Venture Capital a primer

Transcription

1 Venture Capital a primer And some lessons learned for entrepreneurs Martin De Prycker November 2015

2 Contents I. VCs and how they work Qbic Fund Sources of Capital Fund structure What does a fund offer? What does a VC Fund want in return? Investment Criteria Process Take-aways II. Some lessons learned from industry

3 Qbic Fund - highlights Seed & Venture Capital Fund 5 year investment period ( ) Followed by a 6 year horizon for follow-up investments Fund size: 41 M Focus on UGent, VUB, UAntwerpen, Ulg, VITO & associated institutes Spin-off projects / existing spin-offs Start-ups exploiting know-how or IP under existing or future licensing agreements Seed & Early Stage Sector Agnostic Fund strategy Lead investor of a syndicate Maximum of 4,1 M per spin-off (including follow up) Equity or semi-equity (convertible loans) projects

4 Sources of Capital Business Angels Family & Friends Banks Government

5 Sources of Capital Cash flow

6 Sources of Capital ~ M ~ 1 M ~ 100 k ~ 10 k

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8 Where to find money? Where to find the resources you need to become a successful company?

9 What does a VC Fund offer? Hands-on assistance No operational interference Advice on operational issues Sounding board for strategic decisions A strong network Industrial as well as financial Qbic s investment managers Independent experts Capital Equity or (convertible) loan à look for a long-term partnership iso a cash provider

10 What does a VC Fund want in return? A stake in the company s equity Insight in how the company s business evolves Representation in the company s board of directors A say in strategic key decisions An attractive exit horizon Most funds are closed-end (10-12 year) High investment return multiples Good spectrum of potential buyers (M&A, MBO, secondary, IPO)

11 Venture Capital investment criteria The OFFERING of the start up should hold enough potential: be in a sizeable market with a well-defined market pain be unique (IP) or advanced enough to beat upcoming competition address customers willing to pay for it à to be addressed in the business plan

12 Venture Capital investment criteria The TEAM is extremely important à VC Funds invest in teams not in businesses Has the team all the required skills and experience to execute the companies plan? Are team members flexible enough to change plans drastically when needed? Can teams live with the fact that investors participate in the company as an important shareholder ( Founderitis )? The team will have to convert the potential into a successful business

13 Venture Capital the process First contact: the company pitch Evaluation of the business plan, financial plan and investment proposal NDA (LoI) Term sheet: terms & conditions to be agreed upon Non-binding intention to continue exclusivity period Due diligence: technical, commercial, IP, legal, financial, Syndication Lead investor vs follower advice: do not negotiate a term sheet without legal assistance Subscription & Shareholders agreement (+ other contracts) Closing

14 Venture Capital take aways Venture Capital Funds invest in start-up companies with a promising but still uncertain business model are prepared to take a high financial risk take a stake in the company on conditions to be agreed upon are involved in the decision taking process to grow the business (via Board of Directors, not operational) try to sell their shares for an interesting exit multiple (exit proceeds / invested capital) within a limited time frame (mostly ~ 5 10 years) build a portfolio of companies within their scope aim for a good return on investment on fund level

15 Venture Capital valuation Economic theory says: Problem: in a pre-revenue situation there is no way to know the future free cashflows other than through MWTMU You would have to risk-adjust the DCF value anyhow A 4 year business plan for a pre-revenue company still makes sense, but mainly to get a grasp on burn rate and strategy This means that alternative valuation methods such as multiples are also problematic Comparables are not available, and would be difficult to use anyhow What we do: estimate the exit potential and the required investments, and calculate a possible IRR In order to reach our fund s target and compensating for failures in our portfolio, we are looking for an IRR of at least 30% for any individual investment

16 Broadband via DSL: Success 1. Market/Technology 2. Key success factors 3. Result Broadband (Internet) access via existing copper wire Creation of an Internal Venture (Virtual Company) with international responsibility: Perfect execution: strong product manager and R&D director Time to market: Be one of the first Customer/market segmentation: Go for the global market, especially US where internet was a few years ahead of Europe Market Flexibility Internet instead of Video On Demand Eco system and open innovation: Licensing out chips, patents to competitors, other products Starting an interop fest between different vendors Started in 1991 and growing to > 1B in 2000 with strong profit contributions Market share: > 40 %, shipped already more than 500M DSL 16 lines Continuous improvements ongoing from ADSL (8 Mbps) to

17 Some Guidelines for Successful Product Management Get the priorities right: product/service for today, story for tomorrow Follow the growth in the market, not your ego Strategy is about what NOT to do If you don t have this great xyz feature, call your service xyzready Let the boss decide on the colors of the box Cannibalize your own product otherwise the competition will do Balance fallacy versus entrepreneurial optimism Rule of Pi 17

18 Entre/Intrapreneurs: Some Food for Thought Do everything to move your idea forward It is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission Come to work each day with your customer and product on top of your mind (not with dollars in your eyes) 18

19 Thanks! Find us at or via the TT Office