The challenge is to first accurately describe the venture, and then to improve it.  Only then will the perceived risk on the part of the Investor be reduced.

Success Trajectory Variables

The New Venture Template™ has identifies and prioritizes which of the fifteen "venture viability attributes" should address in order to improve a company's venture position.

Click on any of the terms in the following table to get more-detailed explanations, examples, and strategies.

The first 8 variables address the company's ability to BE a business:

Venture Viability Attributes New Combination - Are you just another Italian Restaurant or have you developed a way to easily and cheaply clone human organs? Product Market Match - Do you have any sales, purchase orders or commitments for distribution? Net Buyer Benefit - Do your forecasted revenues ramp fast enough and big enough to appeal to a venture capitalist? Margins - Are your company's pretax margins or forecasted margins realistic? Justifiable higher margins show opportunity in the market place and in your deal. Low margins indicate much of the value might already be gone. Of course, in Internet and biotech deals, this is often not important in the early stages of the venture. Volume - Does your company forecast sales volume that is large enough for venture capitalist's investment or should you look elsewhere for financing? Purchase Frequency - Do you have the repeat business of a mainframe company or software application company or an ISP? There is a difference, for example, between buying a car and purchasing gas for it. Product Longevity - Are you selling a pet rock, an operating system, or a chair? Resources - Do you have money or access to money from founders, from angels or from a venture capital firm, or banks?

This second group of 7 variables defines the company's ability to KEEP the business.

Imitability - Can anybody do it? Can some people do it with effort? Can people only do it with you? What intellectual property do you have? Are there direct competitors?

Substitutability - Are there indirect competitors? Are people spending their money on something other than your product? For example, a restaurant competes not only with other restaurants but with other venues in which food is prepared or sold such as homes and grocery stores.

Slack - Are you as efficient as you can get? Do small orders and lack or capacity drive up your costs? Is the industry efficient or inefficient?

Holdup - Do you have few customers, few vendors, limited access to raw materials or regulation?

Uncertainty - Can the company pass due diligence? Can management handle the unknowns?

Ambiguity - Is the management team, Board of Directors and Advisors diverse enough to handle any challenge? Can they handle the unknown unknowns?

Competence - Does the management possess the skill levels to make this company a venture capital success?