Business planning: Tips for Writing a Mission Statement for your Business Plan

A while back I was shopping for a new car. In the show room one dealer had a plaque over their door that read,”Our mission is to become the most profitable [brand] dealer in Northern California.”  Uh oh! What does that tell you? ( I wonder if they are charging too much.)  That ‘mission statement’…

Your business plan presentation to investors

Much has been said and written about investor presentations. The “PowerPoint presentation” may seem like the all-important (and sometimes, harrowing) opportunity to make your pitch for capital, but it shouldn’t be a surprise introduction for investors. Investors will often request a copy of your PowerPoint deck prior to meeting with you. Send it to them.…

Business Planning – Sequencing your presentation for capital

Building a business requires more than just an idea and a plan. For a moment (and you may need to refer to this moment often), put yourself in an investor’s position… What would YOU want to know about a business before you invested in it? We often recommend investing an amount of money in a…

What Angel And Venture Capital Investors Want To Know

This past week I received a phone call from a long-time acquaintance who called to invite me to meet for a cup of coffee.  As a coffee lover I rarely turn down the opportunity to visit my favorite coffee spot here in California. After spending twenty minutes catching up on recent personal and professional adventures…

Are Your Financial Projections Ready for Primetime?

Ask ten investors what the most important section of a business plan is, and you are likely to get back a variety of answers. For some, management team is the section to which they turn first. Others begin by reading about the market opportunity and your proposed solution to determine their level of interest. While…