The seminar schedule for the 2010 New Ventures BC Competition has been finalized and the first seminar on April 6th is a timely one for those considering entering the 2010 Competition.

New Ventures BC’s own Bob de Wit and Elisabeth Maurer of LightIntegra Technology will be presenting Assessing the Opportunity and the seminar promises to answer a lot of the questions entrepreneurs ask themselves when running with a new business idea.

So you say you’re an entrepreneur?  Now that you’ve convinced yourself that your venture will be viable, how do you go about convincing others?  And how do you avoid the many hidden mines that could stop you from polishing your gem?

Assessing the Opportunity will be an interactive seminar that will review the basics of putting together an elevator pitch or business opportunity statement and delve deeper into how to better understand:

• Investor Math;
• Appropriate capital structures;
• Industry standard investor materials and terms; Investor expectations for go-to-market strategies; and
• How to put together a capital plan.

As an added bonus, participants will walk through a step-by-step guide on how to put their best foot forward in the 2010 New Ventures BC competition, and more importantly, advance their corporate development.

Assessing the Opportunity takes place on Tuesday, April 6th at the SFU Segal School of Business at Granville and Pender. Networking and registration open at 6:30pm and the seminar will begin at 7:00pm.

NVBC’s business-education seminars are available to anyone. Seminars are $20 each or $100 for all nine seminars plus a networking event. and the fee may also be applied toward your $200 NVBC competition entry fee.

REGISTER

The seminar schedule for the 2010 New Ventures BC Competition has been finalized and is now online.

Remember that NVBC’s business-education seminars are available to anyone. Seminars are $20 each or $100 for all nine seminars plus a networking event. and the fee may also be applied toward your $200 NVBC competition entry fee.

April 6 – Seminar 1: Assessing the Opportunity

• Speaker: Bob de Wit, New Ventures BC & Elisabeth Maurer, LightIntegra Technology
• Networking & Registration: 6:30pm, Seminar: 7:00pm
• Location: SFU Segal School of Business

April 13 – Seminar 2: Managing your Intellectual Property

• Speakers: Roger Kuypers and Doran Ingalls, Fasken Martineau
• Networking & Registration: 6:30pm, Seminar: 7:00pm
• Location: SFU Segal School of Business

April 20 – NVBC Networking Event

• Location TBA, 5:30pm
• Registration to open shortly.

April 27 – Seminar 3: Market Research and Product Marketing

• Speaker: Dave Thomas, Rocket Builders
• Networking & Registration: 6:30pm, Seminar: 7:00pm
• Location: SFU Segal School of Business

May 4 – Seminar 4: The Business Plan

• Speaker: Mike Volker, SFU UILO & WUTIF
• Networking & Registration: 6:30pm, Seminar: 7:00pm
• Location: SFU Segal School of Business

May 11 – Seminar 5: Corporate Structure

• Speakers: Steven Lukas, Fasken Martineau & Sean Hodgins, QC Docs
• Networking & Registration: 6:30pm, Seminar: 7:00pm
• Location: SFU Segal School of Business

May 18 – Seminar 6: Social Networking for Start-ups

• Speaker: Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo, Capulet Communications
• Networking & Registration: 6:30pm, Seminar: 7:00pm
• Location: SFU Segal School of Business

May 25 – Seminar 7 – All about Funding: Friends & Family, Angels, VCs

• Speakers: Roger Killen and Tanner Philp, Lions Capital
• Networking & Registration: 5:30pm, Seminar: 6:00pm
• Location: SFU Segal School of Business

June 1 – Seminar 8: Perfecting your Pitch

• Speakers: David Shore, Stirling Mercantile & Jonathan Bixby, Strangeloop Networks
• Networking & Registration: 6:30pm, Seminar: 7:00pm
• Location: SFU Segal School of Business

June 8 – Seminar 9: Start at the end: exit strategy

• Speaker: Basil Peters, Fundamental Technologies II
• Networking & Registration: 6:30pm, Seminar: 7:00pm
• Location: SFU Segal School of Business

Speakers, locations and dates may change on short notice. Please check the NVBC site for updates before each event.

If you’re outside of Vancouver, please check the Regional Seminar Schedule here.

This month’s BCTIA Impact event is full of New Ventures BC connections – not really a surprise considering the topic: Start-ups that are Built to Last.

Even after identifying a unique business opportunity and commercializing a product, a lot of dedication and talent is required for an organization to secure its future.

Our guest speakers Janice Cheam, President and Co-founder of Energy Aware Technology Inc., David Helliwell, Co-founder of Pulse Energy, and Jonathan Bixby, President and CEO of Strangeloop Networks Inc. have demonstrated significant potential in their early stage companies for sustainable long-term growth.

Come hear how they got to where they are today and how they plan to lay a path of success well into the future.

The Impact monthly speaker series features the winners and finalists from the the BCTIA’s 2009 Technology Impact Award (TIAs). This month features the winner and finalist of the “Most Promising Start-up” award category.

Both Energy Aware (2006) and Pulse Energy (2008) were past  New Ventures BC competitors and Jonathan Bixby sits on the final jury.

Start-ups that are Built to Last is on November 17th from 5:00pm to 7:30pm at the SFU Segal Graduate School of Business. Register online.

The Mid-Island Science Technology & Innovation Council (MISTIC) is hosting an upcoming New Ventures BC session facilitated by well-known Vancouver Angel Investor Basil Peters. Start at the End – Your Exit Strategy will take place on October 8th from 9am – 11am in Nanaimo.

Every company should have an exit strategy before they contact their first investor. Most companies have an exit strategy even if nobody knows what it is. Many entrepreneurs scare off investors by presenting the wrong exit strategy. Most entrepreneurs end up selling their companies for far less than they could have – learn how to avoid this costly mistake. Get practical advice on how you can maximize the exit value for your company – even if your exit is still years into the future.

To register, please email Darba Wakefield at info@mistic.bc.ca or call the MISTIC office at 250-753-8324.

For all those entrepreneurs in the Okanagan – New Ventures BC’s Selling Distinctive Value seminar is coming your way at the end of July.

In partnership with the Okanagan Science & Technology Council, New Ventures BC is hitting the road and Don Linder will be delivering an interactive seminar focused on acquiring revenue from customers.

Building on his original engineering background and 30 years of business experience, Linder has successfully created the concepts & structured tools that ensure complex sales are achieved profitably. He specializes in providing executive expertise and business development training to companies that sell complex products and services. Linder has over 20 years of practical executive/line management experience including being an executive with profit and loss responsibility for leading operations including sales, marketing, service, consulting, finance and administration.

This free seminar is at the Coast Capri Hotel (1171 Harvey Avenue) in Kelowna on July 28th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Register online or contact OSTEC by phone at 250-712-3340 or by email if you have any questions.

For all those entrepreneurs in the Okanagan – today is the last day to register for tomorrow’s ‘All about Funding: Dialing for Dollars’ seminar at the Coast Capri Hotel in Kelowna.

In partnership with the Okanagan Science & Technology Council, New Ventures BC is hitting the road and Tanner Philp will deliver a crash course in everything you need to know to approach Angel and Venture Capital investors to fund your early stage venture.

Philp, CFO and Partner of the BC Advantage Fund will cover where to find investors, how to approach investors to maximize success, what investors are looking for, terms and valuations, and generally how to navigate the financing minefield. Practical advice will be augmented by candid, real world examples.

This free seminar is at the Coast Capri Hotel (1171 Harvey Avenue) in Kelowna on June 30th from 2:00pm to 4:30pm.  Register online or contact OSTEC by phone at 250-712-3340 or by email if you have any questions.

Hello, this is Victoria here with my last blog for the New Ventures BC seminar sessions.  Basil Peters is up talking about the exit strategy.  Most of you know him already and I think that there is no better person to be giving us all this seminar about this topic.  If you want a more in-depth overview of the talk, please have a look at the video.

Basil is going over some very successful companies that were all acquired for under $20 Million.  He is saying that big companies want to buy things for $10-30 million.  Why? Because big companies don’t want to spend money on R&D, but would rather acquire companies. Examples with Club Penguin started in Kelowna.  In just two years, they sold the company for $350 million.  When can you sell the company? When you’ve proven the business model.  It’s often the best time to sell. You have to sell on an upward trend. Sell on the promise and not the reality.  Next side asks if you even need investors.  He says because technology, networks and this huge global market evolving, you can build a valuable company for tens of thousands of dollars.  Club Penguin, MetroLyrics, Plenty of Fish, all bootstrapped. So Basil says– if you can– bootstrap!  If you don’t have an other option you have to raise private capital from either VCs or angel investors.

Definitions: What is venture capital really?  He shows some graphs, but the point is that it’s changed. Here’s some interesting data. In America, each year VC Funds invest about 20 billion.  So do angels.  Even more surprising? Friends and Family investors invest about 5 to 10 times more.  So the pot we thought was little, is actually a lot bigger and influential than we thought.  Angel Co-Investment: it’s when groups of angels invest $5 million to $10 million together.   Basil says there is no shortage of capital today.

Why do you need an exit strategy first?  And how do you develop it?  Sometimes there is no exit strategy and that is a strategy. Lifestyles business without investors is an exit strategy. The exit is just another business process.  Start at the end and understand your goal. “Our exit strategy is to sell the company in X number of years for around X amount.” Check the alignment about how the ES will look like.  Get a sign off on a written exit strategy.After going over some slides about why some exits are more successful without VCs, Basil explains how VCs block good exits.

Angels or VCs but not both: new research shows that based on 182 deals, when angels and VCs invest together, it didn’t work out as well. Basil recommends taking angel money and not VC money if you’re looking for less than $3-5 million.

Summary:  Most acquisitions are done under $20 million and modern companies don’t need much capital.  Bootstrap if you can, angels can finance up to $5-10 million.  Basil encourages us to look at his blog and to get his book if we want to read and learn more about the exit strategy.

The final seminar in the New Ventures BC 10-week seminar series is this Wednesday and legendary Vancouver Angel Basil Peters will be presenting “Start at the end: exit strategy”. Peters recently published Early Exits and knows a thing or two about exit strategies for entrepreneurs and angels. Start at the end: exit strategy takes place next Wednesday, June 3rd.

While it’s obviously way too late to enter this year’s competition, this last seminar is open to the public. Register online now and head on over to the SFU Segal Graduate School of Business to network starting at 6:30pm and then grab a seat for the 7:00pm seminar start. The cost to attend is $20 and students with valid I.D. cards may attend for free.

Hello, once again it’s Victoria here at NVBC’s night for learning how to pitch.  David Shore from Stirling Mercantile and Jonathan Bixby from Strangeloop Networks will be taking the stage tonight.

What differentiates people who win? They have a focus. Have a thesis and they have greed around their focus. So, what is the structure of a business focused statement?

1. Thesis: Tell Me What You Do

We sell (blank) that helps (who, target market) and what does it do for them (save or make them money)

•    do not tell us what the technology does
•    it has to be simple and make sense
•    differentiate yourself

2. Communication: Are they going to remember you?

Example with Barack Obama–he is a gifted communicator.  He is going through a quick presentation about a. not including points you are speaking on a slide and to pause and b. to observe your audience, not just talk at them, lastly c. the judges will remember you, so show some excitement. Show the fact that you are excited about your business.

3. Presentation: Judges prefer graphical presentations. Colour, simple text, and go overboard.

1. Start with and include a title.
2. Include a snapshot of what you do, then include something about you, the team and those involves. Indicate who you are, CEO, CMO and indicate that you require the CTO or advisors.  Brief description of where you’ve worked and who you’ve worked with.
3. Industry Problem: will your customer make money, save money or what? It’s a financial issue. *Customers are leaving. Problem can be societal.
4. Identify the solution: Uses Flickr as an example. If you have software, use screenshots. If you have hardware, show diagrams and tell a story. How did you get involved, or determine that there was a need? Introduce a third-party validation with a quote with a person’s name with a target company. This slide will take longer to present. Show your pride, the route you took etc.
5. Product
6. Addressable Market: these slides you need to go over quickly, use a graph or chart, name important points and graph them and talk about where they’re going, show where we are going as opposed to our competition
7. Sales and Marketing: data on marketing # helps (1 minute to 30 seconds on this slide)
8. Road Map: do a graph, design to full launch about where you are with raising money (this slide’s length depends on how complicated your business is)
9. Projections: busy slide with a lot of numbers, 5 years shown, number of customers and price are the most valuable numbers on slide. If your number is less than $10 million in the fifth year, raise that number. If you’re going after a trillion dollar market, it’s not unreasonable to have a half- billion of that market.
10. Investment Opportunity: name three stages, raising money at this stage, raising money at launch and scale and ask (%) of $$.
11. Summary: leave up for question period, flavour the rest of your discussion
12. Appendix: no end to that so make them and you can email the investors a softcopy, each slide can have a Q and A, slide. So 12 in a presentation and then 30-40 to prepare

Things to avoid saying:

• Our projections are conservative
• We have no competition
• We have first mover advantage
• We only need to capture x% of the tiny piece of huge market

Would you have more than one person present?  Yes, but practice. Seemlessness is key.  The CEO should be the one giving the presentation.

Number eight in the New Ventures BC 10-week seminar series is this Wednesday and it’s a topic that is very important to any new venture looking to raise some start-up capital. Perfecting Your Pitch takes place next Wednesday, May 27th with David Shore of Stirling Mercantile & Jonathan Bixby of Strangeloop Networks sharing their expertise.

While it’s too late to enter the competition, the seminar series is still open to the public. Register online now and head on over to the SFU Segal Graduate School of Business to network starting at 6:30pm and then grab a seat for the 7:00pm seminar start. The cost to attend any individual seminar is $20 and students with valid I.D. cards may attend for free.