The PITCH and a well thought out BUSINESS PLAN are required to generate
support for your venture. Taking this seriously is one way to
strengthen the potential success of your venture
Below is a sample presentation outline which you may find helpful
as you prepare your presentation:
INTRODUCTION (15 seconds)
A single sentence on:
Your name and company name
The product or service you provide
The uniqueness of your product/service
INDUSTRY (30 seconds)
In what industry are you competing?
Size, rate of growth and projected growth of the industry
Industry trends
Major competitors
PRODUCT/SERVICE (100 seconds)
What is unique about your product or service?
How or why it serves a need?
Competitive advantages
Target customer profile
Expected pricing and how it compares to competition
Break even in sales/units
MANAGEMENT (30 seconds)
Your relevant experience (but not your life history!)
Your management team's qualifications
Recent company history
FINANCING (30 seconds)
CLOSE (20 seconds)
How much money do you need?
Do you want debt or equity?
What will you use money for?
Equipment, inventory, etc?
Do you have a business plan available?
Sumerise in one or two sentances.
Many of the Four Minute
Forum presenters run out of time and have to cut their presentations
short. This is usually due to the speaker trying to cram too much
information or too many introductions into a short period of time. The
three most common mistakes presenters make are:
1) not practicing their presentation ahead of time
2) using time consuming audio visual materials
3) spending too much time on management and company history
Remember, the purpose of the presentation is to get the audience
interested in your company – interested enough to want to get
more information from you. Think about how you can present your company
in the most concise, clear manner possible.
Keep in mind also that you
will be asked a question or two from the Founders Forum panel. This
will provide you an opportunity to present additional information on
your opportunity if needed.
And good luck!
Commercialising Innovation
by
Rick McElhinney and Rodney Overton
This
book is intended to provide inspiration,
ideas and knowledge to the diverse range of people,
including entrepreneurs, mentors and investors, and others involved in,
and with an interest in developing innovative ideas to the stage of
commercialisation and at the same time developing respect for these
people involved in the variousstages of innovation and
commercialisation.
