An 18-slide Venture Plan Presentation

Slide 1: "Billboard"

Slide 2: Core Team ... who, what

Slide 3: Problem / Customer / Opportunity ... scale and scope of problem, SOM/SAM/TAM

Slide 4: Solution ... brochure

Slide 5: Value Proposition ... Customer NWD Profile, Benefits, FFFF

Slide 6: "Underlying Magic"... differentiation, competitive advantages, core competencies

Slide 7: Industry and Environment ... Who, What, SWOT

Slide 8: Competitive Analysis ... Who, What, SWOT

Slide 9: Business Model ... BM canvas

Slide 10: Go-to-Market Plan ... Strategies

Slide 11: Sales Plan ... Objectives

Slide 12: Operations ... Production, distribution, delivery, margin objectives

Slide 13: Growth Strategies ... Scale and Scope

Slide 14: Timeline ... What, when, where

Slide 15: Financial Objectives and Key Metrics ...

Slide 16: Use of Funds ...

Slide 17: Funding Proposal ... Equity, debt, grants, gifts

Slide 18: "Billboard"

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Slides 19 to 100+ will have all the gory details!! Lists of 100: customers, prospective customers, target markets, competitors, prospective collaborators, suppliers, prospective investors, ...

These 18 slides also form the foundation for a formal written business plan and an executive summary.

How to Start a New Venture

Go on a DXpedition ...

The Desire Phase ...
Determine why you (and your teammates) want to start a new venture

The Discover Phase ...

Form initial core entrepreneurial team
Identify problems or opportunities

The Define Phase ...
Screen problems or opportunities

Define the value proposition

The Design Phase ...
Generate potential solutions
Create a business venture hypothesis
Design a business venture plan

The Deploy Phase ...
Acquire needed resources
Launch the venture

The Develop Phase ...
Test, validate, and refine the venture hypothesis
Develop and iterate the venture based on real customer experiences

Ten Legal-Issue Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Make

1. Failing to incorporate early enough.
2. Issuing founder shares without vesting.
3. Hiring a lawyer not experienced in dealing with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
4. Failing to make a timely Section 83(b) election.
5. Negotiating venture capital financing based solely on the valuation.
6. Waiting to consider international intellectual property protection.
7. Disclosing inventions without a nondisclosure agreement, or before the patent application is filed.
8. Starting a business while employed by a potential competitor, or hiring employees without first checking their agreements with the current employer and their knowledge of trade secrets.
9. Promising more in the business plan than can be delivered and failing to comply with state and federal securities laws.
10. Thinking any legal problems can be solved later.

[Thank you, Connie Bagley]

[4.95]

Perspectives on Corporate Entrepreneurship

1. Companies must constantly innovate ... without innovation they tend to do what they've always done and run the risk of getting stale and becoming competitively disadvantaged.
2. For a company to thrive, it must tap the individual initiative of its team members ... this must be a major area of focus.
3. On any initiative being pursued, team-member buy-in is absolutely essential for success.
4. If a company want its people to be intrapreneurial in their thinking, they must be kept well informed about the company's processes and visions, and the impact of these processes and visions on profit.
5. Leaders must give team members everything they need to be self-motivated and take the initiative to succeed.
6. Companies must reward the creativity of their people.
7. If a team member owns an initiative, he or she should be accountable for all aspects of its success.
8. Companies must encourage resourcefulness and out-of-the-box thinking.
9. All thought leaders must be constantly focused on customer needs and now to satisfy and exceed them.
10. Leaders and managers must work to maximize team-member involvement in all key initiatives to tap the collective intellect of the team.

[Thank you, The One Minute Entrepreneur]

Are We Shooting Down Good Ideas?

1. You know whether or not an idea is good based who proposed it.
2. You observe from a distance rather than being lead down a path to the idea. (a.k.a. The Sniper)
3. You believe every idea is improved with your input.
4. Listing the top 10 ideas from your organization this year, half or more are your own.
5. Brainstorming means narrowing down to the best idea, instead of hearing all of them.
6. All ideas must be proven.
7. You only want BIG ideas.
8. You have no effective mechanisms to foster, collect, review, and implement ideas.
9. Your competition is your main source of ideas.
10. No matter how much you've talked about ideas, collected them, praised them, in the end you don't use them. (Like a maimed duck, you let them wander off and die.)

[Thank you, Dustin Staiger]