January 26, 2006
From Idea to Investment
Business Plan and Investor Presentation Workshop
Organized by the Media Development Authority of Singapore Conducted by Mr. Douglas Abrams, Managing Director, Parallax Capital Management
From Idea to Investment
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From Idea to Investment
This workshop is designed for participants who have a serious interest in starting a scalable business – a business which can grow to a significant size. It will be especially useful for participants who are interested in seeking venture funding for their business. This is not just a course about “how to write a business plan” – it is an intensive, handson workshop, in which participants will develop their business ideas into an actual business plan which they will be able to present to potential venture investors. Participants should come into the workshop with a business idea that they want to develop in a business plan. They should complete course pre-work, in which they describe the key elements of their business idea and which will be reviewed by the workshop facilitator before the workshop commences. The first three sessions of the workshop will focus on one of these key elements of a business plan: Session 1: Idea evaluation and value proposition Session 2: Market identification, analysis and competitive strategy Session 3: How will the business make money? In Session 4, we will focus on developing the ability of participants to deliver a professional presentation of their business plan to investors. This real-life workshop will bring participants through the full-cycle of transforming ideas into a complete, actionable business plan. The sessions will feature intensive discussion, specific feedback on the elements of the participants’ business plans, multiple presentations by the participants, one-on-one and small group interaction. After completing this workshop, participants should be well on their way to being able to develop and present a professional-level business plan to venture investors. Pre-work Participants should answer the following questions before beginning the workshop: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What is innovative about your idea? Who is your customer – what is the market for your product? What is your value proposition – what problem are you solving? What is your sustainable competitive advantage – how will you compete? How will your business make money – what is your business model?
Session descriptions
Session 1 – Idea evaluation and value proposition
The value proposition should be the starting point for any entrepreneur. It is the core of a business plan. One way to look at the business plan is as a detailed elaboration of the
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value proposition. Yet many entrepreneurs may not have identified and may not be able to clearly elaborate their value proposition. In this session, participants will identify their value proposition and develop the ability to clearly and concisely communicate it to customers, investors, team members, etc. The value proposition we will develop in this session will address several key questions: • • • What is innovative about the product or service What problem are we solving for customers? What features of our product or service are important to our customers
Session 2 - Market identification, analysis and competitive strategy
It is widely understood that marketing is one of the key success factors in starting a successful business. Yet many entrepreneurs have quite a vague understanding of exactly what marketing is and how to approach it. For example, many entrepreneurs believe that marketing equals the four Ps – Promotion, Price, Positioning and Place. However, the four Ps are only a small part of the whole marketing process. In this session, participants will learn to: • • • • • • Answer the question: who is our customer Selecting target markets and customers Analyze the market, including customers and competitors Develop and implement a marketing strategy Develop a product that suits customer's needs Position and differentiate one's products and services from the competition
Entrepreneurs face a dilemma: if there is not a sufficient market for their idea, their business will fail. If there is a sufficient market for their idea, competitors will enter. These competitors can be existing companies with substantial resources, or new startups attempting to capitalize on the opportunity identified by the entrepreneur. In this session, participants will learn to: • • • • Create sustainable competitive advantage for their business Develop a competitive strategy Compete against both established companies and new startups Respond to competitive threats
Session 3 - How to make money
Money is the life-blood of any company and is especially important for startup companies. Startup companies face many financial challenges: they often require substantial funds in the early stages of the business to develop the product, build market share, attract and retain a high-quality team, etc. At the same time, they often have limited cash flow in these same early stages. Many startups which might have otherwise been successful fail as a result of inadequate financial management and understanding. In this session, participants will learn to: • Raise investment funds to support the growth of their business
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• •
Manage their finances and cash flow to avoid running out of cash Forecast the financial performance of their business and calculate the valuation of their company.
Session 4 - Business plan presentation workshop
It is difficult to over-emphasize the importance of good presentation skills in entrepreneurship (and in business in general). Excellent presentation skills can take you very far; whereas poor presentation skills can doom your project from the beginning. Entrepreneurs are continually presenting: to potential customers, partners, suppliers, and investors. Presentations to investors are especially critical for start-up companies as these are where company futures are decided. This workshop will enable participants to create and deliver effective presentations to investors, both written and verbal, to investors, customers, partners and others. In this session, participants will learn: • • • • • • • • • • What do investors look for in a business plan? What do investors look for in a presentation? How to avoid the most common mistakes How to get an investor to read your business plan Achieving legibility, readability, clarity Connecting with the audience Using anecdotes and illustrative examples How to interest your audience Practicing and testing Handling Q&A
Schedule
This workshop will consist of two full-day-sessions.
Day 1 AM: Idea evaluation and value proposition PM Market identification, analysis & competitive strategy Day 2 AM: How to make money
PM: Business plan presentation workshop
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About the facilitator
Douglas Abrams has developed his workshops based on his experience as an entrepreneur and venture investor in Singapore, where he is a Managing Director of Parallax Capital Management; as a Vice President, intrapreneur and technology innovator for 14 years at JP Morgan in New York, and as an Adjunct Associate Professor lecturing on entrepreneurship at the National University of Singapore. Mr. Abrams graduated from the Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania with a BAs in Communications and received an MBA from The Wharton School. He is a lecturer on New Venture Creation and Technopreneurship at the National University of Singapore and was awarded the prize for Most Creative Teaching Method by the Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises Program at Syracuse University. Mr. Abrams is Co-Deputy Chairman of the Business Angel Network of South East Asia (BANSEA) and serves as an advisor for many start-up companies, including those started by his former students. Expara, an education company founded by Mr. Abrams, develops and teaches entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship experiential-exercise-based learning programs for individuals, companies and public institutions in Asia. Expara’s mission is to help its customers become more innovative, more productive and more competitive in today’s fast-changing, hyper-competitive, knowledge-based global economy. For further information, please contact: Douglas Abrams Expara (http://www.expara.com/) 390 Orchard Road, Palais Renaissance #11-01, Singapore 238871 E-mail: dka@expara.com; Telephone: 65-6238-3492; Fax: 65-6734-5400; HP: 65-9780-5381