The Redmond Channel Partner Online has some good tips on how to land venture investment. Now, we've all read more of these tips than we probably should have but there is always the hope that a change in technique will make the difference. Of course, you and I know that no amount of elevator pitching and hand-waving makes a difference when the fish aren't biting. By all accounts, the lake that is Canadian VC industry is more or less losing water at a precipitous rate (the reference is, of course, to the old analog that no matter what your boat looks like if the lake level is going up your boat is going with it -- same is true if it is going down) and the remaining fish aren't that hungry.

What should be in your tackle box (from the article)?

In terms of information to prepare, most equity-investor Web sites list what they need. You should plan...

...An executive summary of a business plan as well as the plan itself. These should clearly, succinctly state and substantiate the following:

the nature and focus of the business as well as a summary of the sector

the business stage and strategy, products or services and competitive differentiation

the management team's experience for this business and the corporate governance structure

a detailed description of the technology and its competitive advantages

the business model, target markets, go-to-market strategy, plus the historical and projected financial performance

a "capitalization table," which reflects the percentage of ownership of your firm by all stakeholders while indicating the pre-investment valuation based on the criteria that are relevant to your sector

the amount of investment being sought and the intended use of funds that aligns with the strategy

an indication of the firm's strategic exit trajectory and timeframe, and the (...read more...)