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Wed, 29 Mar 2000 10:33:07 PST
Reply-to: indiaentrepreneurs@egroups.com
Re: Business plans? Help needed
A few thoughts from an angel investor's point of view:
We see - actually listen to - approximately one new idea every
day. We ask questions, question revenue models, ask about
the market, the competition, the team, the people, their families,
their dreams, their fears - and then try to get a sense of
whether we believe in the idea (which we can help shape) -
and whether the people in the team are players for the long
run (which we really can't shape).
In our experience, very little of this is necessarily apparent
on a piece of paper - no matter how well structured. We've
funded and taken on an idea talked about over a cup of tea
in a 15 minute meeting - and we've gotten nowhere with business
plans that are an inch thick. I'm not a disbeliever in structured
business plans - they perform at least two functions:
(1) Help _you_, the entrepreneur think through your mission
and what you have to do without missing too many things and
(2) Allow a VC something to read or refer to (or to show somebody
else) after you've made your pitch and left the room.
A few suggestions: If you have an idea, don't just rush to
put it to paper. Mull it over. Find somebody trustworthy to
share it with and make it better. (Don't worry: not too many
people have the time or resources to steal or execute your
idea - and you DO need teammates). Think of everything you
need to do to make it work right. Think of what can go wrong.
Go online, do a thorough search for and check out the competition.
(We're surprised how few people do this). And then make sure
you've thought through and have a good idea about what you
need to do to win, what you need in terms of support to do
it. Then, if at all you'd like to present it "formally", perhaps
make a Powerpoint presentation with about 20-odd slides -
or a couple of sheets of paper with the same contents spelled
out. Keep all the paperwork as a back-up.
I do realise this may not be a traditional point of view -
but, given a choice between reading a 45 page business plan
and spending 45 minutes with my 2 year-old, I somehow always
seem to choose the latter.
But then, maybe I'm just lazy!
Just my $0.02
Mahesh
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