venture capital

By Doug Linman, Ph.D.

So you have a new and wonderful idea, possibly to save the planet, to solve the mystery of life, create an object, make a better cookie or just simply to make things better for humankind. Great!

These, of course, are things that you want, but not what a Venture Capitalist or VC wants to hear. They want to hear about your market and who you will be selling to, how much will it cost and if there really are buyers. Most VC’s do not care about your dreams, they care about getting the highest return (ROI) they can on the investment.

Do they consider you in this picture? Well sort of. They consider whether or not you are the best company representative to assure their success. If not, you will be replaced because success must be reasonably assured. If you are opening a restaurant, for example, and your appearance is disheveled and your behavior is erratic or non-approachable, then you can assume a big NO! If you are considering a high-tech company and you think everyone truly wants a head-mounted computer system, assume NO, do not go to the meeting, and you will remain a much happier person.

The reason I bring all this up, if you are an American Idol watcher you should understand now, is very simple. You see 10,000 would be singers arrive and less than 25 make the cut because they have not been reviewed for a successful audition and most of the ideas or singers, simply can not sing. I have been up against many VC’s in my career and the more I meet and talk to them the smarter one becomes.

They are simple folk. They either immediately see dollar signs all over you and your idea or they do not. There is no middle ground, which I find comforting. Meaning, that I rather receive a hard NO with reasons that I can ponder, than a Maybe and never really know either way. While Simon, on AI, is deeply cutting when he tells one of the contestants that “you simply can not sing!” He is telling them that their chosen path is not only foolish and wasteful but not easily achieved within their knowledge and talent base, just like a VC would. It’s cruel, but I have been in rooms where 25 groups with incredibly poor ideas, no research, no evidence, and no true differentiation, but have a dream, and just threw away all the money they had in hope of an immediate gold ring.

The mind tricks us terribly sometimes.

You have to think clearly. You have to obtain honest opinions from people that have true experiences in the field you are entering and they will tell you the truth. I have told many people considering VC’s that “Hope is Not a Plan!”. However, the following is:

* You must sit down and put your thoughts on paper.
* You must have someone else read and argue your position to see if it holds water.
* You must read and research what you are up against to enter a market, industry or support an idea.
* You must get the help you need to cover the areas you are weak in, this takes being self-aware.
* You must come up with a budget that has details to see if you are missing anything.
* You must read up on your idea or plan.
* You must quietly test it out on others for reactions.
* You must patent or trademark early including preliminary patents for protection.
* You must prepare yourself like an athlete for a VC.
* You must be rested, extremely confident and well rehearsed – you only have one chance to impress.
* You must present yourself as respectable and you will be respected – plan the complete success.
* You must know who might be your competition.
* You must describe what makes you so different, so think about this early.
* You must understand what a “barrier to entry” means in your planning
* You must understand what advantages you have over others- remember it’s their money right now.
* Your presented plan must have a logical flow so they quickly get it.
* You must write an elevator pitch to see if you can explain your entire plan in the time of an ride up.
* You must prepare a more detailed version of the elevator pitch for a group to understand as well.

Finally and most important…if you truly have something (verified by others as stated) do not waiver, do not run away, do not give up. Stand your ground because your stamina alone will win over anyone else’s weakness! Learn from your failures and quickly adjust your plans.

Now go out there and make the world better!

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