Find the Right Investor
Bill Warner Tuesday, August 11, 2009
So you have completed your business plan, determined how much money you need, practiced your presentation, and are now ready to approach angel investors to raise the capital needed to launch your business. But, you don’t know any. You have heard about the angel organizations in the area. You have read about the venture capital firms as well. Where do you start looking? Here are some tips to finding angel investors:
- First decide what you want from an investor with respect to industry experience, management experience and scope of influence. Your first investors are going to be your business partners and are people who can help you get your company started with their contacts and advice. When you have a good understanding of the kind of help you need from your investors, you will be able to easily qualify them. Not every investor you meet is one that you need on your team. Don’t make the mistake of engaging an investor who is going to ultimately be a bad partner. It could kill your company.
- Right now you probably know more investors than you think you do. Establish a list of people that you know that you think could be an investor in your company. They should be accredited investors if at all possible. Think through all your business associates, friendships and family members, identifying those that could be investors, or those who might be able to introduce you to investors. This approach is often described as a “friends and family” round of investors. The reason it make sense is that you are dealing with people who know you and trust you, and therefore are more likely to agree to become an investor in your company. Of course, the downside of this approach is that you your friends and family may lose their money if your business is not successful.
- The sophisticated angels are territorial and many of them roam in packs. Go to the Angel Capital Association website to find the names and contact information for the angel investor organizations in your area. Many also roam alone or in small private groups. They are hard to find. You need to make a habit of doing a lot of business networking. The more business people that you meet at networking events the better are your chances of finding angel investors. Let people know you are raising angel money to maximize your chances of getting a referral to them.
There is no silver bullet approach to this. Finding angel investors takes a lot of hard work and months to accomplish. You will need to attend a lot of events, meet a lot of people, shake a lot of hands and give your elevator pitch hundreds of times to find just a handful of people that are willing to invest in your company.
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A Glimmer of Hope in VC Financing
Bill Warner Tuesday, August 11, 2009
In its second quarter Venture Capital Survey of venture financed companies in Silicon Valley, Fenwick & West reported some brightening of venture deals.
Financing summary
The number of down rounds in the second quarter exceeded up rounds 46 percent to 32 percent. It looks like bad news, but this is an improvement over the first quarter which was 46 percent to 25 percent. The difference is that flat rounds decreased from 29 percent to 22 percent. Although this is the second time that down rounds have exceeded up rounds since 2003, it does signal that the bleeding has started to subside.
However prices continued to fall, with a 6 percent decline in the second quarter, which compares to 3 percent in the first quarter. This two represents the second time that there was a price decline since 2004.
Other indicators
Dow Jones VentureSource reported that the amount invested by VC’s in the U.S. in 2Q09 was approximately $5.3 billion in 595 deals, an increase from the $4.0 billion invested in 680 deals in 1Q09, but a significant decline from the $8.3 billion invested in 726 deals in 2Q08.
The health care industry received 42% of 2Q09 investment, and information technology attracted 37%, the first time on record that quarterly investment in health care exceeded investment in information technology.
Fundraising by U.S. venture capitalists was $1.7 billion in 2Q09, which was the lowest amount raised in a quarter since the first quarter of 2003.
There were 67 acquisitions of venture-backed companies in the U.S. in 2Q09, for a total of $2.6 billion, a decline from 70 transactions totaling $3.4 billion in 1Q09 and a significant decline from the 89 transactions totaling $6.5 billion in 2Q08. This was the lowest dollar volume of acquisition transactions since 1999. There were three IPOs of venture-backed companies in the U.S. in 2Q09.
Of course, one point of change doesn’t yet indicate a trend, but these numbers do signal a curbing of the decline of venture capital financing. Let’s look forward to the next quarter being even better.
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Lessons From The Shark Tank
Bill Warner Monday, August 10, 2009
The new television show, Shark Tank, is more than a little hyped up and not terribly realistic about the process of raising angel or venture capital. A lot more preparation goes into getting a company ready to present to investors than is portrayed in the show. The investors looked much more arrogant and cut throat than they really are, and most of the entrepreneurs were substantially unprepared to make the presentations at this level of investing.
Lessons learned
However, there were a lot of lessons that should be learned by entrepreneurs. Some good things were done and some terrible mistakes were illustrated.
- You must present a business story, not a story about an idea. Emmy the Elephant and Ionic Ear were the cases in point. Both were explaining what their product is and how it works. They never explained why they had attractive businesses. When you are presenting to any group of investors, you need to explain what the business model is, describing how you are going to make money. Then, in turn, explain how the investors will make money as well.
- A start-up business has to have a laser like focus and not try to approach too many markets at once. The Pie Factory had a great business going in wholesaling sweet potato pies. His major selling point to investors, a deal with McDonalds, almost had to be dragged out of him. He wanted money to expand his business, and was making thirty other varieties of pies, taking attention away from his core business in sweet potato pies. They got their investment, but at a valuation that was substantially less than their revenue. If he had been more focused on wholesaling and had a confirmed deal with McDonalds, he could have gotten a much higher valuation.
- Unrealistic valuations are common place, but are usually worked out prior to a major presentation like we saw. However, the lesson learned here is that entrepreneurs really have to spend the time to understand what their business is worth right now and offer the investor an appropriate share for the money they will be putting into the company. The Pie Factory was valuing an $850K business at $4 million plus. Poor Kevin Flannery was valuing his business at $10 million plus, with no revenue. Iconic Ear’s valuation was over $6 million at the prototype phase of development. These are not even close to being reasonable and show that these entrepreneurs did little research into the investor market.
- The heart breaker was WiSpot. Kevin Flannery showed a failing business in which he has personally invested his family’s life savings. The investors did him a big favor by telling him that his business model was not attractive and never would be. Their advice was all about knowing when to quit. Entrepreneurs should be listening for good advice from seasoned entrepreneurs and investors. When a lot of people are telling you that the dog is not going to hunt, then you need to move on to something else. It’s a shame that Kevin had to get that news in front of millions of people.
- Entrepreneurs really need to be prepared to negotiate. Emmy the Elephant was raising $50 thousand and was selling 15% of her company. The company is at the prototype phase. She was offered the money, but at 55% of her company. She took the deal, probably not knowing that she just dropped her pre-money value to about $40 thousand and gave up control of her company. Not a great deal, but maybe it was right for her. Nevertheless, entrepreneurs need to know their numbers and come into such a negotiation with clear reasons for their valuation and knowing what they are willing to give on as well as their walk-away point.
- Arrogance and a bad attitude is not a good thing to display in front of investors. The College Foxes Packing Company got hammered because they were not willing to share their current company with investors. Instead, they insisted on trying to sell a spin-out services company that has no revenue for $250 thousand and a 25% share. The negotiation got heated and the entrepreneurs insulted the investors and ultimately turned down a sweet heart deal because they were unwilling to share any piece at all of their current business. In reality, these entrepreneurs should have known that the negotiation would go the way it did and been prepared with a clear position and counter offer.
Once you peel away all the dramatic showmanship, this program has some valuable lessons for entrepreneurs. These mistakes are made every day, and can be avoided by good research, preparation and getting solid advice from experienced entrepreneurs.
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The Job of Management
Bill Warner Thursday, August 06, 2009
One of the very important roles in a company is that of the manager. Management includes group leaders, who sometimes play the role of both manager and individual contributor, to section manager, director, vice president, senior vice president, executive vice president and chief executive officer. Each of these positions has a different scope of responsibility, but they all have several things that they do in common.
The role of management
First and foremost, they are all managers, even if some of them perform individual contributor work. I define a manager as having three fundamental roles. First, a manager is a leader. As a leader, the manager establishes and directs the vision and mission of the team. In this capacity, the manager is the source of visionary strength of the department and keeps the staff on a consistent track to achieving the vision. Second, a manager is a project manager. In this role, the manager is responsible for directing the operational activities of the team by scheduling the utilization of the department’s resources, including people and capital equipment. In this way, the manager gets things done through the efforts of the people on the team. The manager is responsible for establishing and executing the project plan that is necessary to achieve the team’s mission. Third, a manager is a coach, and as such picks the people for the team and improves the performance of people through ongoing counseling. As a coach, the manager works with people to help them become greater contributors by helping them improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
The tasks of management
In these roles, a manager performs several duties that are very important to the successful functioning of any team.
- Strategy – The manager puts the strategy in place to achieve the department’s vision and mission. In this capacity, the manager works with team members to develop a strategy and plan. Then a process is put in place that will be used to execute the strategy. In most cases, this process is an element of the company’s overall development process for purposes of developing and delivering its products.
- Organization – The manager gets the department organized to implement the process and guides all the project activities using the process. All the schedules are established, laying out the tasks that have to be performed to deliver the department’s product or service and assigning the necessary resources to the people on the team.
- Priorities – The manager establishes priorities for projects and tasks and makes decisions required when they have to change.
- People – Making sure that the right people are placed in the right job assignments, and that people get further training to do their jobs.
- Solutions – The manager facilitates problem solving, as needed, by directing the process of problem solving with team members, lending expertise to the process.
- Delegate – A very important duty is to delegate responsibility and accountability. In doing this, the manager gives people a clear role and a set of responsibilities, empowers them to act, and holds them accountable for results. This is the art of management. In getting the best out of people, a manager gives people the responsibility they deserve, then coaches them in their work in order to make them the best they can be, and finally holds them accountable for producing the results that are expected.
- Enable – A manager takes care of peoples’ needs. The manager is an enabler for and ensures that people get what they need in order to do their jobs. This includes equipment, training, assistance, coordination, and time.
- Communicator – One of the most important duties is that of a communicator. The manager not only communicates important information needed for people to do their jobs, but also information that is necessary for people to understand the context of their jobs. People generally want to know what the company vision and strategy is. They want to know about markets, customers and competitors. They want to know about key company initiatives and how it effects them. The manager’s job is to make sure that people know what is going on and how they are effected.
- Policy – The manager represents the company and its policies. To the people in the department, their manager is the company. Managers are familiar with company policy, communicate policy to employees, and represent the management of the company.
- Relationships – Building relationships is a key aspect of the manager’s job. The manager’s job is to establish positive and effective working relationships both inside and outside the company. One of the value-added aspects of a manager’s role is that the manager knows people and can call upon their assistance to help the department get its job done.
- Environment – The manager establishes and supports working relationship principles by creating an environment where people can count on each other. It is important to know what one can expect from another. The manager’s job is to coach people to help them understand how the team operates and to give them the understanding of each other’s role on the team.
- Objectives – Establishing goals and objectives for people is a key part of being a coach. As part of the performance management process, the manager establishes performance goals and objectives for people. This is a very formal part of the manager’s job. Establishing the objectives for people and then letting them know how they are performing in meeting the objectives is management’s bread and butter. To get their best performance, people have to understand how they are performing and be given the coaching necessary to improve. Ultimately, the manager has to formally appraise the performance of their people. This formal review becomes the determining factor for compensation changes and promotions.
- Recognition – People need to be recognized for a job well done. A manager makes sure that people are recognized for their contributions and extraordinary efforts on the job. The recognition should be timely. Recognition can take the form of anything from a sincere thank you to a substantial monetary award. The important thing is that people feel that they are appreciated for their extra effort.
- Mentor – A manager is a mentor. In this capacity, the manager advises people on their career goals and helps them get the job assignments needed to move their careers forward. Although people are responsible for their own careers, the manager can be a valued advisor in career planning.
- Manages his/her manager – Finally, a manager manages upward. That is, the manager keeps higher levels of management informed of their department’s progress that effect their commitments. In addition, the manager advises upper management on key issues and helps in the decision making process.
This is not an exhaustive list of management duties, but it represents some of the most important ones. These are the kinds of things that one should regularly expect from management as they play out their three roles of leader, project manager and coach.
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When Was The Last Time You Walked Away From A Sale?
Bill Warner Wednesday, August 05, 2009
The answer for most of us lies somewhere between I can’t remember and never. It is totally counter-intuitive to everything we expect to do. Yet, we all have memories of deals that we wish we had never won or opportunities where we wasted too much time, before finally losing out to a competitor.
The fact of the matter is that there are times when we would be much better off cutting our losses early and moving on to a more attractive opportunity. These situations generally fall into one of two categories: Bad Business and Low Probability of Sale.
Bad Business
The most unfortunate characteristic about this category is that it derives from a conscious thought process, with deliberate and calculated intent to win a business deal. In other words, it almost always happens by choice. But when we review the fruits of our labor, a few billing cycles later, why do they feel so much less rewarding?
The possibilities are numerous:
- Your costs exceed your revenues, for this project.
- You are having collection problems.
- Your resources are now focused on issues that are not your core business.
- You are under attack by the customer for not providing the contracted items.
- You have an on-going adversarial relationship with the customer.
- You are facing liability issues you don’t have with other customers.
- You have not realized additional sales opportunities your were counting on.
So, let’s examine the harbingers of doom that preceded this fiasco, because at some point we misread the opportunity to stop the sales process and move on. This typically happens when we are so emotionally driven to capture a new customer that we fail to validate the legitimacy and fundamental value of the sale. Here are a few examples of how and when the wheels fall off the sales cart:
- The deal margin has fallen below your minimum and it is not a strategic customer. Often, the sales team will rationalize this with the explanation that all future sales, which they will assure you will be many, will be at the normal price. Don’t believe it; it rarely happens that a customer orders more and does not demand the same pricing.
- You do not have the resources to deliver the product or service. This is an immediate red flag that should cause you to evaluate the reasons for booking this business. One-off products/services are not only costly to deliver, but disrupt your normal business process and impact other customers.
- The terms and conditions of the contract are unfair or unreasonable. Lopsided contract terms not only increase your exposure, but they are also indicators of a potentially flawed customer relationship and unreasonable customer expectations.
- The risk-reward ratio is too high. There are many variables that can cause this type of imbalance, but none of them can rationalize it. If it appears that you will have to assume unusual risk in order to satisfy a contract, proceed cautiously.
- Sales team convinces you to make concessions that are too aggressive, because there will be numerous, higher margin orders to follow. Don’t believe this either. It will not happen.
- The customer has a reputation in the market for being unfair, unreasonable, or no-pay. The amount of time you will spend trying to make things right for this type of customer merely delays the inevitable. A good business relationship should benefit both parties.
- Minimal due diligence in your sales review process will provide sufficient insight to evaluate and/or prevent this situation from occurring. Avoiding them will allow you to focus your resources on more rewarding opportunities, lower your risk, and improve productivity.
Low Probability of Sale
This category represents one of the most frequently misunderstood elements of the Sales process. It is the root cause of missed Sales forecasts, overstated revenue projections, frustrated executives, irritated boards, and pre-mature celebration by optimistic sales representatives. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Think of each situation as a puzzle with ten pieces, but the customer holds all the pieces. Your challenge is to guess the picture created by the completed puzzle. Your annual bonus depends upon how quickly and accurately you guess the picture. If customer A is willing to give you four pieces of the puzzle and customer B is willing to give you eight pieces, where would you spend your time? But, if customer C is also willing to give you eight pieces, in half the time as customer B, then where would you spend your time?
The amazing thing is there is a pattern of reasonably accurate predictors (the puzzle pieces) that can be obtained from most customers and interpreted to determine if and when to move on to the next opportunity. There is a correlation between the number of correct predictors (pieces) your sales representative can gather and the likelihood of a positive outcome. If it appears there are too few correct answers to support an opportunity, maybe it’s not really an opportunity at all. Here are some examples:
- Who is the sponsor for this project for your product/service? It must be someone with enough credibility and influence (ideally at the executive level) to get a commitment from the decision maker and overcome other obstacles. In a typical technology-based sale, a sales representative is likely to interact with a techie-type, who, although enamored with the product and a great source of encouragement, cannot carry the ball into the end zone.
- Who is the decision maker? Everyone in the process is going to claim to be the decision maker, until you ask about ownership of the budget to cover the check and/or signature authority to sign the check and/or who else has authority to veto his or her decision. That, ladies and gentleman, will be the real decision maker.
- Is the project requiring your product/service on the corporate priority list? If it is, where on the list does it appear and do they expect to get to it in the current fiscal year? If the answer to either question is no, move on.
- Is this project funded in the current budget? If not, you have an uphill battle, depending on the amount of money involved. Occasionally, monies can be reallocated from another part of the budget, but be prepared for a fight, which requires even more executive sponsorship.
- Your competitor is the brother of the wife of the CEO. Find another opportunity!
- Is it a must-have or a nice-to-have item? Unless it is a must have item, you will not likely get enough attention from the executive level (CEO, CFO, decision maker, etc.). The worst case will drag your organization through numerous demonstrations and proposals before fading into the sunset.
- The tangible savings are minimal or non-existent. In today’s climate, it is all about cost containment or, better yet, cost reduction. If your proposal doesn’t contribute to this goal, you are unlikely to succeed, unless it satisfies the next point.
- Does it add to revenue generation or increase profits? This is the corollary to the previous item and has obvious value. The challenge here is to quantify the value in a credible way.
- The customer has the ability and inclination to do it themselves. This is especially true for IT projects, primarily due to the perceived threat to job security. You will need strong sponsorship and a top down directive to win this battle. Even then, expect a lot of resistance.
Summary
At the end of the day, this part of the sales process is all about probability, profitability, resource utilization, and risk management. It requires focus and commitment to provide the appropriate training, review steps, and enforcement. However, the benefits are attractive: accurate forecasting, better sales productivity, better customer relations, better margins, less frustration, and lower cost of sales associated with wasted effort.
Can you really afford the alternative?
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Business Transitions for Growing Companies - Taking the “Y” in the Road
Bill Warner Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Yogi Berra is often attributed to this saying about life. “If you come to a Y in the road, take it.” In business, there are lots of Y’s in the road, and you indeed have to move beyond them. These Y’s are business transition points. But, how do you know you are at a Y in road, if it is important or not, and how to choose which way to go?
Business transitions
Every company goes through transitions as they grow. It goes with the territory of being a successful company. No matter how good you are, these transitions will have to be dealt with. Successfully navigating these transitions is critical to the success of all small businesses. But how do you know you are at one. There are road signs; for example:
- Your people are complaining about their jobs
- Sales are not growing
- Customers are complaining
People tell all
One of the most obvious, but most denied, road signs is how your employees are responding to their job and work environment. It takes a pretty insightful leader and manager to be in touch with the state of mind of their employees. Often, what employees say is not really what they mean. The most convenient complaint is about compensation and the grass being greener at another company. If management has not been communicating well, employees will simply make up all sorts of stories about their dissatisfaction based on what they perceive to be true. Yup, they lie to themselves, and their management. Then, they decide to leave your company because they are not paid well enough. In reality, people are not motivated by money. They are motivated by having a challenging job and a great place to work. If they don’t get that, they will eventually leave for the greener pastures. If management has not created an environment of open communications and business process, along with clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities, there is going to be trouble.
But, what is the Y in the road. In this situation, the Y has to do with the selection of experienced management that really knows how to lead and manage an organization of the size and complexity of your company and where it is headed. The choice is taking the road with current management and ending up in the ditch, or taking the road of enhanced management and keeping the company on the road to success.
Sales road blocks
Most small companies run into the dilemma of not appropriately getting their product or service into the market. The road sign is easily seen. Sales volumes are flat or down. But you would be surprised as to how many companies don’t respond to what the sign is saying. Hope takes over. Denial and excuses are pervasive. New forecasts ignore the past results. Extenuating factors explain what is going on. This Y in the road is decisive. If the wrong road is taken, the company runs into a brick wall and fails.
When faced with this choice, honest and objective evaluation of sales results is needed.
- Is it a market understanding problem?
- Are competitors winning?
- Is the price an objection?
- Are you selling to the wrong buyer?
- Is your solution not a priority for the buyer?
- Are your sales people ineffective?
To determine what direction to take at this junction, a detailed analysis of the reasons your company has not made its sales goals is critical. If you truly understand the reasons why you are not winning, you are on the road to adjusting your sales strategy to go down the right leg of the road.
Customers put up the signs
The most important sign to read is what your customers are telling you. If you do not have your eyes on this road sign, you are driving blind. All companies have a vision of what the value of their product or service is. And, they are proud of it. However, there is another viewpoint that the customer has. From the very beginning of your company’s history, you must be in touch with the customer’s view. If they are not satisfied, continually, they will eventually move on to other choices.
What you should be looking for is customer reaction to things like:
- Functionality and capability
- Support and maintenance
- Ease of installation and use
- Pricing structure
- Responsiveness to their needs
You need to watch for any dissatisfaction expressed in these areas. As companies increase the number of customers, it gets progressively harder to provide top notch customer care. If you miss this road sign, you will find that customers will abandon your solution for your competitor’s.
Your choice at this cross road is to make sure you are continually adjusting your customer care support structure so that you maintain customer satisfaction. If satisfaction erodes, you will be traveling down the path to disaster in the form of lost future sales and high support costs.
Watch the signs
When you decided to run a company, you automatically got your drivers license, and it is assumed you know how to read the road signs. Tune up those antennas that read what is going on with employees and customers and you will become an expert driver. Better yet, bring people into your company that are expert drivers that know how to make the turns easier to navigate.
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Lessons From Entrepreneurs
Bill Warner Monday, August 03, 2009
Here is a delightful article about 37 Pithy Insights From Street-Smart Entrepreneurs with some straight from the shoulder comments from entrepreneurs who have lived the experience of starting a company. Some of these are hard to grasp if you haven’t lived through the ups and downs of launching a company.
The need for passion
Certainly a lot more stuff happens when you are starting a company. Some days are just wonderful, like when you close your first sale, or collect your first check, or get accolades from your customers about your sevice. Some days are absolutely aweful, like when you have to fire a bad employee, or terminate a partner relationship, or face running out of money. The common denominator for the entrepreneur is his or her passion for the business. The passion is easy to show when you have great things going on. But, your passion may be the only thing that keeps you going when things aren’t going well. Like in a marriage, you are commited for better or worse.
If you feel like you have lost your passion for your business, then it may be time to get out. Otherwise, rely on it to take you through any situation.
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Read the Health Care Bill Yourself
Bill Warner Monday, August 03, 2009
Boy, did I get a lot of feedback on my blog post on the health care bill. I am not a political activist or even an expert on health care, but this bill gets me out of my chair and wanting to scream at somebody. This bill is 1,018 pages that spell out how the government is going to take total control of the health care system. Given that they have not run Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid too swiftly, what makes us have confidence in them running the whole health care show?
The bill itself
Here’s a link to the health call bill itself. It is hard to read and is not very straight forward. Serious readers will need a lawyer to interpret this thing. Here is a link to a controversial analysis of the bill, along with equally controversial rebuttals. Somewhere in this is the truth and I am concerned that it is not pretty for both individuals and businesses.
Now what
First, I suggest everyone use the analysis as a guide to go to specific section of the bill and read for yourself. Come to your own conclusion. Write down what you are still not sure about. Then, contact your US Congressman and ask them to clarify it for you. Go have a meeting with them, or attend one of their public meetings. My congressman is Brad Miller, who I have already emailed my concerns, and I will be going to his public meetings to ask further questions.
You have to understand, I don’t do this kind of thing normally. But I am now. I suggest you do the same, because this bill could change your lives significantly. Go to this link to find your US Congressman. Call them and tell them what you think and ask them for clarification. First, ask them if they have read the bill and understand its implications for people in his or her district. If they haven’t read it, or cannot answer your questions, then start asking when they are going to start representing your interests in Congress. This has to be one of the most important pieces of legislation in a long time. Your life may depend on the outcome of this.
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IPO’s and Angels
Bill Warner Tuesday, July 28, 2009
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Is Obama Health Care Plan Good For Businesses?
Bill Warner Tuesday, July 28, 2009
All we are hearing about on the news is the Obama healthcare plan. He makes promises. Congress makes promises. Reporters explain what it all means. None of it seems to come together as a consistent and complete story. However, there are some indicators that are really worrisome for businesses. All small business owners and employees of small businesses need to become pretty familiar with what may happen to healthcare and what it will mean to them.
