Tips, examples, techniques and tools for building the five essential communication documents for entrepreneurs: * elevator pitch * executive summary * company presentation * technical white paper * business plan Learn how to create these communication tools and how to use them effectively to grow your business from an idea to a funded business.

2. COMMUNICATION
TOOLS:
HOW
TO
MAKE
YOUR
IDEA
CREDIBLE
AND
UNDERSTANDABLE

3. AGENDA
• 1.
Why
do
you
need
the
toolkit?
• 2.
How
to
create
and
use
your
toolkit?
• 3.
What
is
in
the
toolkit?

4. Business
is….
Being
adap:ve
For
profit

5. You
can
start
with
a
product
idea

6. Seeing
a
need
in
the
market
• hBp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5UbII_Q0_c
• 0.59
to
1.22

7. You
need
tools
on
your
journey
of
“validated
learning”
Ideas
Data
Product
The
minimum
viable
product
is
that
version
of
a
new
product
which
allows
a
team
to
collect
the
maximum
amount
of
validated
learning
with
the
least
effort.

8.
Your
are
building
a
profit
engine

9. • hBp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5UbII_Q0_c
• From
1.57
to
2.38

10.
You
will
always
deal
with
people

11. Customers,
Investors
and
Employees
all
want
to
know
• What
do
you
do?
• Who
cares?
• How
do
you
make
money?

12. Percep:on
We
all
see,
understand
and
remember
in
different
ways

13. Create
cohesive
Solicit
investment
rela:onship
with
partners
Convince
Direct
work
of
the
B-­‐plan
customers
to
employees
Exec
Summary
purchase
from
you
PPT
Deck
White
paper

15. Meaningful
Milestones=3Ps
Problems
that
the
customer
actually
has
and
cares
about
Founders
with
domain
knowledge
Path
to
success
for
customers
to
inves:gate,
compare,
test
and
purchase
¤ Revenue
model
¤ Demo
or
prototype
technology
¤ Early
indica:ons
of
the
marke:ng
equa:on
(cost
of
customer
acquisi:on
&
customer
life:me
value)
Proof
that
the
results,
outcomes
and
value
are
real;
How
to
scale
the
company
¤ Team
that
has
its
key
team
members
¤ Scalable
working
solu:on

16. Break
your
Customer
Discovery
in
2
phases
1.
Problem
Discovery
2.
Solu:on
Discovery
Talk
to
your
customers

17. How
the
customers
define
“quality”?
• hBp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoGnOscqyg8

18. How
to
create
your
toolkit?
• Do
not
start
by
building
your
business
plan
– You
will
not
have
the
informa:on
you
need
– You
will
examine
issues
out
of
priority
– You
will
expose
lack
of
understanding
• Use
the
PowerPoint
Deck
as
receptacle
for
all
ideas
and
informa:on
that
comes
to
light
–
easy
to
manipulate,
organize
and
adapt
• Build
your
execu:ve
summary
and
eventually
your
business
plan
based
on
your
PowerPoint
deck

19. PowerPoint
B-­‐plan
with
Execu:ve
Financial
Summary
Projec:ons

20. How
to
create
your
toolkit?
• Use
your
Business
plan
to
communicate
tac:cal
priori:es
to
your
team
• Develop
two
versions
of
the
execu:ve
summary:
– 1-­‐page
abstract
include
Technology,
Customer,
Pain,
Revenue,
Team
– 3-­‐5
pages
detailed
summary
with
suppor:ng
data,
commercial
risks
and
milestones
• Develop
metaphors
to
make
your
innova:on
“real”
• Give
investors
your
exec
summary
and
offer
to
walk
them
through
the
PowerPoint
slides
in
person
or
on
the
phone
• Develop
visual
assets
(diagrams,
videos)
to
use
on-­‐line
and
in
your
pitch
deck

21. Selling
vs.
Planning
VS.
This
is
a
selling
toolkit

22. Understanding
Individual
Differences
&
Percep:on
Common
perceptual
biases
• Stereotyping:
assump:ons
about
others
based
on
belonging
to
a
certain
category
or
group
• Halo
effect:
one
characteris:c
influences
your
overall
evalua:on
of
a
person
• SelecRve
percepRon:
tendency
to
consider
informa:on
that
reinforces
your
exis:ng
beliefs

23. Know
your
audience
q Speak
to
your
audience
in
language
that
they
understand:
§ Ins:tu:onal
investor
–
do
not
speak
techie ,
:e
everything
back
to
money
§ Angel
Investors
-­‐
access
their
background;
understand
their
interests

24. Understanding
Individual
Differences
&
Percep:on
Biases
related
to
decision-­‐making:
• Availability
bias:
tendency
to
base
decisions
on
informa:on
that
is
readily
available
• RepresentaRve
bias:
assessing
the
likelihood
of
an
occurrence
based
on
pre-­‐exis:ng
data
• EscalaRon
of
commitment:
increasing
the
commitment
to
a
decision
in
spite
of
nega:ve
informa:on

25. Know
your
audience
§ Strategic
investor
–
may
be
more
technical;
will
be
interested
in
your
ideas
as
they
impact
their
business
§ Strategic
Partner
–
mix
of
technical
and
business;
understand
how
a
rela:onship
will
be
mutually
profitable
to
both
par:es
§ Customer
–
understand
their
industry
and
pain
points

26. Achieving
Value
Through
Partnership:
Founda'onal
Framework
for
Alliance
Success
for
STRATEGIC
INVESTORS
3
Dimensional
Fit
Cultural
Fit
How
compa:ble
are
the
management
teams
and
cultures?
Cultural
Strategic
Fit
Fit
OperaRonal
Fit
How
well
aligned
are
How
complementary
the
partners'
Strategic
OperaRonal
are
the
business
objec:ves?
Fit
Fit
models?
Source: The Waren Company, an Andersen Consulting Alliance

27. Make
your
message
memorable
Make
informa:on
meaningful
to
them
• Case
studies,
tes:monials,
personal
stories
• hBp://www.screencast.com/t/EK8RSUzkngtM
-­‐From
10
sec
to
32
sec

28.
Social
Media
Tools
• Create
an
informed
dialog
with
peers,
partners,
journalists
and
investors
• Ask
people
to
engage
in
the
conversa:on,
cul:vate
the
audience
with
#
and
streams
• Plan
your
social
media
presence,
e,g,
– Month
1-­‐2:
TwiBer
– Month
3-­‐4
Facebook
or
Quora
– Month
6:
Google+
– Month
8:
LinkedIn

29. What
is
your
Value
Proposi:on?

30. The
Value
Proposi:on
Value
Product
Benefits
Problem
Market
Proposi:on
Management

31. Be
prepared
to
go
back
and
change

32. Principles
for
Business
Planning
and
Communica:on
FACTUAL
• No
hype.
Let
investors
become
enthusias:c
on
his/her
own
DYNAMIC
• Business
planning
is
an
itera:ve
and
adap:ve
process
• A
clear,
precise
structure
is
a
courtesy
to
those
inves:ng
their
VISUALLY
COMPLELLING
:me
in
reading
the
proposal
CONSISTENT,
CONCISE,
• The
storyline
and
all
the
facts
presented
must
fit
together
CLEAR
and
generate
a
well
rounded
impression
AUDIENCE-­‐CENTRIC
• Acknowledge
style,
recognize
knowledge
gaps
and
biases
• Those
who
allocate
investment
resources
rarely
are
EASE
OF
UNDERSTANDING
technical
experts
for
the
technology
used
in
the
proposal

33. Do
not
Rely
on
“Reality
Distor:on
Field”

34. Blueprint
for
successful
presenta:on
• What
is
my
objec:ve?
• How
will
I
close?
When
it
is
all
over,
what
will
they
remember?
• How
will
I
open
the
presenta:on?
• How
will
I
organize
the
body?
• How
will
I
get
their
aBen:on?
• How
will
I
keep
their
interest?
• What
ques:ons
will
they
ask?
• What
ques:ons
will
I
ask?
• How
will
I
tailor
the
presenta:on
to
the
audience?
• What
notes
do
I
need?
• How
many
:mes
should
I
rehearse?

35. Create
Context
Idea#
1:
“Don’t
Dive
Straight
into
the
Technology”
(Value
Proposi:on)
• Don’t
start
with
technology.
Everyone
has
this.
Instead
create
context.
• Understand
your
customer’s
pain
points
and
show
them
how
you
offer
a
value
proposi:on
that
is
FASTER,
CHEAPER,
BETTER
Idea
#2:
Maintain
A
Degree
of
Focus
&
Consistency
in
your
Message
(Brand)
•
Focus
on
just
a
few
of
the
really
good
things
you
can
do
and
lead
with
these
points.
Idea
#3:
“Personify
your
People”
(Profiles)
• Profile
Managers
Backgrounds
-­‐
Creates
context
for
poten:al
clients
and
investors.
Idea
#4:
“Provide
Proof
of
Results”
(Case
Studies)
• Tell
a
story.
Focus
on
Results
and
the
overall
customer
Experience.
Use
tes:monials.

36. Many
forks
on
the
road
ahead:
tools
simplify
what
to
say
to
whom
and
when

37. The
Elevator
Pitch
• What:
– A
30
second
overview
of
your
business
concept
• Why:
– To
get
a
follow–on
mee:ng
• When:
– In
a
cold
call
to
an
investor,
customer,
poten:al
partner,
etc.
– Good
for
networking
at
trade
shows,
business
func:ons,
etc.
• Dos
and
Don ts:
– Do
not
spend
forever
prac:cing
and
refining
this
–
should
come
naturally;
– Figure
out
a
few
key
messages
you
would
like
to
get
across
to
use
as
a
loose
script
– Distribute
key
messages
to
outward
facing
employees
–
standardize
message

38. The
Execu:ve
Summary
• What:
– 3-­‐5
page
summary
of
your
technology,
product,
sales
plan,
revenue
path
and
financial
requirements
• Why:
– A
teaser
document
meant
to
generate
a
request
for
more
informa:on
or
a
mee:ng
– Readers
will
want
to
get
their
head
around
the
concepts
quickly
• When:
– When
you
have
a
warm
intro
or
an
invita:on
to
contact
someone
– Integral
first
interac:on
with
an
investor
– Rides
the
line
between
confiden:al
and
non-­‐confiden:al
–
some
degree
of
trust
• Dos
and
Don ts:
– Has
to
have
the
right
emphasis
given
the
maturity
of
the
business
concept
– Keep
it
current

39. The
Whitepaper
• What:
– A
fairly
concise
layman s
summary
of
your
technology,
product(s),
the
uniqueness
of
the
technology
and
products
and
the
value
proposi:on
• Why:
– Helps
investors
to
understand
how
a
concept
or
technology
works
• When:
– Awer
investors
are
curious
about
details
or
have
bought
into
the
big
picture
business
vision
• Dos
and
Don ts:
– Put
the
whitepaper
on
your
website
– Don t
go
so
deep
as
to
give
away
all
of
your
trade
secrets/IP
–
consult
your
IP
professional
– Keep
it
as
short
as
possible
and
fully
explain
all
acronyms

40. The
PowerPoint
• What:
– A
~15
slide
outline
of
the
key
aspects
of
your
business
plan
• Why:
– Provides
an
overview
of
the
business
plan
in
point
form
– Allows
people
to
absorb
a
lot
of
key
informa:on
– in
a
short
period
of
:me
• When:
– Usually
the
second
piece
of
informa:on
an
– investor
receives
awer
the
execu:ve
summary
– Investors
love
these
because
they
can
flip
through
–
them
very
fast
and
get
highlights
• Dos
and
Don ts:
– Cri:cal
document
in
the
fundraising
process
–
– present
a
sound
story;
make
it
look
good
– Prac:ce
speaking
to
it,
preferably
in
front
of
friendly
people
who
will
ask
lots
of
ques:ons
– Use
graphics
as
much
as
possible

41. The
Business
Plan
• What:
– A
rigorously
prepared
and
executable
descrip:on
of
how
you
will
build
your
business
Why:
– This
is
your
roadmap
for
how
you
are
going
to
build
your
business
– Describes
roles
and
responsibili:es
for
building
various
aspects
of
– the
business
• When:
– When
you
have
assembled
enough
solid
informa:on
to
write
it
– Highly
proprietary;
later
stages
of
diligence
– Wait
for
the
investor
to
ask
for
it
• Dos
and
Don ts:
– Owen
made
a
condi:on
of
financing
or
a
board
ac:on
item
– Re-­‐write
with
every
major
change
in
strategic
direc:on
– Avoid
the
tempta:on
to
turn
this
into
a
sales
tool
–
preserve
its
integrity
as
an
execu:on
plan