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From the Top: The Adventure Begins with
You
In
my meetings with entrepreneurs and investors,
I see a lot of presentations. As I recently said
to one entrepreneur, "the adventure begins
with you." When your presentation is focused
and your vision is clear, I am much more likely
to join you in your "adventure."
I tell
entrepreneurs and business managers of start-ups
and businesses to consider the following when
preparing their presentations.
Length: Shoot for about 20 minutes. Speak at
a reasonable, conversational pace -- not at
lightning speed. Speak slowly enough that your
listeners are comfortable interrupting you with
a question or two. In terms of the number of
slides for an introductory presentation: 12-15
maximum, including the title and closing slide.
Focus: Address a single specific market opportunity.
Prove your "large unmet market need" and
explain why it's clear that everyone in the
value chain needs and will purchase or otherwise
embrace your product or technology.
Vision: With your singular focus, in a very
clear, direct -- and very brief way -- describe
where the company will go (the enormous opportunity
ahead) as the world begins to accept your product.
Risk: All businesses have risks - they are found
in the technology and in the market. Address
the main risks -- and your contingencies for
handling them -- before you are asked about
them. This shows that you have thoughts about
risks and how to address them.
Differentiation: You want to ensure that no
one walks away from your presentation asking: "That's
interesting, but is it really special?" "Is
it really different from what's on the market
or what might easily come to market?"
Status: Explain where you are with the development
and when you anticipate sales.
Call to action: Tell me that you are raising "X" or
need "Y" from me. And ask: Should
I follow up with you on Tuesday, or would Thursday
be better?"
One last thing: Make sure you know to whom you
are presenting and adapt your presentation to
address their concerns and interests. Generally,
investor presentations should be heavily market
focused. Strategic partner presentations, however,
tend to focus more on product and technology.
It is likely that the strategic partner knows
more about the market than you do.
D. Todd Dollinger, CEO,
T.I.F. Ventures, Chairman, The Trendlines Group
Israel's premier business development and
marketing consulting firm. We provide a range of business
development, seed investing, and marketing communications
services.
Building on our experience, we research and analyze markets and opportunities to understand your business.
From that understanding, we develop a plan and help you implement it.
We think our 6-factor formula sums it up well:
Experience + Research + Analysis
= Understanding --> Planning --> Implementation.
A
Regulatory Primer (Part 1)
Roger Gray, director of global regulatory affairs at
Donawa Consulting, begins a series of articles about
regulatory issues. His first piece of advice: "Your
regulatory plan should go hand in hand with your marketing
plan." Read the full story.
International Home & Housewares
Show
The 2008 International Home & Housewares Show is
fast approaching. This year's show is March 16-18 at
McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. It is the premier
event for the $73 billion U.S. housewares ($306 billion
worldwide) industry.
Reflecting the "green" trend,
this year's Show promises to highlight hundreds of green
products, including major appliances, mechanical and
food preparation equipment, and cleaning products.
Read more about the show expos and categories.
Trendlines
represents the Show's sponsor, the International Housewares
Association (IHA), in Israel.
We have been "on the ground" at
Housewares form nearly 30 years. To learn more about
how Trendlines can help you make the most of the Show
-- even if you can't be there -- contact Senior Consultant
Debbie Yerushalmy (04.958.3323. ext. 122).
BHLSI 3rd Annual Haifa
BioSeminar
Save the date: Monday, March 17, 2008, for the BHLSI
3rd Annual Haifa BioSeminar, "Israeli Innovations
for Global Health: Translating Ideas into Winning Products."
The seminar will be held at the Rambam Health Care
Campus in Haifa. This year's keynote speaker is the
FDA's Larry Kessler, Sc.D., director, Office of Science
and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and
Radiological Health, Food & Drug Administration
Chair, Global Harmonization Task Force.
For information,
contact Michal at BHLSI (04.853.1439). See program
and registration details.
Trendlines is
a partnering organization of the seminar.
Client News
Perrigo receives FDA approval ... Sol-Gel
signs $24.7 million deal ... Yissum develops small molecule
for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases ... In other
news from Yissum ... Nava Swersky Sofer, head of Yissum,
was profiled in a recent Israel21c article ("Israel's
most powerful woman in biotech").
And, congratulations to Yissum on its new newsletter. Read
all the client news.
Congratulations
to Kapro on the introduction of its new professional
level, the Zeus 990 ("the best
level on Earth").
Inphodrive will be exhibiting
its spoken browsing system at CeBIT this year. Good
luck to CEO Mark Heifets and the entire team.
Team News
Welcome to Gabriel
Siegel, the newest member of the Trendlines International consulting team.
Senior Consultant Andi
Chai will be a
part of the Inphodrive team at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany,
March 4-9.
Senior Consultant Debbie
Yerushalmy will join
Trendliens Chairman D.
Todd Dollinger and Trendlines America President
Mark Dollinger at
this year's International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago,
March 16-18.
