“How to Successfully Present to
Investors”
Larry Chaityn
Keiretsu Forum
Lchaityn@keiretsuforum.com
Kaminski-Partners
lchaityn@kaminski-partners.com
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Background
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E&Y, Cap Gemini, Oracle
Keiretsu Forum
Worlds Largest Angel Investment Group
 24 Chapters, 900+ Investors
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Kaminski-Partners
Merchant Bank (IB + Fund)
 Dan Kaminski, Harvey Krueger, Carl Page, Yechiam
Yemini
 Life Sciences – Technology – Clean Tech
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Barclays
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“The product matters far less to most investors than
reactions of customers, the properties of the market,
and the credibility of the team. Obsess about the
product on your own time; present your business in
all it’s parts” Marc Hedlund, Founder Wesabe
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Sequence & Flow
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Do a Demo 1st
Then Tell a Story
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We have a focused mission
We have a proven team to take us there
We have uncovered a large problem
We have solved the problem using this product with great
technology inside
We are going to market & sell it to these specific customers
With these advantages over the competition
We are working toward these milestones over the next few
quarters
In conclusion, this financing is a great investment
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opportunity.
Your Company Name
Logo
Tagline
Raising $X
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
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SUMMARY
WHAT WE DO
(Use an analogy that people understand)
“Fitness as a social game”
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
TEAM
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Highlight past accomplishments of the team (and
advisors).
Why this is a world-class team with relevant skills to
pull this off?
Why they can recruit from their networks?
What have they done before that is special and
relevant?
Have they done it before or are they learning on the
job?
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
PROBLEM WE ARE SOLVING
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Who is the customer? do they matter? what problem
does the customer have today? why is that a big
problem, why is it their biggest problem?
Emphasize the pain level and the inability of
competitors to satisfy the need.
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
THE SOLUTION
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What is your solution? why is it unique? why has
nobody done this before?
What has changed that allows room for a
startup here?
Include a demo such as a screencast, a link to
working software, or pictures
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
TECHNOLOGY
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What is the technology behind the solution?
How does the technology enable the solution to
be differentiated? Patent status.
If big IP piece, one slide on the state of
technology development
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
MARKETING
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Your total addressable market. In other words,
what your revenue would be if you got 100% of
your target customers paying what you expect?
Is this market big enough to yield a highlyvalued company.
How will you acquire them? How many have
you acquired already?
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
MARKETING;
Go to Market Strategy
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How will you get in front of the customer?
Direct, Indirect, Distribution, etc.
Integrated Social Networking & Mobile
Strategy.
Is there a channel that can allow this company
to get their product to customers profitably?
Anyone in the way of this startup reaching their
customers?
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
SALES
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What they will pay?
What will it costs to service them?
What will it cost to acquire them?
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ADOPTION CURVE (Projected)
Registered User Adoption Curve: Launch – 2013
(K)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
COMPETITION
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Matrix of the competition with the two variables
that matter on the X and Y
How is the company positioned in the
landscape with all the other companies I've
seen? How are companies in this category
valued? Do I know about competitors that
these guys don't have listed?
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
COMPETITION SPECIFICS
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The top 2 or 3 competitors, one/two liner on
their story (funding, etc), one/two liner on why
you beat them.
Do I believe these guys can win? Who are the
two or three competitors to focus due diligence
efforts on?
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
MILESTONES
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Each round of financing targeted at meeting certain
milestones to increase the value of the company.
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Current status & prospective milestones for the next 1-3
quarters for; product, team, marketing, sales.
What hypothesis did you test in the last round of financing
and what were the results? What hypotheses will you test with
this round?
What happens when? beta, first customer shipment, breakeven cash flow, etc.
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
FINANCING
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How much went in so far, when, at what price?
How much are you raising now and at what valuation,
how big is the unallocated pool?
Cap Table: Who are current investors, how much do
they own, who is on the board,
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Use of Funds
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Sales
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Marketing
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List the team & $
Specific marketing initiatives
Expectation per initiative: Adoption
Expectation per initiative: Revenue
Etc
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Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
CONCLUSIONS
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What the company could accomplish if these
current plans are realized
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Appendix
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Comparables
Valuation Mechanics
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COMPARABLES
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Companies in and around the space, valuations,
revenues, gross margin
Will this be a valuable company if they execute?
Ideal: There are obvious big, well-valued
companies around who would try to buy the
company. All valued at very high multiples, but
an underserved segment that allows a startup to
build a valuable company
Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
Valuation Mechanics
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Startup valuation is part art and part science; and,
Your company is worth is what the market will pay for
it.
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Based on industry success metrics
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Platforms 100,000 registered users = some traction
1Million registered users = industry interest
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Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
Valuation Mechanics
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DCF
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Little to no cash flow history
Cost to Replicate
doesn’t fully capture the future potential
 doesn't reflect the value of intangibles like the brand
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Market Multiple
looking at recent sales or offerings of comparable
companies
 very difficult to find accurate data
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Copyright 2011 Keiretsu Forum NY
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Valuation Mechanics
“Stage of Development”
Stage
Investors
Valuation
Concept/Business
Plan
Technology
Developed
Friends/Family
$250K-$1M
Angels/Seed VCs
$1M -$5M
Launch/Early
Customer Traction
Scaling & Adoption
(Negative EBITDA)
Seed VCs, Series A
$5M - $15M
VCs
Series A, B or C VCs $15-$30M+
Rapid Expansion
(Positive EBITDA)
Exit (M&A) or IPO
$40+M
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