On
• Razor Blade
• Freemium
• Low Cost
• Pay as you Go
• Subscription model
• Brick & mortar vs Digital Distribution
• Virtual goods
• …
15
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»
19
20. METRICS FOR A WEBCO (OLD SCHOOL)
• SEM
• MWA
• SEO
CAC • Lead Lifetime
• Retargeting LTV
Customer
• Churn Rate Lifetime
Acquisition
• Affiliation Value
Cost
• Recurring Sales
• Mob Ads
• …
• …
LTV > CAC ???
20
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
21
22. So you got an idea? That don’t impress me much
RULE # 5
EXECUTION
22
23. EXECUTION
• Idea is NOTHING without execution
• No plan = No money from an investor
• Go-to-market plan coherent with strategy
• Measurable performance
23
24. How to segment and identify my segments
RULE # 6
FIND THE MARKET BEFORE IT FINDS YOU
24
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
31
32.
33. We are gonna find it out anyway…
RULE # 8
BE TRANSPARENT
33
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
35
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
36
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. Hey! Did
Richardson, August 1999 somebody tell
these guys
that the
product is too
bulky???
Source http://lfp-blog.com/how-the-
37
mighty-fall
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
38
39.
40. One size doesn’t fit all
RULE # 10
GET INFO ON VC BEFORE PRESENTING
40
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!
41
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?
51