"How can YE draw more investors into this forum"?

[made4success]

I have a question, How can this "Young Entrepreneur Forum" draw more attention from investors. It seems like no one here is really seeking investment opportunities, only funding, knowledge, and friendship. Now I have been in many businesses, and industries and yes-working full time for longer then most of you have been alive. I have owned 5 different companies, and help start 15 or more.

I have never borrowed monies from loan institutions, always from the non-traditional investor. My question still remains the same…."How can YE draw more investors into this forum"?

[akula]

why would you want to to draw investors to this website?

there's no deal flow here that's suitable for external equity investment

the competitive advantage of this site is content as compared to something like http://www.aussieopportunities.com.au/ which does have investment-ready opportunities

[SSM]

I agree that investors will not be drawn to this site. Rarely will an investor take the time to seek something out...more often than not they are "pitched" ideas versus pitching thier money around.

An entrepreneur site will be hard off to snag a solid investor. That's not really the target behind this site. We contribute knowledge, motivation, inspiration, and ideaology. Of which, can be used towards finding investors. I say if you can't find an investor either you're too lazy, your idea isn't solid, your proposal is weak, or you have no idea what you are doing. Fix all of those and you're on the right track.

[made4success]

I'm sorry- I do not agree… I'm not seeking to find an end result; I'm seeking to find investor knowledge. Investors rarely invest, in an enterprise, unjustly or by mistake. However that is not my question, I asked how can they be drawn to this site to gain valuable knowledge and insight from them. Most non- traditional investors seek ideas that are out of the box investments, or high yield ROI. They carry vast knowledge and keen insight into every investment they make or review.

To hold an ideology that this site, with it's limited experience in the modern industrial world, can some how help the newest entrepreneur launch the next IBM or DELL, is to far fetched for reality. You say that one who can not find funding is lazy! That is the root point of your synopsis, right?

Ever hear of POLYMAR? 35 years went into pitches, meeting with investors, face to faces, mailings, etc. Would you have said that the inventor of POLYMAR was lazy fore he could not find funding?

Even Hitler (who could have won the war with it), the British Government, and the French Government (just to name a few) turned him down. Privet investors laughed at the very idea. Yet through that very experience of introduction and discussion with investors, gave way to understanding and knowledge. Finally today we have the compound POLYMAR, any and all PLY forms comes from this one source.

Just look at your computer, it contains PLY… the very plastic that forms the shell of that technical typewriter your enjoying right now is made with a PLY.

So how can this web site draw in investors to contribute knowledge, motivation, inspiration, and their ideology?

[The Stealthy One]

There are more investors lurking here than you think.

[Sam Barona]

I believe that there are a few investors in here aside from myself. Personally, I am looking for opportunities that will fit into my protfolio; that is, media and advertising (although online advertising is of very limited interest, unless its something that is really unique) in need of seed funding/round 1-2.

I will also consider opportunities in other industries that have good competitive advantages and IP.

Yes, I do receive a lot of plans, but seriously; the vast majority are grossly underdeveloped and/or unrealistic. Thus, it got me thinking that the likely reason for this is that all the good ones are going to the institutions. So i thought to mine in here for gems before the VCs get them.

My experience thus far has not been encouraging, so I feel the need to reinforce previous advice:

1- your business plan is a product that directly reflects on YOU. If its shoddy, it will say you're shoddy; if its too underdeveloped, or under researched, it tells me you're too lazy to do a good job of it and thus, not a good bet.

2- the business idea is only a part of the whole offering; not the whole thing. So, if your idea is great, but your plan does not make sense, then this is not sufficient. Investors are not in the business of developing YOUR business plans.

3- a great plan (to use a horse racing analogy) is the horse, investors also look at the jockey; so include a brief CV of those involved in the business. If you dont have the track record to apease the fears arising from the question "can this inexperienced jockey ride this great horse to the finish line?" then, make it clear that you're willing to hand over the reins to a more experienced executive. There is nothing more off-putting than someone green trying to keep control when they are asking to gamble with your money. If you want control, then dont ask others to fund your mistakes. Your target should be to get your first business funded and learn as much from the experience to launch your second company. Dont be precious about companies; it is better to have little control over a successful venture than complete control over a failure.

4- financials: for these to be effective, they need to be backed by robust assumptions that are based on solid research. I work very hard for my money and like many other investors, will not throw it at the wind, regardless of how little money it is. I still pick up pennies that others have dropped on the street. Also, include the value of the business, the funds you require and the stake you offer in exchange for this investment. Dont be too greedy; its far better to be the owner of 40% of a business making $5 million every year than 100% of something making only $300k.

5- Exits: I, like most career entrepreneurs, do not want my money to be tied up indefinately in any one business; every business has a life cycle; and my particular interest is in those that I can turn over quickly with great returns; which will more than compensate for my bad choices (we all back a donkey from time to time).

How I look at investments is as follows:

1- IDEA: does my experience, knowledge, intuition tell me that this is going to make money within my investment horizon? if YES, then i move forward to 2

2- PLAN: does the plan make sense, does the research, assumptions and financials stack up? if YES, the I move to 3

3- MANAGEMENT TEAM: Can the current team pull this off? if not, then is the entrepreneur willing to hand over control to more experienced jockeys? and, doe it still make sense after the costs of the new appointment(s) have been included in the plan? If YES, then I move forward to 4

4- INVESTMENT AMOUNT Vs RETURN: Does the stake in teh company provide me with better returns than my current companies/investments? Can these be negotiated to match my expectations? if YES then I move to 5

5- REVIEW: I generally take the final plan, together with the offer and my thoughts to my advisors. They will carry out an audit of the plan and tell me if it makes sense and when/how my exit is likely to happen, if it does, they will then advice if the stock offers the returns they know I need. If this is OK then I put an offer of investment with service level agreements, operational contracts, personal guarantees, etc.

Not all investors use this methodology, but this is my method in simple to understand manner.

[made4success]

Great Posting, I do agree with what you have said.

[akula]

it's simple - the competitive advantage of this site is content - not deal flow

any promotional attempt designed to exploit the product's weakness is bound to fail and therefore should not be done

on a personal note, i do not feel any sympathy for founders who are kicking and screaming that they're "looking for investors"

the market really is rational, people are not stupid, and if you can't land an A round - it's because your deal is either not suitable for equity finance (i.e. a club, a radio station, or a McDonald's franchise) or you're not investment-ready (i.e. no existing customers)

accept this as fact - getting more exposure to the investment community via an online forum should not be on your list of priorities

sell your stuff, get cash positive, go to tradeshows and your deal is gonna get picked up because through the natural process of growing your business (i.e. seeing a lawyer to draft a really big contract) you will be forced to deal with financiers

pitching for capital should not be an unnatural act. it's something that naturally happens in an offline environment where one of your suppliers (i.e. your lawyer) refers you to a financier because he knows how much money you're making and wants to share the spoils with his friends

that's pitching

[Sam Barona]

There are many professionals whose job is to identify good opportunities and present them to investors. Its my humble view that targetting these would be more beneficial than targeting investors; after all, its these professionals that screen opportunities for investors and present only those that they see as standing a good chance of securing finance.

making the site more suitable for these types of professionals would certainly go along way, but only if the quality of the opportunities in here is really up to scratch. Also, the quality of the information made available by the entrepreneurs will have to be professional enough to satisfy the needs of this type of professional.

Adding this type of functionality owuld certainly be of great value to the entrepreneurs here, since interaction with these types of professionals can only improve the quality of their ideas, plans, etc.

As always, the benefits will have to be clear for this new audience that, in my view, is symbiotic with the existing one. Part will have to come from the site creators and, as is the case with user content-driven sites, the bulk is up to those active here.

Sam

[michaeltrincal]

Interesting thread. I am a new member and had recently posted a request for entrepreneurship blogs worth reading. I received only one response, did some research, came across many - a few of the better ones I linked to here. The reason I am writing this is that the one theme I noticed on some of the entrepreneur blogs written by successful entrepreneurs is that they are also angel investors in private internet startups. So, if they like to write about entrepreneurship, and they like to invest some of their wealth into other startup companies, there is an implied nexus there that could favor this website.

Perhaps the mods can assemble a review board or open a voting system on the better business ideas presented on the forum (where public disclosure is OK) and someone can approach some of these highly successful entrepreneurs to see if they would be interested in providing feedback to the "winners" of the review/ranking process - obviously no guarantee of funding, but even getting insight from some of these guys who are both exceptional entrepreneurs and investors could be of value to everyone on the board.

Thoughts?

PS the post i refer to above is here

inspiring blogs?