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Wayne Brown Institute |
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Submitting Company | |||
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Introduction To better evaluate your investment opportunity, Wayne Brown Institute (WBI) has intentionally restricted its view to the same thing investors see, which is: your expanded executive summary and/or business plan. WBI reviewers may have a lot, a little, or no direct knowledge of your business, and you may disagree with their assumptions, assessments, conclusions, and recommendations. That is perfectly okay. This report and any such disagreements will only provide further understanding of how well your company is communicating its story to investors. Since an investor's initial decision is also based only on your initial materials, many investors are likely to have the same questions and concerns that WBI did. The difference is that investors will rarely if ever give you feedback-they will simply ignore your funding request. This report, on the other hand, includes detailed evaluations that will assist you to obtain funding in future endeavors. By the end of this report WBI hopes you will not only have a better understanding of what investors are looking for in a well structured venture, but what changes you will have to make in order to attract attention from the investing public. | |||
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Evaluation Methods 1.
New Venture Template™
(NVT) - A quantitative measure,
using award winning venture research to analyze your venture's potential
using 15 different criteria. There are four steps in this
analysis:
2. WBI Investor Sizzle Score. A qualitative measure of your business plan using a weighted score similar to that often used by equity investors. This is based on five criteria: Business Purpose and Stage of Development, Products and Services, Marketing Plan, Management Team, and Relevant Financial Information. (Details in Section 2) 3. Funding Options Evaluation. Indications as to which options are appropriate sources of capital for your company at its present stage of growth as determined from your submission. (Details in Section 3) 4. Analysis Observations and Suggestions A summary with WBI observations including suggestions on next steps with resources and connections covered in Sections 1.1 and 4. | |||
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APPENDIX Section 1. Well-built Venture Scorecard Details Summary – What do the numbers mean? Everything on your scorecard transmits information to the Investor. Most importantly, it lets them know your stage of development. Are you a startup? Later stage “A” or “B” round company, or a mezzanine company ready to go for an IPO or to be acquired? The numbers tell the story. The correlation coefficients, the target diagram, the suggestions and comments help you tell the story you want to tell. After reviewing and tracking hundreds if not thousands of deals, WBI can say these numbers are reflective of your ability to raise capital. Just because you didn’t score well doesn’t automatically mean your deal is terminal. It means your written presentation did not adequately explain your venture’s potential. Below is a quick over view of what your NVT and Wayne Brown Sizzle Score mean: 0-50. This deal has serious issues and at this time would only be attractive to Founders, Fools, Family and soon to be Former Friends. They know you and have typically extensive knowledge of the deal. However, if the issues are more than a communications problem, you may also want to rethink doing this deal at all. 50% of all the deals WBI reviews fall into this category. Funding probability before WBI review: less than 10%. If changes are made and internalized probability of moving to the next level: 50%+. 51-60. Indicates your deal might be attractive to the right Angel investor. Also, deals that score in this range should go after SBIR grants, if appropriate, and perhaps a Strategic Alliance. It is also an indicator of Founders investment and possible an early Angel investment. 25% of all deals WBI reviews fall into this category. Funding probability before WBI review: less than 25%. If changes are made and internalized: 60+%. 61-70. Founders and Angel investment (or other major investments) have been made and are significant. Your deal is quite probably a candidate for an “A” round of financing at least. Depending on your business model and needs you may seek some debt financing as well from a non-bank lender. 20% of all deals WBI reviews fall into this category. Funding probability before WBI review: less than 50%. If changes are made and internalized: 80+%. 71-80. You’ve had an “A” round of financing from major institutional investors and are seeking a “B” or higher round. Depending on your business model and your needs you may also seek debt from a bank. You might be able to get acquired for your technology. 4% of all deals WBI reviews fall into this category. Funding probability before WBI review: 75+%. If changes are made and internalized: 90+%. WBI’s biggest help is in the road show presentation and helping find more suitors. 80+ You’re a mezzanine deal and are ready for an IPO or to be acquired for your technology and your market share. Less than 1% of all deals WBI reviews fall into this category. Probability of funding or exit is almost certain. WBI’s biggest help is in the road show presentation and helping find more suitors. These probabilities are based on WBI’s experience and may not be reflective of your deal and its circumstances. Use them as a guide, not a promise to perform. While WBI is good, it does not do the due diligence necessary to meet the fiduciary requirements of an investor. B & K Scores: As you will see in section 1.2, you want your B score and K score each to be over 5. These scores place you in the upper right hand quadrant of the graph depicted in that section with your position shown as a + sign. Your position in this quadrant is crucial to being able to raise sophisticated or institutional money. Comments, Suggestions, Recommendations: These are found in the next section 1.1 and section 4.1 of the appendix. The rest of this report looks in detail at your scores and how to improve upon them. Many key words and concepts are hot linked to WBI’s business planning website to give further definitions, suggestion and examples, and help you with anything in this report you don’t understand. |
Section 1.0 The New Venture Template™ |
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The Well-built Venture Scorecard is the results of the application of the New Venture Template analysis by a WBI Analyst to a submitting company’s Expanded Executive Summary and/or Business Plan. The New Venture Template focuses on two basic questions: 1) Is it a Business? (B score), and 2) Can you Keep it? (K score). Each of these questions is based on three of the " Six Fundamentals of a Well-Built Venture ". The B Score includes whether the Company can generate revenue and profit by seeing if the company's products have Innovation, Value and Persistence. The K Score shows whether the company can fend off competition, mitigate risk, and if you can manage the business. These are determined by seeing if the company and its products have the benefits of Scarcity, Protection, and Flexibility. These six fundamentals are then further broken down into 15 variables that measure aspects of your company. For example, the Innovation fundamental contains 2 component variables, New Combination (degree of novelty) and Product Market Match (degree of consumer acceptance). Considered together, these 15 variables show your company's ability to create and keep a successful business. Does your venture have the kind of products and markets it needs to grow quickly? Does it have what it takes to weather competition, uncertainty, and changes in the marketplace? If the answer to both questions is yes, then your business has the ingredients needed for long-term venture success. To answer these two fundamental questions, we evaluated each of the 15 variables (as communicated by your expanded executive summary/business plan). Your scores are indicated below. Individual Variable scores in the 1-3 range indicate possible areas of concern. However, some items (such as lack of revenues at startup) are also characteristic for certain stages of a high-tech venture. A score of 4-6 indicates an improving situation, but will still need attention. To be a strong candidate for funding, your score should be in the 7-9 range in most (not necessarily all) of the questions. It is not necessary to excel in every variable in order to get funding-but it is important to understand how investors perceive your venture. A “0” means information could not be found in your submission discussing the variable. |
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Section 1.1 New Venture Template (NVT) Analysis |
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Based on the information you provided, one of our Cooperative Venturing Analyst™ reviewed your company using their years of experience, data from venture capital experts, and proprietary technology to examine the key variables that are fundamental to a well-built (successful) venture. The highlighted words link directly to the Business Planning section of our web site, where you can find detailed explanations, examples, and advice. Comments are designed to explain individual scores and give suggestions/examples. |
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Well-built Venture Scorecard Details | |||
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B: Is it a Business? Can you generate revenue and profit? | |||
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Variable |
Score (0-9) |
Comments | |
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A. Innovation Have you found a genuine imperfection in the market? | |||
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6 |
Issue: Appears to be evolutionary in nature
and not disruptive | ||
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Product-Market
Match |
1 |
Issue: No sales, no strategic partners, no
industry involvement | |
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B. Value Is there money to be made? | |||
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Net
Buyer-Benefit |
6 |
Issue: Main market growing at high single
digit rate | |
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Margins |
6 |
Issue: Adequate | |
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Sales Volume
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8 |
Issue: Adequate | |
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C. Persistence If the business is sustainable, does it have the resources to survive? | |||
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Purchase
Frequency |
5 |
Issue: Good, but not as good as most
software upgrade/mainframe progress | |
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Product
Longevity |
5 |
Issue: As machines get faster, generate
more data, is product robust enough to keep up? | |
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Resources |
2 |
Issue: Resources appear non-existent - no
investment yet | |
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K: Can You Keep It? Can you fend off competition, mitigate risk, and manage the business? | |||
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Variable |
Score (0-9) |
Comments | |
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D. Scarcity Can you control supply or increase demand? | |||
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Competition/Imitability |
6 |
Issue: Are patented algorithms a strong
barrier to entry? | |
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Substitutability or |
6 |
Issue: Adequate | |
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E. Non-Appropriability Can someone steal your value? | |||
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Inefficiency/Slack |
3 |
Issue: High concentration, very few
dominant players | |
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Market
Concentration |
4 |
Issue: OEM and retrofit market has a
limited number of players | |
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F. Flexibility Can you manage and capitalize on change? | |||
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Industry Experience |
5 |
Issue: Team has limited medical imaging
business background - good clinical and technical
experience | |
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Management
Diversity Ambiguity |
5 |
Issue: Advisory and directors and managers
have limited industry experience | |
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Venturing
Competence |
6 |
Issue:CEO has good background and some
venturing skills - product manager has relevant
skills | |
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NVT Scorecard Score: 54 | |||
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Section 1.2 Business Model Classification | ||||||||||||||||
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B-K Analysis: One useful way of looking at the NVT scores is the "B-K Analysis". This analysis focuses on the two basic questions of the New Venture Template. The B score measures the ability to generate revenue and profit, while the K score measures the ability to fend off competition, mitigate risk, and manage the business. By plotting the B and K scores using a “+” on a two-dimensional graph, you can easily see your company's success potential and its ability to survive the risks of the marketplace; and if it is in the upper right hand quadrant it has a high probability of raising capital. The B-K analysis also shows how your business (red “.”) stacks up against the 14 business prototypes in the New Venture Template. Most businesses resemble one of these 14 prototypical businesses. If you understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of the prototypes, and you are aware of the characteristics that your business may share with some of those prototypes, then you can act upon that knowledge to improve your business. The 14 prototypes will be discussed in more detail below. This indicates how an investor perceives your business model at your current stage of development. Your business scored at B=4.925, K=5.05 on the B-K analysis. In the following chart you will find your own B-K position marked by a cross (+). You will also find a red dot (.) marking the position of the business prototype most like yours--in this case, a Charity. Also note the position of the High Potential Venture, the standard for most venture capital vendors. | ||||||||||||||||
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It has been our experience that if the B-K Analysis places you squarely in the upper right-hand quadrant (both B and K scores of 5-6 or higher), then your venture has a high probability of raising money. If your venture is at the fringes of that quadrant, and especially if it lies in one of the other areas of the graph, then you should carefully examine your options. Rather than spend a lot of time (poisoning the well) in an unsuccessful search for capital, you may be better advised to spend your time developing your venture and solving the problems identified in this report. Once the problems are resolved, the capital will come more easily. More importantly, this analysis shows how
closely your scores correlate to those of a " High-Potential
Venture ". The High-Potential
Venture , Competence-Based
"Success" and a Technology-Based
"Success" are the prototypes most likely to receive venture capital
funding and perhaps Strategic Alliance funding.
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Section 1.3 NVT Target Diagram Analysis The third way to look at your business is to compare the your NVT scores to a High-Potential Venture, the venture you most want to be correlated with. The High-Potential Venture, is where you want to be in order to raise capital most effectively. In the following diagram, lower scores fall to the outside, while higher scores are drawn toward the center of the target. This view helps you to see at a glance whether your venture is "on target" as a venture that can raise capital. (Your scores are represented by the little ‘+’ signs. The shaded area indicates the scores of a High-Potential Venture.)
The target analysis can help you focus your attention on your weaknesses (the "out-layers" in the target diagram) as you prepare to raise capital. The weaknesses are likely to be the hot-button issues that will prevent you from getting an investor's attention. By concentrating on your "grouping" so that all of the scores are raised to a more consistent level, you improve your chances of obtaining funding. A business doesn’t, and in many cases can’t, have all the + signs “on target” that’s O.K. The closer to being “on target” the easier it will be to raise capital. |
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Section 1.4 NVT Success
Trajectory Variables As a practical rule, entrepreneurs and investors should put substantial effort to addressing these fundamental variables prior to the investment of significant financial and human resources. Failure to address these issues early leaves substantial risk inherent in the venture. Contrary to popular belief, venture capitalists are highly risk-averse. In fact, VCs make their living by saying no to deals that present any degree of controllable risk. (It is the latent and uncontrollable risks that keep VCs up at night, so they don't need any other risks in the mix.) Your initial focus should be on the following issues, as prioritized below by your Cooperative Venturing Analyst. In your particular case, WBI found that the following areas are of most concern (listed in order of priority): | ||||||||
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NVT Conclusion We hope that this NVT analysis helps you understand some of the factors that play into an investor's perception of your business, and that you can use this understanding to find possible areas of improvement. See evaluator’s comments in Sections 1.1 & 4 for insight to areas of improvement. |
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WBI (Sizzle) Investor Score Details The second evaluation method we used is our proprietary WBI Investor Score. This scoring system was also developed over twenty years of experience with thousands of companies, and with the assistance of the venture capital investment community. However, it is much simpler and more subjective. While the NVT system focuses primarily on the quantitative aspects of the business, the WBI Investor Score is more qualitative and subjective in nature, and measures the "sizzle" or initial appeal your plan has for investors. Companies with a total sizzle score in excess of 70 receive serious interest from investors. Without exception the two most important criteria in this review method are Marketing and Management. Exceptional scores (in excess of 80 ) in these criteria are needed to generate investor interest. This scoring method harkens back to the old venture adage, "I’d rather back an ‘A’ team with a ‘C’ product than an ‘A’ product with a ‘B’ team. The WBI Investor Score looks at five areas, measuring each on a scale of 1 to 10, and then weights each one using a weighting system similar to that used by many investors. The five areas, and the scores you received, are as follows: WBI SIZZLE SCORE 52.80 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Section 3 Best Sources of Funding |
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Stages of Venture Funding - There are eight distinct stages or levels of capital that may be applicable to a company at different stages of growth. Based on the material you submitted, your company may want to pursue financing from the following sources: |
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Section 4. Assessment Conclusion |
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Section 4.1 Analyst
Comments Comments:
Section 4.2 Recap and
Suggestions
Section 4.3 Are we too critical? VCs typically fund less than one in a hundred plans they read and they only read one in every ten plans they receive. Any real or perceived problem may be enough to cause a potential investor to move on to the next opportunity. Your business plan must literally be in the top 1% to even get seriously considered. To get into the top 1 , you need honest feedback. You cannot solve problems you don't see, and our job (bluntly put) is to point them out. We would not do you any favors by failing to point out weaknesses where they exist, or even where they merely appear to exist. 4.4 Methods Used in This
Report - further explanation WBI Investor score. Next, we evaluated your business using Wayne Brown Institute's proprietary investor-weighted scoring system. This score measures five subject areas of your business plan, and weighs each score in a manner similar to that often used by equity investors. This score is a qualitative measure of your venture's appeal to classical venture capital investors. It was developed with the help of venture capitalists, who have reviewed hundreds of companies for the Institute. Recommended Funding Stages. There are eight different levels or stages of capital that which may be applicable to a company at different phases of its growth. We have indicated which stages are appropriate sources of capital for your company at its present stage of growth. This method is more important than you might initially think. If you think you an ‘A’ round company, but our analysis pegs you as a Family, Founder, Friends and Fools round, an ‘A’ round investor will believe you’re too early for him/her. Perception is very important. Comments. We have also provided comments from our evaluators to help you improve your materials. These comments may raise issues that are not directly addressed by the numerical scores. You may also find in the comments that we made incorrect assumptions or inferences about your business. These are a good indication that your plan is not clear enough about these issues! 4.5 Evaluation vs.
Mentoring These scores directly address the very thing entrepreneurs have the most difficulty measuring-- how their particular venture stacks up against other deals currently under consideration by investors. The disadvantage of numerical scores is that while they disclose the weaknesses of your presentation, they cannot explain exactly how to solve them. This is where your mentor team becomes invaluable. Improving your presentation and materials is an iterative process that requires an understanding of your venture and industry, a knowledge of investor's concerns (such as those disclosed by this report), and the time to review several successive versions of the investor presentation. By the same token, once the mentoring process is completed, the mentor team no longer has a "clean slate" to produce an objective evaluation such as this. If you are serious about raising money as quickly as possible, do not try to shortcut the process. Assemble a diverse and experienced team, and spend the time to refine your presentation before you put it in front of investors. A WBI Deal Maker® team can be an invaluable resource in refining your presentation and providing introductions to venture investors in your area. For more information on mentoring, contact the Institute. Section 4.6 Where do you go from
here? Be aware that developing a winning presentation is usually an iterative process. Few companies develop a successful presentation on the first try. Feel free to refine your presentation and resubmit. Alternatively, the Institute's "Investor Ready" mentoring program provides more intensive feedback from a larger panel of venture experts, over a 6-8 week process. Mentoring provides a fast and effective way to help you reach your funding goals. To see if you qualify for mentoring, contact the Institute. Once you understand where improvements are needed, we suggest you meet with your executives, directors, advisory board, and other advisors and mentors to get experienced and creative feedback as you work on your presentation. You may wish to consider the mentoring services that WBI and its Cooperative Venturing Network can provide, or hire an experienced business plan consultant to provide more intensive assistance. At the same time, remember that once an investor has seen your plan, an opinion has already been formed, and they have memories like elephants. It is hard to change that opinion later on. Let your mentor team refine your business model, plan, and presentation before you "poison the well" with investors by presenting an inferior summary or presentation. A small investment of time today can save you months if not years of fund raising frustration. IN AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE OUR SERVICE, PLEASE CALL US TO DISCUSS ANY QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS ABOUT YOUR VENTURE READY® REPORT: Bradley B. Bertoch email: bbertoch@venturecapital.org © Copyright 1998-2003 Wayne Brown Institute. All Rights Reserved. |