Select Chapters From e-Book   Chapter one: Which wanna-be are you? ROAD MAP: > Slow down! You're not ready to talk to investors until you've got answers to the probing questions they're going to ask. Take a deep breath and then take stock of where your company stands. You've got a lot of homework to do before shopping for money. Chapter two: Do the dogs like the dog food? A common question tossed around Silicon Valley venture capitalists is, "Do the dogs like the dog food?" It means, do customers like the product? Are they drooling to tear open the package? If the answer is yes (and I'm going to tell you how to make sure that it is) then you've got investors halfway there.   Chapter two: Do the dogs like the dog food? A common question tossed around Silicon Valley venture capitalists is, "Do the dogs like the dog food?" It means, do customers like the product? Are they drooling to tear open the package? If the answer is yes (and I'm going to tell you how to make sure that it is) then you've got investors halfway there.   Chapter three: The sunflower model At Entrepreneur America, we talk about core competencies as a way of understanding where product ideas come from and what the future products and markets should be. Establishing that drives the company in a positive direction, aiming top-level products and services at responsive markets. This is the essence of the Entrepreneur America Sunflower Model. Here's how it works: Each part of the flower represents a key element of the company. The center represents the company's core competency. The petals represent the various products and markets. The stem represents the underlying assumptions that the business model is based on.   Chapter four: The keys to the gold mine ROAD MAP> With a strong core competency identified, it's time to finish your homework. The last step before talking to investors is developing powerful answers to key questions about your product's value, differentiation, scaling, and stickiness.   Chapter five: Peeing in the wells Your presentation is polished, it's finally time to meet investors. The key is to carefully target the right VC groups. Otherwise, you'll start hearing "No" answers, and one "No" tends to turn into many. Clearly, the best idea and the sharpest team won't get you anywhere if you don't have the money to build your business. But that's not the only reason to polish your pitch. The lessons of this chapter apply to more than just fundraising. A good presentation tells the story of your company in such a compelling and effective way that people want to hook up with you. Using these techniques, you'll land more customers, recruit better executives and employees, grab the media's attention, and raise money (whether from VC, angels, banks or other sources).   Chapter six: Sucking the air out of the room If your company is successful enough to grab investor attention, it's already on your competitors' radar. Don't let down your guard. Choose your plan of attack and lock up your market. A market lead isn't enough to fend off the hoards of competitors who will come at you. And they will come. You can't prevent copycats, they're part of the landscape of capitalism. You have a choice-you can cruise along as you always have, or you can go into "suck mode." I'm talking about sucking the air right out of the room. Don't leave your competitors anything to breathe. In suck mode, you make it difficult for established companies to recover, and very expensive for startups to compete. This is what people don't like about Bill Gates. He sucks the air out of the room. Nobody can breathe when they're standing next to Microsoft, and eventually they just quit trying.   Chapter seven: So you've got the money, now what? Congratulations, you've signed your first investment deal! Now the hard work really begins. I t's time to make the transition from startup to professionally managed company. Here's how to beef up your team and handle the board. Startups are all fixated on raising capital, but they never really consider what, specifically, they'd do with a $10-million-dollar check. How do you control spending, and what do you spend money on? Take my advice and set up a spending plan now, before you get the money.

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