Great Executive Summaries

04/08/23 Earlystage.com Confidential 1

Great Executive Summaries

Andrew Forbes


Why create an executive summary?

• Executive summaries– put lipstick on the pig

– are the camel’s nose under the tent wall

• Get your foot in the door with investors, who – are only interested in a huge payoff from a “sure thing”

– follow investment trends

– use your executive summary to make a decision about agreeing to a face to face meeting with you


What investors know

• Taking a company from startup to liquidity event and standing where lighting is going to strike have a lot in common – Andrew Nash

• The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity – Richard M. Nixon

• Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration – Thomas Edison


What investors want

• One big risk – can you profitably sell your product / service?

• All minor risks mitigated• All the dots connected• No learning on their nickel• To know that you know the rules of the game• To not wake up at night wondering what

possessed them to put money into your venture


Put on a happy face

• The one page executive summary opens the door• Tells the investor how you plan to make money• Shows that you:

– have connected all of the dots

– have minimized the risk on everything but selling your product

– are ready for money

– know how the game is played

– won’t wake the investor up in the middle of the night


Header

• Who are you

• Where are you

• What is your contact info

• That you have a working domain name

• That you have a web site

• That you have a logo

• That at 30,000 feet you are a real company


Left Column

• Management• Lawyer(s)• Accountant• Bank• Amount sought• Previous investors• Use of funds – this is how you’re going to use the

money you raise to resolve your one big risk• That at 10,000 feet you still look like a real

company


Business Description

• A paragraph that describes your business

• Should track with the first couple of sentences of your elevator pitch

• Clear, concise, and non-technical description


Business Strategy

• A paragraph that describes how your business is going to work

• Should track with your elevator pitch

• Clear, concise, and non-technical


Product / Service

• A paragraph that describes your product and / or service

• Clear, concise, and non-technical


Unfair Advantage

• A paragraph about what makes you special

• Are there barriers to entry? What are they?

• What makes you better, faster, stronger?

• If you have IP, how are you protecting it?


Target Market

• A paragraph about your customers

• Who are they

• Why will they buy from you

• What about them will cause them to view your product / service as unique / special


Sales Channels

• A paragraph about your sales channels

• How are you going to sell your product / service

• A couple of hints– Do not mention channel partners unless the deal

is already in place and generating revenue– If you can’t sell your product yourself, it is very

unlikely that other people will sell it for you


Competition

• Brief paragraph acknowledging your competition

• Do not dwell on this topic

• Hints– Do not say you have no competition– There are always other companies competing

with you for your customer’s money


Outlook

• A paragraph about where you’ll be in five years

• Employ every last bit of your Hemingway-eske abilities

• Don’t hold back


Financial Projections

• Three lines– Year (one through five)

– Revenue (in thousands)

– Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA)

• Revenue should be at least $100 Million in year five

• EBITDA should be between 30% and 60% of revenue


Footer

• If your complete address is not in the header, put it in the footer


Summary

• Your executive summary should– Be one page– Make it clear you’ve connected all of the dots– Identify your one big risk– Make it clear how your plans and the investor’s money

will resolve the one big risk– Make you look like a real company from 1000 feet– And most importantly, cause the investor to take your

call when you contact them to set up a face to face meeting!


Contact Information

Andrew Forbes

[email protected]

Great Executive Summaries

Business

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