This is based on the Executive Summary Workshop I have been conducting in the past two months for NTU Ideas Inc. It also focus on the following topics: (1) Identification of Idea and Opportunity, (2) How to write an executive summary and (3) Resources required for setup in Singapore.

1. Executive Summary Workshop - Ideas, Innovation & Purpose
Dr
Bernard
Leong
Partner,
Thymos
Capital
&
Co-­‐Founder,
SGEntrepreneurs.com
h=p://www.bernardleong.com
1

2. Outline
• Why:
Idea
against
Problem?
• What:
Developing
from
Prototype
to
Product?
• How:
Writing
an
Executive
Summary?
• Q&A
2

3. Team Cash
Idea Cashflow
3
3

4. In
everyday
life,
we
are
trying
to
solve
problems.
4

5. Then
an
Idea
sparked
in
your
head
and
....
5
5

6. You
gather
the
People,
Resources
and
Partnership
to
Make
It
Happen
6
6

7. What
is
the
problem
Once
you
work
that
out,
you
are
trying
to
solve?
ExecuSon
is
key.
What
type
of
resources
do
you
need
to
solve
Are
there
customers
or
your
problem?
there
is
an
exisSng
Mentors,
Partnerships
or
market
for
your
Resources?
soluSon?
Who
are
the
exisSng
players
from
partners
to
compeSSors?
How
are
they
benchmarked
against
your
idea?
7
7

8. 8
8

9. Idea
without
ExecuSon
is
useless,
ExecuSon
without
Idea
is
dangerous.
9
9

10. ExecuSon
depends
on
a
A-­‐Team
10
10

11. “A
players
hire
A
players;
B
players
hire
C
players;
and
C
players
hire
D
players.”
Steve
Jobs,
Apple
Inc
“I
am
a
winner
because
I’m
good
at
what
I
do
and
because
I
am
surrounded
by
people
who
think
they
are.”
Jose
Mourinho,
Coach,
Inter
Milan
FC
11
11

12. You
will
definitely
not
make
it
if
you
submit...
• Ideas
that
can
be
easily
replicated.
• Ideas
that
has
no
business
or
tech
innovaIon.
• Ideas
that
are
not
scalable.
12
12

13. The
Big
Picture
13
13

14. Why
write
an
ExecuIve
Summary?
• Organizes
and
clears
the
confusion
and
ambiguity
of
your
business
idea.
• Correct
posiIoning
to
convince
potenIal
investors.
• PotenIal
investors,
partners
and
clients
have
no
Ime
for
your
grandmother
stories
about
the
idea.
14
14

15. Criteria
for
ExecuIve
Summary
• Organized
and
Understandable.
• Use
plain
language
and
vocabulary.
• Present
the
Problem
and
SoluIon
on
the
same
page.
• The
Purple
Cow
effect:
making
your
summary
disIncIvely
different
even
if
it
confines
to
basic
rules.
15
15

16. Language
Avoid
Phrases
like
... Use
Phrases
like
...
“We
would
like
to
be
the
leading
provider
of
...” “We
aim
to
become
the
leading
provider
of
...”
“We
want
to
be
the
best
in
...” “Our
company’s
core
competency
is
...”
“Based
on
our
financial
projecSons,
we
esSmate
“We
will
make
$X
by
the
end
of
the
year.” our
sales
revenue
to
be
$X
and
profit
margins
to
be
$Y.”
16
16

17. Layout
of
ExecuIve
Summary
• IntroducIon
-­‐
Type
of
Business
• Problem
&
Opportunity
• Technology/Service/Product
• Management
Team
• Business
Strategy
&
Route
to
Market
• Financials
• Exit
Strategy
17
17

18. The
Mantra
• Name
of
your
Company/Project/Idea.
• Logo
and
Tagline.
• Mission
Statement
18
18

19. Type
of
Business
• What
is
the
Industry?
• Product
or
Service
based?
• How
Product
or
Service
delivers?
• Who
are
the
customers
to
your
business?
B2B,
B2C?
19
19

20. When
is
an
idea
an
opportunity?
• Create
or
add
value
to
customer.
• Solve
a
significant
problem,
removing
a
pain
point
or
meeIng
demand.
• Have
robust
market,
profit
margin
and
money
markeIng.
• Good
fit
with
founder
&
management
team
at
the
right
Ime
&
place
20
20

21. RelaIonship
-­‐
Markets
&
Tech
21
21

22. Industry Sample
Introduc:on
MaterialSod
aims
to
be
the
provider
in
creaSng
proprietary
fabrics
that
can
withstand
Materials
Engineering
Product harsh
condiSons.
We
sell
our
fabrics
to
the
users
in
the
defence
and
coal/mining
industry.
RealTime
is
a
Singapore
based
company
that
focuses
on
delivering
an
innovaSve
real
Sme
IT
based
Product adverSsing
soluSon
to
brands.
Our
chief
consumers
are
brand
marketers
and
digital
markeSng
agencies.
22
22

23. Problem
&
Opportunity
• You
are
selling
the
soluIon
to
a
problem.
• What
is
the
“blue
ocean”
you
are
exploiIng?
• Is
there
any
interest
in
your
business
lately?
• Lies,
Damn
Lies
&
StaIsIcs
23
23

24. Opportunity Example
Descrip:on
Recently,
the
Singapore
government
has
allocated
S$13.5B
into
high
technology
research
and
development
and
placed
their
efforts
in
three
industries:
biomedical
sciences,
Facts/StaIsIcs/News renewable
energies
and
digital
media.
The
soluSon
we
proposed
is
in
the
life
sciences
market,
where
we
can
reduce
drug
development
process
by
a
half
with
our
technology.
Based
on
the
assumpSon
that
Singtel
has
sold
a
100K
iPhones,
we
esSmate
each
smart
EsImate phone
will
purchase
about
5-­‐10
applicaSons
and
spent
on
average
S$10
on
them
each
month.
24
24

25. Technology
or
Idea
• You
must
make
your
technology
or
idea
understandable
to
your
audience.
• For
an
execuIve
summary,
never
put
too
much
jargon
into
your
descripIon.
• Make
comparisons
on
how
your
soluIon
can
increase
producIvity
and
efficiency.
25
25

26. Technology Example
Descrip:on
MaterialSod
uses
an
improved
composite
ceramic
material
to
build
fibres
which
can
efficiently
hold
vehicles
on
muddy
grounds.
Materials Our
soluSon
supercedes
the
present
ones
with
half
the
cost
but
twice
the
material
strength
to
hold
vehicles
above
muddy
grounds.
Our
soluSon
uses
a
proprietary
based
algorithm
developed
to
resolve
blurred
objects
Digital
Media of
movies
in
a
format
1000
Smes
be=er
than
the
formats
which
are
adopted
by
the
industry.
26
26

27. Team
• Diversified
and
Complementary
Skill
Sets.
• Get
Grey
Hairs
and
put
them
in
your
advisory
board.
• Don’t
give
too
much
Itles
to
your
team.
• Be
mature
about
your
experience.
27
27

28. People Example
Descrip:on
John
Ho
is
the
CEO
of
MaterialSod.
Prior
to
joining
this
company,
he
was
the
Vice
President,
Sales
in
Nippon
Fabrics,
a
MNC
Experienced specializing
in
fabrics.
His
experience
with
the
market
will
help
to
generate
sales
lead
for
the
company.
Larry
Pang
is
the
founder
of
Project
AceFire.
Currently
a
second
year
undergraduate,
he
has
spent
a
year
working
in
Prof
Johnston’s
Young
Rookie mulSmedia
laboratory.
He
will
act
as
the
CTO
of
AceFire
and
will
seek
to
find
a
CEO
who
can
mentor
and
guide
the
team.
28
28

29. Route
to
Market
&
Business
Strategies
• How
do
you
sell
your
service
or
product?
• 80-­‐20
rule
on
market
segmentaIon?
• What
are
the
markeIng
channels
on
your
product?
• What
business
strategies
do
you
use
to
generate
revenues?
29
29

30. 30
30

31. Route
to
Market/
Example
Descrip:on
Business
Strategy
MaterialSod
engages
directly
with
known
industry
partners
in
the
fabric
industry.
The
company
does
not
deal
directly
with
customer
base
but
sells
via
resellers
or
fabric
Partnerships/Licencing distributors.
One
alternaSve
strategy
to
generate
revenues
is
done
via
licensing
of
the
proprietary
technology
to
other
fabric
producing
companies.
RealSme
offers
the
customers
a
free
beta
version
of
the
sodware
with
limited
features
so
that
they
can
enSce
them
to
buy
the
Freemium
Model premium
version
(with
addiSonal
features)
of
the
sodware.
The
company
is
currently
in
negoSaSons
on
strategic
relaSons
with
different
gaming
companies.
31
31

32. How
to
EsImate
Market
Size
• Start
with
simple,
reasonable
and
valid
assumpIons.
• Approximate
to
the
closest
figure
(10K,
1M)?
• PracIce
makes
perfect
by
making
esImates
to
problems.
32
32

33. PracIce
Problems
• How
many
Internet
users
are
there
in
Singapore?
(Hint:
Start
with
the
populaIon
and
number
of
households)
• How
many
mobile
handsets
each
person
will
hold
on
average?
(Hint:
make
a
guess
from
how
many
people
losing
phones?)
• How
many
students
are
playing
World
of
WarCrae?
(Hint:
Demographics)
33
33

34. 34
34

35. Gartner’s
Hype
Cycle
35
35

36. 4
Ps
of
MarkeIng
36
36

37. Risks
&
Barriers
to
Entry
• Who
are
your
compeItors?
• How
do
you
prevent
your
compeItors
trumping
you?
• What
are
the
problems
you
face
against
them?
• Don’t
assume
that
you
are
the
only
one
or
have
indefensible
patents.
37
37

38. Barriers
to
Entry/
Example
Descrip:on
Compe:tors
MaterialSod
faces
the
risk
of
a
saturated
and
tradiSonal
ceramics
industry
mindset
not
to
adopt
new
technologies.
To
miSgate
the
risk,
TradiIonal
Industry
Mindset the
company
will
launch
markeSng
campaigns
and
present
the
product
in
various
conferences
to
provide
industry
players
an
awareness
of
the
product.
The
compression
format
of
RealTime
sodware
cannot
be
replicated
based
on
the
proprietary
Unique
Selling
Point algorithm
used
in
performing
the
compression.
We
are
in
the
process
of
patenSng
the
product
to
act
as
a
deterrence
against
our
compeStors.
38
38

39. SWOT
Analysis
39
39

40. 40
40

41. Financials
• How
much
do
you
need?
• How
much
equity
you
want
to
give?
• How
do
you
raise
that
amount
of
money?
• Can
you
bootstrap
without
raising
funds?
41
41

42. Financials Example
Descrip:on
MaterialSod
seeks
US$300K
as
an
iniSal
investment
to
build
a
proof
of
concept
and
will
raise
US$2M
to
bring
the
prototype
to
market.
Fundraising The
company
generates
revenues
via
sales
in
producing
fabric
for
the
defence
and
coal/
mining
industries.
RealSme
generates
revenues
via
the
number
of
purchases
made
on
the
premium
version
and
online
adverSsing
with
the
huge
traffic
Bootstrapping generated
by
visits
from
the
site.
The
company
seeks
to
bootstrap
via
hiong
1M
sales
target
within
two
years.
42
42

43. 43
43

44. Who
do
you
raise
funds
from?
• Friends,
Family
and
Fools.
• Business
Angels.
• Venture
Capitalists.
• Government
InsItuIons.
• FoundaIons
and
Agencies.
• Private
Equity
Firms
• Banks
44
44

45. 45
45

46. 46
46

47. Source:
www.mengwong.com/capital
47
47

48. Exit
Strategy
• What
happens
to
the
company
in
3
to
5
years
Ime?
•
Possible
Exits:
–IniIal
Public
Offerings
(IPO)
–Trade
sale/Merger/Management
Buyout
–Family/Company
Succession
–Wind
it
Down!
48
48

49. Exit
Strategy Example
Descrip:on
MaterialSod
hopes
to
exit
in
3
years
with
a
profit
margin
of
20M
via
a
trade
sale
to
a
Trade
Sale/Buyout larger
player
within
the
industry,
for
example,
Cepheus
Ceramics.
RealTime
seeks
to
IPO
in
3
years
as
an
exit
IPO strategy.
49
49

50. Appendices
50
50

51. Top
10
Lies
by
Entrepreneurs
1. Our projection is conservative.
2. (Pick your favourite market research company) predicts our market to be US$50B.
3. (A big MNC) is signing our contract next week.
4. Key employees will join us as soon as we get funded.
5. Several investors are already doing due diligence on us.
6. This big company is too old, big, stupid and slow to be a threat.
7. Patents makes our business defensible.
8. All we have to do is to get 1% of the market.
9. We have 1st mover advantage.
10. We have a world-class proven team.
51
51

52. Top
9
Lies
by
Investors
1. I liked your company but my partners don’t.
2. If we get a lead, we will follow.
3. Show us some traction and we will invest.
4. We love to co-invest with other venture capitalists.
5. We are investing in your team.
6. I have lots of bandwidth dedicated to your company.
7. This is a vanilla term sheet.
8. We open doors for you at our client companies.
9. We like early stage investing.
52
52

53. References
• StarIng
Up,
New
Venture,
McKinsey
&
Co.
• The
Art
of
the
Start
by
Guy
Kawasaki
• Singapore
Entrepreneurs
blog
(Dummy’s
Guide)
hmp://www.sgentrepreneurs.com
• Gladstone,
Venture
Capital
InvesIng
• CompeIIve
Strategy,
Michael
Porter
• Crossing
the
Chasm,
Moore
• ACRA
-­‐
hmp://www.acra.gov.sg
53
53

54. Resources:
Intellectual
Property
h=p://www.ipos.gov.sg
54
54

55. Resources:
Business
Info
h=p://www.business.gov.sg
55
55

56. Resources:
InnovaIon
&
Tech
h=p://www.exploit-­‐tech.com
56
Go
to
this
page
only
if
you
are
looking
for
a
technology
to
commercialize
56

57. Resources:
Business
RegistraIon
h=p://www.acra.gov.sg 57
57

58. Resources:
CommuniIes
h=p://www.sgentrepreneurs.com 58
58

59. Resources:
Other
CommuniIes
h=p://www.e27.sg
h=p://www.youngupstarts.com
59
59

60. “Study
the
past
if
you
would
define
the
future.”
-­‐
Confucius
Contact:
bleongcw
(GMail) 60
60