Startup Chatter by Donna Bogatin

ENTREPRENEURS: On your mark, get set, make your ELEVATOR PITCH!  The just launched StartUpAlpha.com Pitch Community lets you do just that, online (professionally and free of charge).

How about when you get the fabled two minutes in a real elevator, face to face with a target, captive audience? What should you hone in on then?

Monica Doss, the entrepreneurship evangelizing CEO of the Research Triangle Park’s Council for Entrepreneurial Development, CED, in North Carolina since 1986, has a few words of advice and she shared them with me, here at Startup Chatter.

Under Ms. Doss’ leadership,  the CED has grown to what is hailed as “the largest entrepreneurial support organization” in the United States, with 4000+ members representing 1100 member companies and an annual budget of $2 million.

I can personally vouch for the direct impact the CED has on accelerating the region’s entrepreneurial culture. I had the pleasure of collaborating with Monica for CED’s Tech 2007 conference as a panelist on the closing featured panel, “Technology Trends of Today and Tomorrow,” along with Don Dodge, Microsoft and Eric Auchard, Reuters.

With over 20 years of real world, hands-on entrepreneurial experience, Ms. Doss offers entrepreneurs field-tested, inspirational advice.

DB: If an entrepreneur happens upon a prospective investor in an elevator, what should he or she “sell” in a two-sentence pitch to pique interest?

MD: Above all, sell yourself, BUT NOT in the hyped-up, self-important style of the last boom. Today, investors want to look you in the eye and know that YOU can and will make this happen, that you will take care of their money, and that you will deliver on your promises. If you’ve done it before, make sure they know that you have a track record.

DB: How does a business plan successfully convey big market opportunity potential while employing reasonable growth assumptions?

MD: The most important question to answer in the business plan is not “how big is the market” but “How will you attack the market?”  The size of the market is verifiable and the fact that the plan accurately projects it is very attractive to an investor. They love big markets. The checks come when you demonstrate a clear and credible plan to make that market yours and what assets you bring to the table to do so–experienced executives, sales force, strategic partners, industry leadership…

DB: What are the two biggest hurdles startups face in the first year of operation?

MD:  1) Bringing in the first sales or investment always takes 2X as long as expected. Always. Period. Plan for it with reserves or workable contingencies.

2) There will inevitably be unexpected changes in the plan. How do you stay on track when the track veers out of sight or worse yet, abruptly ends. You have to be incredibly optimistic while at the same time realistic, and that is tought to do. Ignoring red flags or missing opportunities is disastrous. Being nimble is essential.

To me, the biggest value of a solidly thought out business plan is that it allows you to explore the best and the worst cases and “practice” recognizing and dealing with opportunities or failures. When thingsstart going off the rails, you’ve already got some pretty solid “what if” scenarios worked out that you can start from. I am big on “compartementalization” of issues, which isn’t the same thing as wearing blinders.

 DB: What are the two biggest advantages startups have over incumbents when they first go to market? How can the opportunities be maximized?

MD: 1) The passion of the team and the virtuoso performances that emerge when it feels like everything is on the line. There’s nothing like knowing that YOUR personal contribution/idea/all-nighter can push the company past an important development or sales goal. You just don’t get that in a larger or more staid organization.

2) Focus. The path from point A to point B may not be certain, but the incredible focus in a startup provides Zen-like clarity. It’s comparable to the winning of a three-pointer in a basketball game; you know WHAT you have to do next, and through the power of will and concentration, you achieve the improbable.

How To Maximize: Capitalize on those spaces where speed matters, and go beyond meeting the customer’s needs, toward fulfilling their desires. Incumbents are less likely to leapfrog and anticipate as-of-yet unarticulated preferences, because they have too much legacy to deal with.

DB: What personal qualities do most successful entrepreneurs share?

MD: Stamina. Mental and physical. A friend who is on a second software startup broke his wrist and when the doctor advised waiting a few days before setting it in a cast, this enrepreneur took that as a green light to go on a week long, coast to coast business trip. Now that the cast is on, he has never mentioned pain, only the inconvenience of having to type with his left hand. I am not making this up and it is not even unusual.

THANKS MONICA!

GOT A STARTUP? MAKE YOUR PITCH!