The Business Plan

Business Plan Mythical status Thousands of books and articles ( books on Amazon.com!) Hard to predict future Too optimistic Only Exec Summary read Living document

Why write a business plan? A description of what you want to achieve with your business idea, and how Think through and formulate all basic foundations for the business you try to create, and the plan to execute Create a living document that can be communicated, discussed and revised

What do investors really want to know? The size of the opportunity Is the business model good? Does it scale? Is there pain and market pull? Do you have a unique (unfair) advantage? Can these people make it happen? Have you considered everything that can go wrong? Is the timing right? Hvor er penga?

Time to positive cash flow Potential reward Money Time depth of hole

Invest in a company – not a feature The world is changing: –Market –Technology If you don’t have a TEAM that can develop the business with changing environment, you have nothing Most startup companies that succeed, have changed their business model 3 times before finding the one that works Arthur Rock: ”I invest in people, not in ideas” ”If you can find good people, if they’re wrong about the product, they’ll make a switch…” (Nettavisen)

William Sahlmann: How to write a Great business plan Harvard Business Review, 1999 What investors really are looking for Nine Questions About the Business Every Business Plan Should Answer Fourteen "Personal" Questions Every Business Plan Should Answer

Sahlmann: 9 questions... Who is the new venture’s customer? How does the customer make decisions about buying this product or service? To what degree is the product or service a compelling purchase for the customer? How will the product or service be priced? How will the venture reach all the identified customer segments? How much does it cost (in time and rexources) to acquire a customer? How much does it cost to produce and deliver the product or service? How much does it cost to support a customer? How easy is it to retain a customer?

14 questions Where are the founders from? Where have they been educated? Where have they worked – and for whom? What have they accomplished – professionally and personally – in the past? What is their reputation in the business community? What experience do they have that is directly relevant to the opportunity they are pursuing? What skills, abilities and knowledge do they have?

14 questions... How realistic are they about the venture’s chances for success and the tribulations it will face? Who else needs to be on the team? Are they prepared to recruit high-quality people? How will they respond to adversity? Do they have the mettle to make the inevitable hard choices that have to be made? How committed are they to this venture? What are their motivations?

A business plan is a document that describes the opportunity, product, context, strategy, team, required resources, financial return, and harvest of a business venture. Technology Ventures: From Idea to EnterpriseChapter 7: Venture Creation and the Business plan

Technology Ventures: From Idea to EnterpriseChapter 7: Venture Creation and the Business plan The key function of writing a plan is to record the opportunity and the solution to the need, and show that solution can be made to be economically favorable within a reasonable period of time

Technology Ventures: From Idea to EnterpriseChapter 7: Venture Creation and the Business plan

Porter’s 5 forces: McAffee:Complements

Technology Ventures: From Idea to EnterpriseChapter 7: Venture Creation and the Business plan

Technology Ventures: From Idea to EnterpriseChapter 7: Venture Creation and the Business plan

The business plan serves as the alignment tool for a new business venture. Resources Financial Physical Intellectual Deal Reward, Risks Incentives Ownership Harvest People The Team Capabilities Attitude Reputation Opportunity Customers Strategy Business Model The Business Plan Context: Economy, Regulatory, Industry Technology Ventures: From Idea to EnterpriseChapter 7: Venture Creation and the Business plan

Entrepreneurs can learn and master a process for building a new venture and they communicate their intentions by writing a business plan. Technology Ventures: From Idea to EnterpriseChapter 7: Venture Creation and the Business plan