You are in front of a Venture Capitalist and ...

Entrepreneurs and managers friends, congratulations! It is said that banks do not finance new ideas, but you who read me are certainly persevering managers and entrepreneurs and have managed to go further. You have in fact been able to arrange an appointment with an important Venture Capitalist (VC). They say that VCs are "the sharks of finance" but, fear not, they are simply professionals (albeit on average high level) like you. They simply operate in a field where there is more money, more uncertainties and more risks. They must therefore, of course, be more determined, more analytical, sometimes more ruthless. I am not a non-profit organization, I am there to make money and to get it done.

You have therefore worked hard, you have prepared your business plan and you have obtained the appointment. Imagine having been able to expose your idea to a VC and the question is now a must: "Did the meeting go well or not? Was I credible and convincing? Will I get that funding? ”. In fact, you will already know if the meeting went well, if you have previously completed 5 tasks that can distinguish you, in the eyes of the VC, from the mass of offers on the market. Let's try to list them:

You are aware that you are addressing a pressing need that requires a precise (and ideally immediate or almost immediate) purchase action. Potential customers can always postpone the purchase of a product with improved efficiency, but they are not willing to postpone intervention on a thorny problem that can lead to situations of suffering or, at least, difficulties. Since the success of a startup is linked to the speed of sales growth, products and services characterized by rapid sales cycles and intended for determined and determined buyers are more interesting. Targeting a hot market right away is a surefire way to ensure not only quick sales, but also a range of collateral benefits, such as visibility, funding, market share, motivation, building a winning team, and so on.You've already thoroughly discussed your solution with different potential customers in order to understand if this is what they are really looking for. This is an attitude that people like for various reasons. First of all, it communicates discipline and determination, characteristics that every investor appreciates in an entrepreneur. Secondly, it indicates attention to the market, with more precise results in support of the potential investment decision. Finally, these interviews often generate insights into how to define price and positioning vis-à-vis direct and indirect competitors, which helps reduce the need for further research on key market information by the VC, precisely because the entrepreneur has already performed this task. And this is good for everyone. You are already certain (starting from the bottom, ie from concrete data) to propose to the VC to enter a vast market. To such an extent that, even if your company will achieve single-digit market shares, you can still expect to reach a non-negligible turnover within a few years (example: 100 million €). Needless to cite expert research or top-down estimates to calculate the size of the market. Many investors find no such convincing analysis. Not having well estimated the size of the market conveys the thought that the analysis was hasty and therefore better to suspend the investment, since the entrepreneur is not paying enough attention to a fundamental aspect in building a business. credible start, indicating the income statement, cash balances and organization chart (organized by functions) over time. VCs prefer to evaluate the first two years on the basis of the individual quarterly budgets and the last three simply in their annual totals. A credible plan will allow us to see the potential speed of revenue growth, the potential profitability of the company and, broadly speaking, the capital it will require once eventual success is achieved You have the essential core of a great team and good instinct in identifying the organizational gaps to be filled. It may be that not all team members are already on board, but it is important that most of them have at least been identified and are ready to get to work as soon as the startup receives the funding. A prominent entrepreneur knows well that it is the technical or commercial results of the people who make up the team (which you will have listed with name and surname, where possible) what strikes a VC When an entrepreneur can demonstrate at the first meeting that he has identified a need imminent in a large market, having discussed with several potential buyers and having discovered valuable information on what they buy and what they want; when there is a credible operational plan and a good team taking shape, then the VC really gets excited. And maybe, together, great things will be born.