1. Source of Funds
Where will the money come from?
How will we “harvest” the
opportunity?
Contributed by:
Ed Rubesch
Lecturer, Thammasat Business
School, Thammasat University, Thailand

2. How to Approach Investors
 Research potential investors
 Only approach appropriate investors
 Prepare a very good Business Plan
 Prepare and rehearse a very good presentation
(no set standard: 30 seconds / 40-45 mins)
 Be clear about what you need (how
much, when, what for) and have some idea
about what you’re prepared to offer (% of
equity)
 Progress your venture as much as you can on
your own before approaching investors

3. How to Approach Investors
 Ask potential investors about their investment
style and expectations
 Spend time with investor’s other investee
partners / companies
 Negotiate hard
 Ensure your interests are aligned with those of
your investor. Agree a written business plan
 Hire professional help

4. Investment Opportunity in Thailand
 Investors looking at all stages and sizes of
companies
 Lots of money looking to invest in Thailand
 Deals are few and far between
 problems with investors capabilities
(e.g., access / protection)
 problems with investee capabilities
(e.g., accountability / transparency)
 Everything takes a (very) long time
 Exits unclear

5. Typical New Venture Funding
Sources
 Who are they?
 What drives their investment decision?
 What do they expect to get?
 Where does their money come from?

6. Typical New Venture Funding
Sources
 Research Institutions
 Self-financed
 Angel Investors
 Venture Capitalists
 Private Equity
 Public Equity
 Banks

7. Research Institutions
 Who are they?
Universities
Private laboratories
Government agencies
 What drives their investment decision?
The desire to enhance the body of knowledge
in a specific area of interest through research

8. Research Institutions
 What do they expect to get?
 The intellectual property that results from the research
 Patents
 Rights in property or process, even if not patented
 Where does their money come from?
 Endowments (sometimes with spending conditions)
 Grants
 General funding from government
 Student tuition

9. Self-financed
 From where?
 Family
 Friends
 The entrepreneur
 What drives their investment decision?
 Based on a belief in, or relationship with, the
entrepreneur
 Based on a belief that the idea is at least feasible

10. Self-financed
 What do they expect to get?
Their original investment returned
Maybe interest
Less often equity
 Where does their money come from?
Usually funded from personal savings or new
borrowings (mortgage on real estate)

11. Angel Investors
 Who are they?
Wealthy individuals
Often successful entrepreneurs
 What drives their investment decision?
A belief that the entrepreneur has done her
homework
A belief that the idea holds great upside
potential

12. Angel Investors
 What do they expect to get?
Equity
A large return on their investment (> 30%
CAR)
 Where does their money come from?
Usually funded from personal savings

13. Professional Investors
 They Include: Venture Capitalists, Private
Equity, Public Equity, Banks
 What are they looking for (maturity):
Significant shareholder value growth (“$”) for
expansion capital or reliable cash earnings
Consideration of:
transparency, honesty, creativity, responsibility, ac
countability, teamwork, etc.
Appropriate industry, investment size, stage of
company development – can vary depending on
risk tolerance and desired ROI.

14. Desirable Investment Opportunities
 Demonstrable need for
business, product, service and defensible
market position
 Track record of execution capability
 Clearly defined business plan
 Appropriate equity participation
 Board representation, perhaps
appointment of CFO
 Visible exit strategy

15. Desirable Investment Opportunities
 When companies want to:
purchase new plant and equipment to expand
capacity
purchase new plant and equipment to enter
new business line
acquire competitor, customer or supplier
raise new working capital

16. Desirable Investment Opportunities
 When owners want/need to:
sell non-core/underperforming assets
raise capital for new investments
raise capital to restructure

17. Desirable Investment Opportunities
 When managers want to:
become independent/become owners
achieve satisfaction
make lots of money!

18. Pros and Cons
 Advantages:
allows companies to access situations
otherwise closed to “high risk” investments
someone to share the risk
ensures better analytical discipline
access to investor’s network of
financiers, customers, suppliers advisers

19. Pros and Cons
 Disadvantages:
high cost of funding if successful
partial loss of control
extra reporting requirements

20. Venture Capital Investors
 Who are they?
 Professionally managed investment vehicles
 Usually in the form of a limited partnership
 What drives their investment decision?
 A belief that the entrepreneur is very capable
 Management team
 Business model
 A belief that the idea and market conditions allow for
significant revenue and profit growth

21. Venture Capital Investors
 What do they expect to get?
Equity
Significant return on investment (~ 30% CAR)
A clearly pre-defined exit for 5 – 7 years later
 Where does their money come from?
Pension funds
Wealthy individuals

22. What is a Venture Capitalist?
 Investment fund for private equity
 Such as large pension funds that have long-term investment
horizons
 Typically a VC fund lasts 10-12 years, before it is closed out
 Looking for larger returns than offered by world-wide
stock and bond markets
 Require fast growth
 Require large market opportunities
 Rewards must outweigh risks
 VCs may reject 99% of all proposals.

23. What is a Venture Capitalist?
 General George Doriot
 Founded American Research & Development in 1946
 Key investment principles:
1. New technology, new marketing concepts, and new product
application possibilities.
2. A significant, although not necessarily controlling, participation
by the investors in the company’s management.
3. Investment in ventures staffed by people of outstanding
competence and integrity.
4. Products or processes which have passed through at least the
early prototype stage and are adequately protected by
patents, copyrights, or trade secrets.
5. Situations which show promise to mature within a few years to
the point of an initial public offering or a sale of the entire
company.

24. American Research & Development
 Company invested in over 100 positions during
the 1960s.
 Interestingly, almost all of the Company’s
returns came from two successful investments:
 Digital Equipment Corporation
 High Voltage Engineering

25. Think Big – Venture Capital
 Why do VC’s look for big opportunities to offset large
risk.
 40% will fail.
 30% will become “living dead.”
 30% will become successes.
 Most important: The failures almost always happen more quickly
than the success!
 VC determine their exit strategy before they invest:
 Public offering
 Sale to a strategic partner

26. What Do VCs Offer?
 Investment money from pension funds or
university endowments
 Suitable management or technical expertise
 Help finding strategic partners or customers
 Strategy planning
 In return: a large percentage of ownership, plus
seats on the board

27. Can VC happen in Thailand
 Review the articles from Done Deals…
 What situations are similar to Thailand?
 What situations are different?
 What would need to happen:
 Government policy
 Thai culture
 Technical capability
 Other?

28. Private Equity Investors
 Who are they?
Professionally managed investment vehicles
Can be in the form of a limited
partnership, also mutual funds
 What drives their investment decision?
Track record of the business
A belief that market conditions allow for
expansion of the business

29. Private Equity Investors
 What do they expect to get?
 Equity
 Significant return on investment (up to 30% CAR)
 May or may not seek a pre-defined exit
 Where does their money come from?
 Pension funds
 Insurance companies
 Mutual funds
 University endowment funds

30. Public Equity Investors
 Who are they?
 Retail investors
 Individuals
 Institutional investors
 Pension funds, mutual funds, corporations
 What drives their investment decision?
 Retail investors
 Emotion, hot tips, their own analysis
 Institutional investors
 Investment policy (hurdle rates, sector & country
allocations, etc.)

31. Public Equity Investors
 What do they expect to get?
 Shares
 Usually no role in management of the business
 Return on investment (??% CAR)
 Where does their money come from?
 Retail investors
 Personal savings or borrowings (mortgage on real estate, or
margin on brokerage account)
 Institutional investors
 Pension contributions, insurance premiums, etc.

32. Banks
 Who are they?
Lending institutions
 What drives their investment decision?
The creditworthiness of the borrower
Ability of the business to service the loan (make
payments of interest & principal)
Collateral (can be supplied by a third party)

33. Banks
 What do they expect to get?
Their original loan returned
Interest
 Where does their money come from?
Depositors

34. Funds often are applied to
different purposes
Source Purpose
Research Institutions Basic research, inventions
Self-Financed Initial start-up funds
Angel Investors Initial start-up funds
Venture Capitalists Just after start-up
Private Equity Longer-term growth of an established
company
Public Equity Capital investment requirements of an
established company, exit for VCs
Banks Financing for most operating needs