dr. tony ratliff - "smartups startups presentation - investor relations"

MissionKonnect Investor Relations and a few Life Lessons

Dr. Tony RatliffTwitter = @drtonyratliff

Entrepreneurship is Awesome!

1. Change the World, 2. Build something of lasting value,3. Improve the lives of your customers, 4. Hopefully make lots of money doing it.

“Being an Angel Investor is like being a Life Guard at the swimming pool.”

-Dr. Tony Ratliff

“Most Startups FAIL from a lack of Customers, not cool stuff.”

Super Successful Startups • Obsessed with the Quality of the

product/experience.• Obsessed with working with the best talent.• Can explain the vision in a few clear words.• Generate revenue very early on.• Keep expenses low.• Make something a small number of users really

love.• They are focused on growth, but grow

organically.• Prioritize well and they get shit done.

Investor Relations

ESSENTIALS FOR FUNDRAISING

-Elevator Pitch-Executive Summary-PowerPoint Presentation-Prototype or a Demo-Financial Models/Projections

THE PITCHThree Goals of the Pitch: 1. to give investors and overview, 2. to get them excited about your company, team idea, product & solution, 3. get them to take the next step.

BEFORE THE PITCHYou need to know a few things...• How much time do you get?• What other investments have these investors

made?• What type of investors are you pitching to?• How should you dress?• Will there be a question and answer session?

SLIDE #1 - INTRO• Brief background information.• Tell us who you are, what you do and

why you do...in as few words as possible.• Tell us your “story” ...leave out the

boring parts.• How did you discover the problem?

SLIDE #2 - TEAM

• Talk about the team and tell us why you’ve assembled this team.• Highlight any expertise in the area.• A list of advisors works well here.• Why are you the right people to do

this?

SLIDE #3 - PROBLEM• What Problem do you solve?• Who has the Problem?• How many people have this

Problem?

SLIDE #4 - SOLUTION• What’s your Solution? • Why is it important to the Customer?• Your goal is to get people emotionally

connected to the problem and wanting a solution?

• Does your customer think your solution is important?

• Are your customers willing to pay for your solution?

SLIDE #5 - DEMO• Let us touch and feel your product? A if

you don’t have a product - a short demo or screen shots work well.

• Make sure your demo doesn’t drag on and on and on.

• We don’t need to understand all the features or code.

• We want it to be simple and work.

SLIDE #6 - OPPORTUNITY• What’s the Opportunity? Explain your

Marketing Strategy and the Size of Your Market?

• Your idea is “useless” if know one “uses” it. • What is the size of your Market (size

matters)?• What is your marketing plan?• What is your customer acquisition cost?

SLIDE #7 - COMPETITION• Who’s your Competition and why

do they matter?• How many competitors are in the

space?• Which ones are irrelevant?• Everyone has competition!

SLIDE #8 - COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

• What’s your Competitive Advantage? • Do you have a secret sauce? • Do you have any patents or IP?• How will you out-execute your

competition?• How are you going to get users?

SLIDE #9 - RISKS• Successful people understand their strengths and

their weaknesses.• Help us understand the risks involved with moving

the company forward.• Everyone in the room is asking themselves these

questions:–What’s holding me back from writing these guys

a check right now?–Will this idea really work?–Does this team have the skills to pull it off?

SLIDE #10 - FINANCIALS• Show us the Financials - We know

they are wrong, but show them to us anyway.• Give us your best guest and use

conservative numbers.• Be realistic. Under Promise, Over

Deliver.• What will it take to double or triple

sales?• How long to breakeven or cash flow

positive?

SLIDE #11 - STATUS AND FUTURE MILESTONES

• Let us know what’s happened up until this point.

• Don’t be afraid to tell us what’s gone right and what’s gone wrong.

• We know startups pivot – that just means your learning something.

• Talk about your progress and tell us about any wins.

• Tell us what your customers are saying.

SLIDE #12 CLOSING SLIDE• Logo• Website• Email • Contact Information. (Always end with your information)

QUICK PITCH BONUS SLIDE• Here’s a big problem in the world. • Here’s an idea for a machine that I invented

to solve that problem. • Here are the materials I need to build and

grow that machine. • Here are the people that I need to put those

materials together. • Here’s how much it’s going to cost me to do

it. • Here’s what happens when I put a dollar

into the machine.

A few Life Lessons

“Failing is Learning as long as you don’t keep repeating the same mistakes.”

“Do something that you are really Passionate About. If not, find

something else to do.”

Research shows that the happiest people aren’t lying on a beach somewhere. Instead, they are happiest when they are caught up in something challenging, using their gifts.

“You are only as smart as the people you associate with.”

“Social skills are more important than technical skills….most of the time.”

Key Social SkillsSmile.

Be Honest.Be Transparent.

Be Helpful.Listen more, talk less.

Be You.Don’t be a Dick.

“Simplicity is actually quite complicated.”

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”

- Albert Einstein

“Take care of your customers, if not, someone else will.”

“Life Begins at the End of your Comfort Zone.”

Dr. Tony Ratliff@drtonyratliff