Venture capitalists

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Posted by Killer Joe on July 19, 2008 at 18:51:16:

In Reply to: For Those of You Who Have Written Business Plans posted by IB (NJ) on July 19, 2008 at 16:43:45:

IB,

Make sure you open with an executive summary. Include bullet points that highlight the benefits of what you are proposing.

Contrary to what may be the lore, VCs do not want to waste their time reading your proposal. If you can't sum it up and spell it out clearly on the first page, that second page will never get read.

The rest of your document will be useful when your VC hands it off to his underlings such as his CFO, accountant, and counsel.

Don't make the mistake of believing a VC will be glued to your 27 pages and won't put it down until he/she is finished. The fastest way to kill enthusiasm for a project is to overburden your VC with your opening document.

There is a lot of truth to the old saying that if you can't explain your idea on the back of a business card, you don't fully understand what you are doing.

Trust me on this, I've made hundreds of thousands of dollars in my life on projects that were funded by Venture Capitalists.

Keep in mind that every sentance you put in that original document becomes a limiting factor down the road. This is definitely a case where less is more. Once your VC accepts your premise, THEN you can expound and expand.

You didn't give you wife a prenuptual on your first date did you? I didn't think so. Don't do it here.

KJ

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