Team:BGU Israel/test/Entrepreneurship


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Team:BGU Israel



Being in the early stages of starting our business, there’s nothing more exciting than just the idea of merely getting a meeting with someone who has even the vaguest interest in financially backing our project.

On the 16 of August we've met and presented our project to Mr. Yigal Vidal, head of the North Maccabi Healthcare. Maccabi Healthcare is the second largest health maintenance organization in Israel. Maccabi Healthcare is about to open a big research center and an incubator for medical startups.

Maccabi operates 150 medical clinics throughout the country, as well as 20 medical diagnostic and therapeutic centers, 43 pharmacies and two hospitals - Assuta Medical Center and Ramat Marpeh.

In the meeting we discussed how we came up with the idea for our project, our potential product pipeline, and our team.

The questions we were asked: "how much are you looking to raise, and how long will that last you?", “What are the key differentiated features of your product or service?”, “What is the cost of a customer acquisition?”, “What legal risks do you have?”, and more.

We did a good preparation, but still for some of the questions we didn’t have a definitive answer. It was a great experience, and we were told to continue with the research and keep them updated, as we proceed to have more scientific evidence and progress.

The meeting encouraged us to write tips for the future iGEM teams that will meet angel, VC or other type of investor.

Here are some Do’s and Don’t’s, and a great list of websites that helped us to prepare for the meeting.

Do:
 Research. Do the VCs you meet invest in your market and in companies of your size/stage, and are they active? Have they been making investments recently?

Prepare pitch that will include the following slides:
Current status: funds raised to-date, monthly budget, revenue, team size, team expertise, customers, metrics
• Problem you’re solving
• Market size & potential
• Solution
• Competition
• Go to market strategy
• Unfair advantage
• $$$ (how much you want to raise and why)

Be specific about your existing and target customers. Demonstrate that you understand their purchasing decisions, based on real knowledge and interactions with them. Be prepared to provide references -- the stronger your customer buy-in, the better.

 Make sure you can answer each one of the following questions.

Don't

Don't be late nor outstay your welcome (typically one hour, but check in advance and keep to it).

Don’t overpromise. Potential investors are going to ask a lot of questions. The key here is to be honest with them, foregoing any bluster or pretending. As a young company, there will be many things to figure out. Don’t cover up your uncertainty by lying to or overpromising an investor.

Don't dress unappropriately- Let your appearance reflect your business and the customer you serve so potential investors can get a true sense of who you are going after for your target market.

References and must read articles: HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR BUSINESS PRESENTATION WITH INVESTORS

Inspiration

Read what other teams have done:

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