+ACUMEN FUNDERSCIRCLE. Application Instructions

Transcription

1 +ACUMEN FUNDERSCIRCLE Application Instructions JULY 2015

2 ALL APPLICANTS MUST SUBMIT 1.) A pitch deck that fulfills all the criteria outlined in the following slides 2.) 2 min intro video The following slides outline what you must include in your application. The +Acumen FundersCircle Alumni Committee will be using this criteria to evaluate your pitch deck and video. 2

3 1.) THE PITCH DECK

4 WHAT IS YOUR PITCH DECK FOR? The purpose of your Investor Deck is not to answer all possible questions, nor close immediate investment. It is to open investors minds to your vision and get them excited to know more. The story you craft in your Deck gets them engaged to start filling in the blanks for themselves You want to give enough information to grab their interest, but not too much as to overwhelm them or have your story lose clarity & focus. Give them enough to get excited about, but leave them wanting more. Your Deck should be able to stand on its own, without your presentation. Compelling Decks are concise, tell a story, & are visual. - Chance Barnett, CEO of CrowdFunder 4

5 WHAT YOUR PITCH DECK MUST INCLUDE* 1. Cover Slide 2. Elevator Pitch/Vision 3. The Problem & Current Solutions 4. Team & Key Stakeholders 5. Traction/ Progress to date 6. The Market Opportunity 7. What s the potential social impact? 8. Product or Service: Your solution 9. Business Model 10. Marketing & Growth Strategy 11. Financials 12. Competition 13. Funding Ask and Basic Use of funds * Good pitch decks include variations of all the elements above but not necessarily in this order. Different organizations will have different focuses but should touch on each of these subjects. 5

6 COVER SLIDE Picture of You NAME: HOW ARE YOU CONNECTED TO ACUMEN? (e.g Global Fellow) COUNTRY: NAME OF ORGANIZATION: AGE OF ORGANIZATION: WHAT YOUR ORGANIZATION DOES IN 1 SENTENCE: TYPE OF FUNDING: (DEBT/EQUITY/GRANT) $ AMOUNT YOU ARE ASKING FOR: 6

7 ELEVATOR PITCH/ VISION One-line summary that combines your vision/product and the mission of your company/organization (This should be your investment/funding thesis which you will spend the rest of the deck backing up.) Keep it short and memorable Try making it relatable as in We are X for Y. ( We are Uber for Rickshaws ) But understand where analogies apply and where they don t 7

8 THE PROBLEM Define the real problem/need you re solving, and for whom. How are people solving this problem today?/ What s the status-quo? Make sure to highlight the specific aspects of the problem that your solution solves. 8

9 TEAM & KEY STAKEHOLDERS Highlight key team members and their prior positions, successes, domain expertise that make them uniquely positioned to contribute to your success Key advisors Demonstrate relevant experience, track record Which roles are the keys to success in your company/sector/organization? 9

10 TRACTION/PROGRESS TO DATE Show your timeline and milestones to date What have you done? What have you learned? Key growth metrics Highlight press, partnerships, accolades Customer success stories and/or testimonials 10

11 THE MARKET OPPORTUNITY Define Your Market: How many people is this a problem for? Target Market Size: In #s and $/local currency terms Customers: Clearly define exactly who you serve Macro Trends & Insights Example of how to illustrate the size of your market For example, say you re focused on providing drip irrigation for small-holder farmers in India that works best for row crops Addressable Market The number of small-holder farmers in India that grow row crops Target Market The number of farmers that grow row crops in India that you are able to reach with your sales channels in the next months. 11

12 WHAT S THE POTENTIAL SOCIAL IMPACT? What is your core impact strategy? What is the main driver of your impact? Is it job creation? Or is it getting more of your product in customers hands? For example the main driver of VisionSpring s impact, the affordable eye wear company, is getting glasses on more noses. Vision Spring found = 35% increase in productivity = 20% increase in monthly income $2 Average Daily Income X 280 Working Days per Year X 20% Average Increase in Monthly Income - $4 Average Cost of Eyeglasses = $108 Annual Increase in Earning Potential 12

13 PRODUCT/SERVICE Tell the story of your customer and how customers use/value your product or service Images and visuals are better than lots of text: show don t tell Make sure to high light if there is any proprietary technology/patents or what the core value/competitive advantage of your solution is 13

14 BUSINESS MODEL Who is your primary customer/payer? How will you create, deliver, and capture value? What is the basic pricing / model Revenue and # of customers to date Show basic math on revenues, costs and conversion rates 14

15 MARKETING & GROWTH STRATEGY Where are your customers looking today and finding help? Where will you get in front of them? How will you achieve your target growth rates? What are the most important and unique channels and methods you will use to find and win customers? How are you doing it differently than others in the space? 15

16 FINANCIALS Include historical data, what s been happening to date and what are you projections for the next months? What are the key milestones you need to hit in order to get follow-on capital? Mention key & critical assumptions in your model of expenses, customer conversion, market penetration % Highlight these for each period: Revenue Driver Total Customers Total Revenue Total Expense Cash Flow EBITDA 16

17 COMPETITION Where do you exist in the larger overall Market/Ecosystem? What are your Competitive Advantages? How is your place in the market unique to you, and the right one for your company/organizational growth and customers? Who are the competitors, why have they succeeded/what do they do really well, and how do you truly differentiate from them? 17

18 FUNDING ASK & BASIC USE OF FUNDS State how much capital you are raising, and with what general terms: Grant, Equity, Debt What are your key Use of Proceeds (as % of total raise) What type of non-funding support are you looking for? How do you want to engage with a partner if they choose to invest in you? Your contact info to get in touch with you if a partner is interested 18

19 2.) THE INTRO VIDEO

20 PARTNERS INVEST IN PEOPLE Partners don t only invest in ideas, they invest in people. Help them get to know you by creating a video* (2 min or less) answering the questions below. Who are you? Why are you passionate about this issue? What inspired you to start your organization? Why are you uniquely qualified to build this organization? *This video should not include your funding ask but help Partners get to know you as a person and leader better. 20

21 HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION Save your pitch deck as PDF on Dropbox (please do not these directly as some file sizes could be very large) Upload your video to Youtube or Vimeo (you can set it to unlisted but please don t password protect it) Send an to funderscircle@plusacumen.org with the link to your pitch deck on Dropbox and the link to your video by: August 5 (11:59 PST) // Round 1 Review Deadline August 24 (11:59 PST) // Final Deadline 21

22 RESOURCES* *There are many resources out there on how to craft the perfect pitch deck but these are a few we found to be the most compelling. Please share other resources you ve found or find during this process to funderscircle@plusacumen.org.

23 Real Examples LinkedIn: Reid Hoffman released his Series B pitch deck for LinkedIn, as used in He's also annotated his thoughts behind each slide, and main considerations. AirBnB: Very first pitch deck was brief but compelling Mint.com: Clear value proposition to customers Square: Not all successful companies pitch decks were pretty Articles 10 Questions to Answer Before Pitching Investors: This includes key questions you probably have answers to but it s helpful to revisit and practice your answers to before pitching funders. 10 Slides to the Perfect Pitch: A more visual take on the essentials elements of the perfect pitch formula. Building the Perfect Pitch: Tips for how to tell the story or your business/organization. What Investor s Look for When Assessing Startups - Includes guiding questions for how to figure out which metrics are meaningful, both in measuring your own business and presenting to investors. 23

24 Presentation & Storytelling The Noun Project Free and low cost icons to communicate concepts visually Piktocharts Easy tool to make info graphics for free Resonate Nancy Duarte s method for combining story and visuals to turn ideas into powerful presentations that help you activate your audience. Sources: This deck was compiled with the help of the following sources: Crowdfunder, 500 Startups / Dave McClure, Sky Fernandes, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn & Greylock, Amplify LA, TechStars, and going through various decks submitted to Acumen 24