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Anyone who is familiar with the basics of corporate finance theory will be conversant with the fact that the theoretical value of a business is Net Present Value (NPV) of future cash flows from the business discounted at the cost of capital applicable to the company – or its perceived …

Raising venture funding and investing for equity has been called “the great financing game”. It’s a game whose rules of engagement, playing conditions and plan of attack – and usually the final score – are dictated by the money. As an early investor of mine said to me as he …

It doesn’t have to be fancy and bound in leather, but your completed Venture Plan should look professionally prepared and be ready for serious review by potential investors. Here’s how to make sure it looks right and does the job. When you sit down to write your plan, think of …

The Investor Briefing Document is your first introduction to a potential investor. The purpose of the Investor Briefing Document is to sell, not to describe. It’s therefore critically important that you create the right first impression. You do not need to explain the entire business plan in 250 words. You …

Top VC Questions Who is your real customer? [Who really “Cares”?] Why can’t they live without it? How will the venture reach all the identified customer segments? How will the much does it cost (in time and resources) to acquire a customer? How long before the customer sends the business …

Agreeing to a valuation of a young and growing business between the existing shareholders and the potential investor can be one of the most difficult issues in an equity investment deal. Valuing a company of any size is never easy but it is especially onerous if that company happens to …

Companies intending to market some or all of their equity in order to raise growth capital should be prepared for the significant amount of Due Diligence that an Angel, Venture Capital or Private Equity investor and their advisors may require before consummating an equity financing deal. A broad definition of …

The Terms Sheet is perhaps the most important document the entrepreneur can get right. All else fall – or hangs – from it. The Terms Sheet sets out the basic framework for the deal. It can be a excruciatingly boring document to develop and read – particularly as the language …

The most common question I get from early-stage entrepreneurs is about how to find Angel Investors. If it seems like they are hard to find – or hard to convince – it could be you are looking in the wrong places. Finding the Angel that is the right match for your venture …

I had the opportunity of meeting with a couple of highly successful ‘exited’ entrepreneurs recently and the discussion turned to the lessons they had learned from their entrepreneurial exploits and what the ‘Ideal venture” would look like if they were to do it all again. The first one was adamant …