How to prepare a startup Executive Summary for a pitch competition.

1. Generator
powered by Monash
THE
powered by
Executive
summary
preparation

2. What
Focus
Who
Pitch originator
startup pitch competition
any pre-profit startup in any
industry sector
must be led by a Monash
student, faculty, staff

3. Key dates
18Aug application deadline
1 Sept Rapid Fire Round
29sept ELEVATOR AWARDS

4. What isan
Executive Summary
1 page high-quality marketing
collateral focused on the value of
your business by providing
compelling evidence
Contains much of the same information in an investor
pitch deck and a business plan, but concise & condensed

5. Why Do Ineed One?
Well…
many startup founders
believe their startup
looks like this…

7. When in reality…
to a seasoned investor,
mentor, supplier,
partner or customer it
looks more like this…

9. Rise to the top
VCs look at around
400 companies for
every one in which
they invest; angels
look at 40.

10. You need to show
• interesting story with compelling call to
action
• strong, succinct problem-solution
statement
• demonstrate that you know your market,
customers, competitors, partners
• traction (or how you’ll get it)
• minimised risk (technical, business, etc.)
• ready for money (know how much you
need and how you’ll use it)

12. What notto do
• this is NOT a creative writing exercise – be
able to back up your claims: no fluff, no BS
• don’t ignore your audience
• don’t cram things in – keep it clear, clean,
legible
• No jargon (value-added, world-class, next-
generation, turnkey, etc.)
• Not one single typo

13. Step 1 header
• company or project name
• address
• NOT your home address - get a PO box if
you have to (or join an incubator!)
• company URL
• main point(s) of contact with contact details
• make sure your email address is
name@mycompany.com

14. Step 2
One-liner
one bold, declarative
statement that
summarises exactly
who you are, what you
do and why the reader
should pay attention

15. Step 3 Business summary
Problem/Solution
Product/Service
value proposition, user experience
Technology/special know how
(aka 'secret sauce')

16. Step 4 Management team
Team is very important
description of roles, responsibilities
If you really don't have a team, get
some solid advisors

17. Step 5 Market
Market Landscape
specific target market, size (current
& projected)
Competitive Landscape
competitive differentiation
barriers to entry

18. Step 6 Businessmodel
Go to market strategy
Sustainable competitive
advantage
Revenues, costs, investment
expectations
Weak link

19. Step 7 Execution plan
Current status, traction
Marketing & sales strategy
Milestones next 6-12 months

20. examples

21. Boring But
Effective

23. Better…

25. WOW!

27. You too can haveA kick-ass executive summary
Write the executive summary in
Word the boring way1
Create a consistent visual
identity for your document
(colours, fonts, etc.)
2
Create snazzy graphics3

28. A few tips
o Always put your company name in the file
name (e.g. XYZCo_ExecSum.doc)
o visit crowdfunding and angel investing sites
and check out the profiles -- keep looking until
you find one or two that make you think
"wow, I would invest in her/him"

29. Now what?
Get friends, family and strangers to
give you no-pulled-punches
critiques
Apply to the PITCH ORIGINATOR (if
you want up to $30,000 in non-
dilutive funding)

30. How it works
Submit your Executive Summary by the
application deadline at
monash.edu/entrepreneurship
1
Top 20 teams invited to Rapid Fire
Round: 60 second pitch, no props, no
slides – 10 teams will be paired with
mentors and advance to the finals
3
Come to the team-forming networking
event2

31. Come along to key training workshops
to get prepared for the final pitch4
10 semifinalists pitch at gala: 3 minutes,
no props, no slides – 5 teams will win
($5,000 plus up to $15,000 milestone-
based in 3 tranches through 6-week
ACCELERATOR program)
5
2 workshops/week for 6 weeks to
package startups for seed investment,
corporate partnership, launch, and/or
crowdfunding
6
Investor Boardroom Pitch – top team
gets an additional $10,0007

32. Scoring rubric
Scored from
0 (ineligible)
to
10 (high likelihood of success, good ‘investment’)
First-passelimination
1 (fatal flaws with no obvious pivot)
3 (borderline)

33. Scoring rubric
This round is not “scored”
5 mentors choose 2 teams each to take
under their wings for one month
leading up to the final pitch.
To advance, you’ll need an exciting project,
but you’ll also need to demonstrate that
you are coachable and motivated
RapidFireRound

34. Scoring rubric
Panel of seasoned entrepreneurs, angel
investors, venture capitalists and
corporates
ELEVATOR AWARDS
Criteria 1:
INNOVATION
Concept Quality
Creativity
Feasibility
Criteria 2:
MARKET
Landscape
Customers
Competition
Criteria 3:
Strategy
Business Model
Customer Dev.
Pivot
Criteria 4:
Viability
Scalability
Fundraising
Sustainability
Criteria 5:
Soft Skills
Communication
Team
“Wow” Factor

35. WANT TO KNOWMORE?
GET IN TOUCH!
www.monash.edu/entrepreneurship
@monashGENERATOR
Facebook.com/monashGENERATOR
7 Innovation Walk AG01-04 (Clayton Campus)
entrepreneurship@monash.edu