Team
The structure of our founders is best described as:
Group of founders each contributing part time
Single fulltime founder
Fulltime founder with part-time co-founder
Fulltime founder with fulltime co-founder
Founders with committed team identified and ready to come on-board fulltime within 3-6 months
Founders with commited fulltime team for technology, marketing and sales in place
So far the founders have collectively invested the following amount of unpaid work into the venture:
0 - 499 hours
500 - 999 hours
1,000 - 1,999 hours
2,000 - 4,999 hours
5,000 or more hours
The industry and market experience of our founders is based on:
Comprehensive Internet research
A job as a project manager in that field
A senior position in the field for the past years
A position as COO, CFO, CTO in the field for over 2 years
A position as CEO in the field for over 2 years
A serial entrepreneur, with a large personal network, who already launched, built and sold similar companies before.
Our current fulltime team includes the following number of people with higher education degrees:
None
1-4
5-9
10 or more
Our current fulltime team includes the following number of marketing and sales people with industry experience:
None
1-4
5-9
10 or more
Market
Our target industry is:
About selling to the government (like equipment, construction, research etc.)
About selling to individuals (like retail, food, entertainment, etc.)
A cutting edge new field not yet properly recognized as an industry (quantum computing, mining on asteroids, teleportation etc.)
One that was very popular a few years ago (Internet, Cloud-Computing, IP-Telephony, B2B, B2C, eCommerce etc.)
Currently in fashion among investors (Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Biotech, Blockchain, Computer Security, Medtech, Fintech, VR / Augmented Reality, etc.)
Our target industry sub-sector has annual revenues of:
<$0.5 billion
$0.5-$1 billion
$1-5 billion
>$5 billion
Our target industry sub-sector has an annual growth of:
<5%
5-10%
10-30%
> 30%
Our business plan:
Is all figured out in my head.
Consists of relevant supporting slides regarding detail financials in my pitch deck
Is covering all main aspects in written form and feels quite perfect to me.
Has been prepared based on validated facts and was reviewed and approved by my co-founders, advisors, angel investors, my lawyer and my accountant.
If our business plan is properly implemented, our margins will:
Stay constant, like a service business
Increase slowly, like a hardware business
Increase quickly, like a software business
Product
Our product or service is:
A novel and unique idea that will create new markets.
In concept phase based on market research and a detailed business plan.
A well defined working prototype being tested by potential customers
Generating revenues from initial customers within our personal network
Generating revenues from customers outside our personal network
Our product or service is:
New and cool, but to be perfectly honest really something “nice to have”
Making things a bit easier or more fun for some people but has no life changing impact
Addressing a substantial need in the market and makes things cheaper, better and faster for many people or companies
Saving tons of money or lots of lives by disrupting and redefining legacy structures and processes in my industry
Our intellectual property includes:
All the trade secrets in my head…
.Com-Domain names for my company and product as well as domains for all relevant countries.
All relevant domain names and of course also a global trademark / service mark for our brand.
A number of active patents protecting the main aspects of my products and services in Europe, USA/Canada and Asia.
If a large global company would put significant ressources behind a similar product, our startup would be:
Gone with the wind
Forced to adapt our business plan and maybe focus on a smaller niche
Always stay one step ahead as we are much more innovative and agile than any corporate player
Happy to license our patent protected technology and partner with them to tap into a whole new market much quicker than we thought.
Marketing
& Sales
Our main competitors:
Do not exist (yet), as we are creating a completely new market
Are very few global corporations in a mature industry with substantial budgets and existing international marketing and distribution channels
Are a number of global or national players with significant marketing ressources and distribution channels
Consist of many small players in this fairly new and fractured market
Are mainly substitutes, i.e. our product provides a much better, faster and cheaper way to satisfy our customers existing needs
Our target customers:
Are currently being researched with a sophisticated market survey
Expressed significant interest in our product or service
Contributed to the product requirements, tried an initial prototype and will order the final product as soon as it is ready
Purchased our products or services
Are super happy with our products or services and gave me great testimonials and referrals
Our marketing & sales strategy:
Is very simple: a great product sells by itself
Consists of building a responsive website with excellent SEO, so sales will be completely online and self-service.
Relies on a great website and a sales team on commission only that will push our product to the market
Is based on a detailed and well researched plan including various tested online and offline marketing and sales tactics for direct and indirect channels
Our indirect sales / partner strategy:
Is free for all: anyone who sells is welcome
Is still developping,as we want to focus on direct sales first.
Currently consists of a few key partners to enter other countries
is based on a proactive partner / franchise program to quickly tap relevant customer segments
Financials
Our estimated Revenues (Net Sales in USD) are:
Past 12 Months
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Our estimated Earnings (EBITDA in USD) are:
Past 12 Months
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
So far the founders have collectively invested the following amounts into the venture:
$0 - $24,999
$25,000 - $99,999
$100,000 - $249,999
> $250,000
Comparable startups in my industry (with similar products, team, revenues, earnings etc.) have recently got pre-money valuations in the order of:
<$1 million
$1-2 million
$2-5 million
>$5 million
