D RAPER B USINESS P LAN C OMPETITION
October 15, 2012
Deborah A. Farrington
StarVest Partners deborah@starvestpartners.com
www.starvestpartners.com

Goal:
INTEREST
EXCITE
INSPIRE
To:
EDUCATE
Participate in THE DRAPER BUSINESS PLAN
CONTEST!
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Why:
Being an entrepreneur is:

C harting your own C ourse/ S etting your own S chedule

Fascinating, Fun, Frightening, Frustrating and

Fantastic!
The Business plan provides a framework to articulate, test, execute and

Channel your creativity


Put your ideas into action
Have an impact on something you care about
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Gordon MacKenzie

Bill Draper Tim Draper Jesse Draper
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

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TODAY : Venture Capital – invest in entrepreneurs and new businesses
StarVest Partners, LP founded 1998
The Largest Women Owned VC Firm in the US –

$1/2 Billion under management
Focus: B2B Technology Enabled Business Services

(not Facebook or Zynga but companies that sell to
businesses)
We are looking to develop more women VCs!
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Credentials & Training

Smith College: 1972 – Economics & Art History
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Chase Manhattan Bank: Global Credit Training Program
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Harvard Business School: Class of 1976
Experience: The next new thing
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Investment Banking: Vice President & Director
Merrill Lynch – NYC, Hong Kong, Tokyo 1976-87
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Merchant Banking: Managing Director
Asian Oceanic Group – NYC, Hong Kong 1988-93
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Venture Capital: CEO Victory Ventures – NYC 1993-97
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●
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Finance Then … Entrepreneurship Now
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Tom Peters


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What frustrates you? Does it frustrate others?
Have you helped someone solve their problem?
Can you do it faster, better, cheaper?
Can you use technology in a new/different way?
What are you passionate about?
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Inc. Magazine – Annual Issue: America’s Coolest
College Start ups
Recent Winners:
Education
Getting a job
Consumer
Socially responsible venture smsPREP
GenJuice
Sole Bikes
PoverUP
Princeton
UC Berkley
UCLA
UPenn http://www.inc.com/ss/inc-staff/americas-coolest-college-startups-2012
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SmsPREP : Text messages that teach
Need: His sister, a college student, needed help with organic chemistry. He texted her answers.
Market Research: Other college students
Product: Answers to SAT, ACT, GRE questions via text message to users' phones. Students receive study questions at a time convenient for them.
Unlimited questions.
Customer: College students, 100 a day signing up
Go to Market: Viral
How they make money: Subscription of $19.99 a month
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GenJuice : Empowering young adults to innovate
Need: Helping students find internships in the start-up world: InternshipIN was born
Market Research: A road-trip hosting ‘un-conferences’ in 13 cities on youth innovation
Product: Online media content company: news and entertainment for people who want to innovate and make an impact (it evolved!)
Customer : People ages 18 to 34
Go to Market: Viral; 75,000 attendees from conferences
How they make money: Online Ad revenue, Tour sponsorships, Projects
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Sole Bikes : Fixed Gear Bikes to the Masses
Need/Want: A $1,000 fixed gear bike - they couldn’t afford; found a cheaper way
Market Research: Contacted manufacturers all over the world; Cheapest source found in China.
Product: Designed a proto- type; sold ‘fixies” retail for $310
Customer: College students – and others – who want affordable fixed gear bikes
Go to Market : Word of mouth; Gilt Group flash sales, online sales
How they make money: Margin! Sell them for more than they buy them for.
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PoverUP : Microfinance platform to reach thousands of students
Need: Most poor people don’t have access to financial svcs.
College students want to help.
Market Research: Attended microfinance conferences; researched ways to create a microfinance platform to reach & educate—thousands of students.
Product: Platform that partners with established micro-finance institutions like Grameen USA and ProMujer in Latin America. Donate as little as $5.
Customer: College students who want to help the world’s poor through microfinance.
Go to market: Satellite groups on 500 college campuses in the next 5 years
How they make money: No business model yet (transactional? a sliver of each donation?)
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 Customer Need
 Market Research
 Product
 Customer Identification
 Go to Market
 How to Make Money
 Define
 Validation/Competition
 What does it do?
 Who?
 How to reach them
 Price/Revenue – Cost =
Profit
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Thomas A. Edison
(He failed a lot!)


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You are thinking about your problems and are going to come up with an idea
To Start : the Business Plan - a framework for your idea: concise and compelling
Relevant Experience? Use the tools you have!
Be a magnet: Seek people with expertise, identify a mentor, create your own personal board of directors
Make it work – Continue to iterate
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Product. Does it satisfy the needs of your target customer?
Price. How much will people pay?
Place. Where will you sell it? Can customers find it?
Promotion. How do you inform and promote?
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Plan Name:
People
Opportunity
Context
Risk/Reward
Management
Funding
Summary
The team has (or can get) relevant skills, contacts, and experience
The customer can be identified, reached and retained.
There is evidence that the business model is attractive in terms of potential margins, cash flow and value creation.
The rules of the game (I.e. regulatory, tax, political) are favorable. Actual and potential competition is identified and manageable.
Ways to manage upside and downside have been considered and put in place.
Is the funding plan sensible in terms of amount to start and growth plan.
This team and plan have reasonable likelihood of success.
One ------ Five
False True
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 Jump Start Your Entrepreneurial Creativity
• "What is the Big Idea"
 Young Entrepreneurship Conference
 Crafting an Elevator Pitch
• "How to Pitch Your Big Idea"
 One-Week Courses on Innovation &
Entrepreneurship
• "Introduction to Entrepreneurship"
• "Innovation & Entrepreneurship"
 Business Plan Development & Mentoring
Workshop
 Draper Business Plan Competition Awards
• $20,000 Awarded by Tim Draper
October 29
November 7
November 13
January 7-11
January 14-18
Mondays:
February, March, April
Mid-April
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Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics