Business Plan Basics: Skip Fleshman

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Business Plan Basics

Skip Fleshman
Asset Management Company
September 16, 2003
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What is Asset Management?
About Asset Management
Founded by Pitch Johnson in 1965
Early Stage Venture Capital
Both Life Science and IT
Invested in Amgen, IDEC Pharmaceuticals,
Tandem Computer, Boole and Babbage
We see venture capital as business building
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Why A Written Plan
Operational Reasons
An exercise in thoroughness- find your holes
Forces objective planning and strategizing
Ferret out risk factors and plan for them
Reality check- are you fooling yourself?
Align your team around a common plan
Financing Reasons
VCs will ask for it Required for financing

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Key Questions to be Addressed
What problem are you solving?
How does your product/service solve the problem?
How do you plan to improve upon alternative solutions?
How does this create financial value for your company
and its investors?

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Components of the Plan
Executive Summary (2-3 pages)
Company Description (0.5-1 page)
Products and Services (2-4 pages)
Markets (1-2 pages)
Technology (2-3 pages)
Competition/Competitive Advantage (1-2 pages)
Business Model/Key Customers (2-3 pages)
Operations (1-2 pages)
Management (1 page) + Resumes
Financial Projections (1 page)
Financing and Use of Proceeds (0.5-1 page)

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Executive Summary
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Company Description
Vision
Basic product offering
Company history
Markets to be served
Company location
Stage of business

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Products and Services
Basic outline:
What is the product?
What are the benefits to users? (vs. features)
How does it work?
Whats next on your roadmap?
Tips:
Must be meaningful to laypeople and experts.
Dont use too much jargon
Use diagrams and photos

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Markets
Market Dynamics
Why is this a good opportunity now?
Customer trends, regulations, technological advances
Market Sizing
Analyst reports AND bottom-up analysis
Customer Insights
Customer interviews, focus groups, discussions with experts, etc
Define the Customer
Is the end-user also the purchaser?
Market Prioritization and Rationale
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Technology
Heres where you can use some technical jargon
Describe the following:
Main components of solution
Features and functionality
Underlying technology
Development environments
Compatibility with other relevant products
How your product fits the relevant technology value chain
Patents and Patents Pending

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Competition/Competitive Advantage
Barriers to Entry may
include:
Patents (pending)
Key partnerships
Key customer relationships
Expert management team
Superior product, functionality
Time to Market
Cost advantages
Switching Costs

Competitors include:
Direct competition
Substitute solutions
Potential entrants
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Operations
Who will manufacture your product?
How will you organize customer and technical
support?
Will you have in-house or outsourced QA?
Other things that give VCs warm-fuzzies:
Documentation procedures
Financial systems
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Business Model
How will you make money?
Product sales, royalties, licensing
Upfront payments vs. recurring revenues
Sales Channel Direct, VARS, Distributors?
How does your customer make money? (ROI)
How do you fit their picture?
Products versus consulting and services
Maintenance, upgrades, upsales, etc
Be reasonable
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Financial Projections
Build forecasts from bottom-up and include key
assumptions (be able to validate analyst forecasts)
Projections for 5 years, highlight break-even
Plan for 20-25% market penetration by year 5
Discuss and forecast headcount ramp
Include additional financing rounds
Give em a chart and a graph:

2001 2002 2003
Revenue 776 9,191 33,200
Cost of Goods Sold (216) (1,010) (3,544)
Expenses (17,084) (15,157) (23,342)
Depreciation (968) (1,282) (1,470)
Net Income (17,492) (8,258) 4,844
EBIT (17,042) (7,923) 5,074
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Financing and Use of Proceeds
Include:
Funding required
Milestones
Hire key management
Growth capital
Technology development
Manufacturing
Sales/Revenue
Future financing requirements
Dont include a valuation !!
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Executive Summary
Helpful to write it LAST
Make it a stand-alone document
Start with a problem/solution paragraph
Summarize each section of the business plan
But, spend most time on:
Market size and market need
Product description
Competitive advantages
Business model & projections
Management team
Keep it short- 2-3 pages
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Additional Tips
Include your contact information!
Spell chek
Have non-experts read and give feedback
This is a living document and will need to be
modified as you get feedback.
Create a versioning system to keep track of any
updates.
Keep track of who has your plan, and which
version they have (youll get specific questions)
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Be tenacious but polite
Learn about your potential financers (two way interview)
Spend the necessary time to line up a great management and
advisory team
Hire a consultant CFO or someone analytical who can jam out
due diligence materials
Network, network, network
Give yourself at least 9 months to fundraise
Speak at venture forums
Know your financing market
It aint over till the checks in the bank

Make sure you really like and respect your team!

Parting Notes
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Skip Fleshman
Principal
Asset Management Company

Skip@assetman.com
650-494-7400

Thank You!

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Business Plan Basics

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