Archive for September, 2007

Itv Ventures Marketing Tips- Build Your Itv Ventures Business Fast, Even if You’re on a Budget

Thursday, September 20th, 2007





How to Contact Venture Capitalists Cold

Monday, September 17th, 2007





One of the ways that you can contact investors is by contacting them cold. This can be the only option for some people who might not have the connections that others could have in social networks have. This can also be the most challenging method of contacting investors. There are tips on contacting investors cold, and the best way to do it is by sending them emails.

How to prepare your emails

When you are contacting an investor cold, you need to know that you don’t know this investor and the best way to do this is by looking at the investment firm’s website. In many cases, the partners of an investment firm might not necessarily have their emails published to avoid spam. When that is the case, you should call the investment firm and get the emails of the partners.

The first email should be your introductory email to introduce yourself and find out what kind of investor this investment firm is. The next thing you need to know is whether this investment firm has the preferences that meet your company’s description. Do not give too much information about your company or send your business plan right away to the investor. This can make him think that you are trying to sell him a deal already and if you come off as being too pushy, you could turn him off.

The first email is primarily to create a contact list of investors. This contact list is for future contacts, when your business plan is ready and you are ready to make that initial introduction with your teaser email. When you first email an investor cold, you should simply introduce yourself and let him know that you are looking for an investor with whom you can work with and if he would be interested.

If the investor responds to your email, then you are ready for the next step. That is once you have set up your contact list, you can then email each partner a teaser email that has a series of bullets which explain why that investor should be interested in your company.

How to present your business plan

Do not submit your entire business plan unless the investor wants to see it. This is not the thing to submit through the initial contact email. The teaser and introduction email is simply there to get the investor interested in you and to organize a face to face meeting with you. This is where the business plan should be brought to. The business plan is usually brought in at the face to face meeting with the investor. Prior to having your business plan is your executive summary, which is an outline of your business plan. This is usually a stand alone document that is about one to three pages long. The executive summary can be sent in an email if the investor requests it.

Slide presentation

Another thing that investors might request from you is a slide presentation that explains the highlights of your business plan. This needs to have great consideration taken to it for the investors to take it seriously. The slide presentation should be done in a presentation program such as Microsoft Powerpoint or Apple Keynote. The slide presentation must not only look professional, but must also have all the facts that correspond with the business plan. The slide presentation does not cover all the fine details of your business plan, but covers more than the executive summary.

Another way you can contact an investor cold is by buying an investment directory that can give you a list of all kinds of investors which you can contact directly from their service and email with the single click of the mouse in most cases.

An Answered Prayer In The Form of A Venture Capital Angel

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007





Everything begins with a simple idea. This can be discovered by accident while working on something else or after years of being employed by someone else.

When banks are not that helpful with the loan, the entrepreneur may sometimes just give up on the idea. There are those who pray for a miracle and at times get an answer in the form of the venture capital angel investor.

What is a venture capital angel investor? This is a person who possibly heard the idea from someone else and would like to know more before deciding to help out in the business.

Should this happen, the entrepreneur show the business plan and even given a tour of the facility.

Even before the meeting has taken place, this person has probably done a credit and background check on the individual. The angel investor merely wants to see it for real if the concept itself is sound because there are those who have the notion that ” to see is to believe.”

This can only happen if the individual is able to address all the concerns that are asked by the angel investor. Making one mistake could cost everything so the person should be careful so it is best to be prepared before going in.

Before going to the meeting, it will be a good idea to also check on who is the angel investor. This could be just one person or a corporation so the person should proceed with caution before proceeding further.

Angel investors have a lot riding on the business when a deal has been made. This is because it is hard to regain money that has been lost so in order to safeguard the investment, this person will likely take an active role in the business.

This means both the entrepreneur and the angel will become strategic partners in order to make it work. In exchange for the money, the angel investor is entitled to a certain percentage of the company. Usually this is about 30% and this is something that can be agreed upon during the negotiation stage.

Are angel investors too good to be true? The answer is yes because it doesn’t happen everyday that someone is willing to lend a hand even when the entrepreneur has probably sent out a lot of letters to other people but did not get a favorable response. Perhaps the prayer was answered so the dream can become a reality.