Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. I outlined what investors expect to see in another article “ Adding Slides Does Not Enhance Your Investor Pitch. Then match your pace to cover all the material.

Angel 102

Angel Funding Slides Technical Review 102

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. I outlined what investors expect to see in an old article “ Adding Slides Does Not Enhance Your Investor Pitch. Then match your pace to cover all the material.

Startup 64

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2012

If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. Have at least one backup plan, such as copies of your slides to hand out and discuss, in case all else fails. Then match your pace to cover all the material.

Tips 97

Tips Slides Technical Review Startup 97

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2011

If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. I outlined what investors expect to see in an earlier article “ Ten Slides Make a Killer Investor Presentation.” Then match your pace to cover all the material.

Slides 95

Slides Technical Review Startup Research 95

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2012

How do you go about getting a company product--and company--funded through crowdsourcing? Olloclip managed to fund and start the company based on crowdfunding, and is one of the most popular projects that has been funded through Kickstarter. Is it even possible, and what are the pitfalls involved? Patrick O'Neill.

Patents 191

Patents Ideas Design Startup 191

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

A perfect round number is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. Here are the ten slides you need: Problem and market need. Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. What is the current valuation of the company? Even if you have an hour booked, the advice is the same.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Here are the most common elevator pitch missteps I see often as an angel investor and advisor to startups, with some quick advice on how to address each: Insist on leading with the story of the company. For example, “Unlike all the other LCD providers, our patented high intensity light has no blue tint or glare that looks unnatural.”

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Let me be quick to say that a plan doesn’t have be a book, and probably should start as a “pitch deck” of maybe a dozen slides which cover all the right bases. For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. The details can be added later.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

This is going to be fairly specific to the company. Someone Stole My Startup Idea – Part 2: They Raised Money With My Slides?! Some resources on this: Intellectual Property is More Than Patents Does My Startup Have Intellectual Property? This will only be disclosed when there is an NDA in place. How Stealthy Should You Be?

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. So far at the company I have raised seed funds of $500,000 of which $470,000 is still in the bank so I’m in pretty good shape. Slides, please.” My blog was wiped out.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

This is going to be fairly specific to the company. Someone Stole My Startup Idea – Part 2: They Raised Money With My Slides?! Some resources on this: Intellectual Property is More Than Patents Does My Startup Have Intellectual Property? This will only be disclosed when there is an NDA in place. How Stealthy Should You Be?

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

So what are some of the key points that you should highlight in your investor slides to convince investors that you indeed do have a long-term competitive advantage over other alternatives in the marketplace? Here are some of the key ones: Patent protection in place as a barrier to entry. Investors are wary of a crowded space.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

If you want the full SlideShare deck with many slides not in either post it’s in this link –> The LA Tech Market. What is perhaps different from other regions is that we have large indigenous aerospace industry and a big high-tech import/export trade as opposed to a lot of software companies. But even this is changing.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I recommend a pitch deck with about 10 slides backed up with a written business plan of approximately 20 pages, both containing quantified answers to the following key questions. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2010

If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. I outlined what investors expect to see in an earlier article “ Investor Presentation – 10 Slides is Just Right.” Then match your pace to cover all the material.

Tips 56

Tips Slides Startup Research 56

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

Certainly a slide or two needs to carry over describing the product and features at a high level. Patents, trade secrets, and trademarks are very attractive to investors, since these are not easily overcome by competitors. In reality, there isn’t much overlap between the business pitch I expect, versus a product pitch.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

socalTECH

JUNE 16, 2010

My partner and I, Cliff Elion, have a patent pending neck technology, which enables the guitar to be made at a very accessible price point, and also have probably more functionality and connectivity than any device in history. When we started discussing the idea behind the company, Guitar Hero and Rock Band were the talk of the town.

Orange County 244

Orange County Startup Slides Paramount 244

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

In today’s world, if you don’t have a web site up and running, you will not be perceived as a real company. Investors routinely go to candidate web sites to get a feel for the tone and scope of the company, as well as its maturity and offerings. Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Yet according to the latest data from Gust (formerly AngelSoft), only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. The Gust Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Yet according to the latest data from AngelSoft , only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. The AngelSoft Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process. are eliminated during due diligence.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. Clearly the founders and senior executives of a company are the most valuable resources and their time should be maximized on the most valuable tasks. Budgeting & Planning.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more. For example, “We just patented a new battery technology that will cut your smartphone charge time and cost in half.” For the rest of us, we need a business plan, as well as a product plan.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market. haven't raised any money for my companies that required a term sheet (just friends & family money in my first company), and yet I still think it is important for a number of reasons.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175