Submission Guidelines & Process

Your company's submission should closely adhere to the Submission Guidelines provided below in order to optimize the quality of the analysis provided for your plan, as well as, the chances of being selected to present at the Conference.

The Investors Choice selection process utilizes, on the first pass, a proprietary screening methodology involving the Venture Ready Report™, developed by Dr. Ron Mitchell of the University of Victoria's International Centre for Venture Expertise and adapted to emerging technology and small business use by the Wayne Brown Institute. The Venture Ready Report™ incorporates over 15 years of accumulated research on successful venture-backed businesses. Through the use of both qualitative and quantitative assessment methodologies, the Venture Ready Report™ helps to gauge the strength of a business plan and how well it communicates those strengths to Investors.

First, A Cover Page:
Your summary you must have a cover page complete with contact person, name of company, address, phone and fax numbers, e-mail, and company URL and a 25-50 word description defining and positioning your business that can be used to publicize your company.

Sample Cover Page

Second, A Fact Sheet:

The Fact sheet must be no more than one page in length have margins of one inch; contain no graphics, headers or footers; and use type no smaller than 10 point. One page fact sheet should be in MS Word.

Sample One Page Fact Sheet

Third, An Expanded Executive Summary:

Your Expanded Executive Summary should be no more than 5 to 8 pages in length including all graphs, charts, and tables (excluding cover sheet and one page fact sheet). All submissions should be either MS Word or in PDF formats.

Sample Expanded Executive Summary

The criteria weight given to each section of your executive summary was developed by venture capitalists from around the country, and indicates what emphasis professional investors place on the various parts of your summary. For example, on a 100-point scale, financial information is worth only 10 points, while marketing is worth 35. The marketing strategy and management discussions are considered the most important elements of your venture. The following lists the required sections of the executive summary and their venture capital weightings (located in the parentheses):

THE COMPANY (15% WEIGHT)

• Business purpose. Explain what business you are in and why (i.e., what market opportunity you are intending to exploit).
• Give a brief summary of your company's history and current status, including whether the company is a start-up, development stage, pre-IPO, etc..
• State your company's overall strategy and objectives, i.e., to go public in X years, to command X % market share after X years, to reach $XX million in sales after X years, etc.
• If you are currently in business, describe your revenue growth and timeline to profitability or positive cash flow.

THE PRODUCTS AND/OR SERVICES (15% WEIGHT)

• Describe important features and user benefits - relate features of the products and services to market needs and to the competition.
• Discuss pricing and margins for both your products and your competitors' products.
• Explain proprietary position - trademarks, patents, trade secrets, special production skills, proprietary processes, etc.
• Describe specific products and projects planned, their status, when due for alpha, beta or full-market release, expected product life, and potential product and/or service revenue streams.
• Articulate any regulatory, environmental or social issues, if any.

THE MARKET AND MARKETING STRATEGY (35% WEIGHT)

• Describe in detail what demand or needs in the market you intend to satisfy (i.e., what situations in the market you intend to exploit). Tell us who buys (or will buy) your products and why.
• Descriptions of the market or markets, including size, organic growth rates, key changes or anticipated shifts in buyer preferences. What issues, underway or expected, are driving or forcing the market to need your product/service.
• Competition - who they are, how much of the market they have, and their strategic position.
• Unique capabilities - what makes you different; what gives you a special advantage (qualify and justify them).
• Market penetration - how are you going to reach the market, (i.e., your market strategy - channels of distribution, promotion, pricing, etc. and the cost of the marketing program).
• Discuss the issues or circumstances that "drive" or create the market, (i.e., what compels customers to buy? What “pain” are you solving, what is the opportunity you deliver to the customers/end users?).
• Identify your sustainable barrier(s) to entry and your competitive advantages. Show us your sustainable competitive advantage(s).

MANAGEMENT (25% WEIGHT)

• Provide succinct background info on key individuals - why they can do this job, specific value they add to the company, their past accomplishments and employers.
• Describe your history of working together as a team.
• Identification of immediate personnel needs and anticipated initial organizational structure.
Describe any Boards of Directors or Advisory Boards.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY (10% WEIGHT)

• Funds required - how much you want to raise, both initially and in subsequent rounds.
• Provide a brief history of prior capital investments, terms, valuation impact and by whom or what type of financing entity.
• Your summary should lead a prospective investor to how he/she may be able to re-liquefy an investment in your venture: Your exit strategies should be self-evident in your summary (i.e., mergers, acquisitions, or initial public offerings).
• Describe, if available, comparable businesses and their relative return on investment.
• Describe funding needs at each stage of development with focus on realistic benchmarks or milestones.
• Provide a simple projection of sales, revenues, income and expenses over a 3-5 year period. State and briefly justify your financial assumptions. Simple projections are required.
• If you are an existing business, include a consolidated financial history.

Selection and Mentoring Process

The expanded executive summaries, together with the results of the analysis, will be then reviewed by a panel of venture professionals. Some companies will be immediately selected to participate; others will be placed in a pending status file until they are viewed in relationship to other applications. Please bear in mind that the selection committee is seeking the best investment opportunities along a number of criteria, including various stages of investment, markets addressed, size of opportunity, depth of management team, industry focus, and so on. You should also note that you may be notified of your acceptance or denial anytime within a week of application receipt and/or as late as six weeks after your submission is received.

Applications will be considered on a first-come/first-serve, rolling admissions basis. If your company is selected as one of the presenting companies at an Investors Choice® Conference, the Wayne Brown Institute will assign a Deal Maker Team™ to assist in preparing your presentation and supporting materials for the conference. The Deal Maker Teams™ are comprised of members of the Cooperative Venturing Network™ a nationwide network of professionals in equity backed businesses that includes current (and former) successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, financial, legal, and investment professionals, all of whom are volunteering their time to help. In addition to helping you with your presentation, your team is comprised of individuals that are part of the network that has access to capital. While you’re checking them out, they are checking you out to see if they want to lend their credibility to investors in your behalf.

Submitting Your Summary

All companies wishing to be considered to present at an Investors Choice® Conference must complete a registration form and choose the appropriate payment method for the $195 non-refundable application fee. All applying companies must also submit an Expanded Executive Summary, cover sheet and one-page fact sheet. Your company's Expanded Executive Summary, cover sheet, and one-page fact sheet should be submitted as a Microsoft Word file or PDF attachment. Company submissions lacking the Expanded Executive Summary, cover sheet, or one-page fact sheet or the $195.00 non-refundable application fee will be considered ineligible applications. Companies selected to present will have to pay an additional presentation fee of $500.00. After clicking on the appropriate conference, follow the instructions on how to submit. You must be able to conform to the following TIMETABLE.

Fees

Investors Choice, Utah, Feb. 10-11, 2004
Contact the Institute to Pay Fees

To Submit click here

Investors Choice, Alabama, April 19 & 20, 2004
Contact the Institute to Pay Fees

To Submit click here

Venture Ready Report™

Below is a sample Venture Ready Report™ based on an actual submission, use it as a guide to preparing your sample summary. As expanded executive summaries from applying companies are received, they will be submitted for analysis and a report will be generated for each company, closely resembling the Sample Report provided herein. Each company will then receive a company-specific URL in which to view its web link-based report. As you will note from reading the Sample Report, there are underlined words throughout the report that can be clicked on in order to view more detail on a particular topic and to gain deeper guidance on how the executive summary could be improved.

Sample Venture Ready Report

The Venture Ready Report™, Cooperative Venturing Network™, Deal Maker Team™ are trademarks of the Wayne Brown Institute. The term Expanded Executive Summary and the accompanying guidelines are copyrighted (1986) and are held by the Wayne Brown Institute. Investors Choice® and Investor Ready® are registered trademarks of the Wayne Brown Institute.