Elaine Bailey, venture capital industry expert, has written a three-part series outlining the venture capital process for startups.

Part 1: Explain the Business, then Build the Product

In Part 1, Bailey uses the example of an engineer who had a great idea but needed to learn to convey it in terms venture capitalists would understand. Some of the new ways of explaining the engineer's concept include defining the target audience, developing a marketing strategy, and creating a logical, scalable business model that would hit a breakeven cash-flow point within a reasonable amount of time.

Part 2: How to Prepare a Successful Venture Capital Presentation

Part 2 addresses making an effective venture capital presentation. Bailey explains what she learned first hand from her first pitch as CEO of a medical software company. After being turned down, she and her team reworked the presentation until it succeeded.

Slides that describe the company, the market, the problem and solution should tell the story coherently. Bailey offers presentation tips such as getting the order of the presentation smooth and concise, getting comfortable, and making eye contact.

Part 3: Designing a Winning Executive Summary

Part 3 outlines the elements of an executive summary, which is sent to the venture capital firm after the presentation. The executive summary is a five to eight page, high-level overview of your vision, company, technology and management team. Bailey recommends hiring a professional writer if necessary to make the summary concise and easy to navigate. Bailey covers both the form and content of a good summary. The form is especially crucial since investors do not read the entire document but scan it for pertinent information. Bailey provides tips on layout and writing style, along with questions to ask yourself about what you want the investor to do.

http://www.sun.com/developers/start/features [...read more...]

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