investor - this is not just a source of money for which the founder would develop the project.This partner is the founder will have to work over the next few years.Therefore, the choice of the partner must be approached very carefully, and do not miss the first few investments that you have stretched.
So you are determined to attract investment.First, let's repeat that you need to do to prepare:
- package of documents, which is composed of
- Financial Model
- Investment presentation
- Road map (road map, it is also an action plan)
- Understanding what thesethe money will be spent
- unshakable self-confidence
- good team
- Understanding the exit strategy for the investor
this set will be enough to qualify to communicate with the majority of business angels and investment funds.To do this, first of all need to be concerned about the public lighting of your project.Publish your vision and description of the project on public websites such as "Zvorykinsky project", "Space innovation», «RusBase», «CrunchBase» and «StartupPoint».If you can get a few publications in the media, too, should do it.And to do all of these things need to advance to the person who started to look for information about your project could see that the project has been invented not only that he has a history.For example, in the "Innovation Space" you can get even comment on your project, that will be an added bonus for investors.
But this article is not about how to attract investment, it is about how to select the right investor, which will be really useful for the project.
imagine a situation that the project is really good and you have a great team.In this case, investment proposals will be on you to pour out of the blue.This truth, so please just etch out of my head thinking of the petitioner.If your project is really a good investment, the money will not keep you waiting.After all, the investor is at least your interest is to make money.And invest in a project such as yours, which will increase tenfold over the next couple of years and provide a hundred percent of the profits - it's a great opportunity to buy a house in Hawaii.
So you have half a dozen proposals for investments from a variety of investors.What are the factors in deciding to rely?
1) The size of the fund
Good Investment Fund has a strategy.Because in general, any company that is going to make a strategy of how it will do it.This strategy is usually written size of investments the fund will make, which markets, etc.Are you interested in all the factors of the fund's strategy.
Firstly, the size of the investment.There are investors who are invested in projects from only one million dollars.There are those who start the conversation only when you ask for ten million.And there are small, which may well give you the amount of two hundred to three hundred thousand dollars.First of all these figures due to the dimensions of the stock and therefore profits that it must provide.Because of the investment fund management resources too limited and it is much easier and more reliable to manage a portfolio of twenty projects in the ten million each than two hundred one million.In addition, if the project asks some money, so he is not going to grow so large that the proceeds from the investment does cause appetite people have invested in the fund (yes, funds also have their investors).
2) Profiled
second element of the strategy, as we have mentioned above are the markets in which the Fund operates.To begin with, the geographic markets.Because you may have serious disagreements with the investor, if you want to sell their machines in China, and he expects you begin deliveries to North America.However, these differences are solvable, if you can clearly explain to investors that deliveries to China, you will earn more money for him.
much more important for you, and in general, the most important factor when choosing an investor, the industry is a market in which it operates.Because all sverhuspeshnyh startups made using unfair advantages, unfair advantages which are the founders of the project.In most cases these benefits are earned and by the founders.And the strong industry investor who has all the market is one of the types of benefits.Imagine that you are making the technology for sewage treatment plants, and your investor launches its second fund in the market of green technologies.It can be just a few phone calls to ensure you meet with many manufacturers who may become your customers.And you can be sure that he will do it because he is interested in the success of the project as much as you once put in his own money.
So when you are considering a proposal for investment, even if it is very sweet at first think any unfair advantages will this investor in the project.Without them, you can just eat through all the money and do nothing, and just one desired contact, investors can ensure project success and prosperity.
3) Experience
addition of profile, important and investment experience of the investor.Because the investment - is no less difficult, and where even harder thing than business.Experienced investors have seen more than a project like yours and he knows exactly what they looked like in the beginning and what they did to succeed.At the same time as the man who had never had to deal with an investment may panic if something goes wrong, you suddenly require the making and destroy the project.The investor is another partner of your business, therefore solutions provide that you will communicate with him for a long time and often.Even banal personal sympathy plays a role here.
4) Valuation
easiest factor, among others, because it can be expressed in figures.What is the share of the project requires the investor for their money?In addition to the advantage or disadvantage of the banal suggestions you can extract information from these proposals as promising sees your project or that the prospective investor.You may want to understand why this is so and how it will affect future work.
5) The strategy of working with the founders
relationship founders and investors, this theme is not one of the psychological novel.And a lot of things is to negotiate further "on the bank" and to consolidate their respective documents.For example, the extent to which the investor may interfere with the efficient work of the company?Can he limit the strategic decision-making by the founders?How to you personally acceptable one or the other, the degree of interference in the affairs of the company from the investor's up to you.
