Funding Your Dream

In the later stages of 2009 I connected with an angel group: Band of Angels. Their deal coordinator put me onto a presentation where Dr. Ian Sobieski (a founder and managing director of the Band of Angels Fund) sits as a panel members for the presentation Funding Your Dream.

The presentation offers great advice for any entrepreneur seeking seed capital. A range of topics are covered including the mistakes entrepreneurs commonly make when presenting, the average number of deals each VC company makes and a very important topic for start-ups seeking capital: how to connect with investors.

The host asked the panel one question that I was very interested in: how many cold calls result in successful deals? Two panel members answered “Nil”, two panel members answered “One”, and the last panel member answered “25%”. That’s a very low chance of getting finance without being referred to an Angel fund or VC. That does not mean one should give up. On the contrary, it means entrepreneurs without reference need to produce a rock solid business plan and presentation. They also need to network like crazy in order to get that reference.

When panel member Susan Mason was asked what are the mistakes entrepreneurs make when presenting, she responded by saying “the most important thing is to attract our attention. We have attention deficit disorder; most VC’s do.” Susan pointed out that entrepreneurs need to start off a presentation by grabbing the VC’s attention. This should be done by explaining briefly how your business works and how your business serves a need in the market place. The panel agreed that a successful deal will involve several meetings, and their advice was to hold off on the technical detail until later meetings. The initial meeting should inspire and encourage your audience that your product is needed by consumers.

Check out the video – Funding Your Dream. It runs for about an hour, but it is set up in chapters so you can skip to questions that you find interesting.