GOOD INVESTMENT OR BAD – PART 3
Karl Dakin
I help you overcome challenges to raising capital. Take advantage of my Motivated Money Method to identify those investor candidates that are most likely to invest. Top expert in fundraising.
CONTENTS
?·?????? SuperCrowd Chicago
·?????? Funding Point
·?????? Successful Funding
·?????? Don Cohen
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?SUPERCROWD CHICAGO - TODAY - June 12 - SuperCrowd Chicago – Crafting Crowdfunding Offers to Customers at 2 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago time) Noon MDT and 11 a.m. PDT
?I am co-sponsoring and will be speaking at SuperCrowd Chicago. This event promises to bring together leaders in investment crowdfunding to share what works and what does not work and the next steps in advancing investment crowdfunding as an alternative, if not the best option, for small businesses raising funding.
?You have two options:
1.???? Watch for free on Internet TV
2.???? Watch for free on social media, where you can comment and ask questions of the speakers
?You may watch for free on live streaming on e360tv network (Roku, Apple or Amazon) or watch at ?s4g.biz/12jun24.
?You may watch it on LinkedIn at this link:
?In both cases, I will do a 15-minute presentation and you may download my slide deck and workbook materials now at the QR code below:
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FUNDING POINT – GOOD INVESTMENT OR BAD – PART 3
?I see many investment opportunities every week. I am continually sorting through these opportunities, looking for those that are good or bad. In my evaluation, recognizing that the investment involves the future, I have to discern between fact and fiction and reality and fantasy.
?Yesterday, on my Successful Funding show, determining the viability of an investment opportunity was the subject with my guest Eric Hanson. We started working our way through each of our personal checklists as we looked at an investment opportunity for the first time which would cause us to decline.
?Even though we both look at the same things, we have different preferences or things that we think are more important, and we will check for first, second, third, and so on.
?One of the things that is high on my list is the reality of the opportunity. By this, I mean, “Is the projected future of the business probable? As described in the Instant Funding edition on Monday, I look at (1) the solution to the problem, (2) market acceptance of the solution, and (3) the management teams’ capabilities of operating the business. I want to know that each of these key components is real.
I have been pitched and worked with many innovations which were never able to develop from concept to a final product or service that performed any measurable benefit or whose ultimate cost of production far exceeded any price point anyone other than a government agency might pay. There are countless examples of technologies that work on the bench in a very controlled or minimal environment, and that will not work in the hands of a consumer. There are even more reasons for the failure of a technology in design, production, and distribution that may be fixable, but the business was unable to get more funding to recover from its original misstep.
?There are many products and services that are needed by customers that are never purchased in sufficient quantities within a short enough time for the business to become profitable before it runs out of funding. The lackluster response to an offering of these products and services may be due to many of the same reasons that an investment offer is declined: the customer is not aware of the product or service, does not understand the product or service, and therefore is unable to appreciate its value, does not view the product or service as superior to another offering, cannot currently afford to purchase the product or service, or is put off by the manner or place where the product or service is presented for sale. Even when faced with a clearly demonstrated value that squarely addresses an unmet need, a customer candidate may say no.
?The management team must be capable of bringing its product or service to market within all of the challenges of funding, government regulation, competition, and the complexities of operating a business. Some people work well by themselves, but not as a team. Some teams are comprised of people with different agendas. The team may not have all the skills needed. More commonly, the team has little or no experience with the product or service or with the customers in the market. Their prior experience, if any, does not translate into sufficient capabilities to do everything a new business may require to be successful.
?When I do the ‘first look’ at any information about a business, regardless of whether it is seeking funding, I first ask myself if I believe the business will be a success based upon a solution accepted by a market with management. With forty-five years of experience with hundreds of businesses, I have seen enough failures to consider myself a good judge of what will work and what will not. This is a reality check. I then look at the projections of future sales, profits, and profit allocations to see what an investor may realize. In many cases, I may find the business is okay, but the anticipated growth and profitability of the business are not realistic.
?I will find it hard to believe that an innovative product or service that requires that the customer change how they do anything can be brought to the market by a solo entrepreneur with no prior business experience at any level of scale. I am not saying it cannot happen. I am saying the odds of success are so low that I will not bet on it by making an investment.
领英推荐
?It is recommended that any offering documents be field tested before seeking funding by sharing them with people with experience in business and funding. Get their honest feedback, however harsh it may seem, before committing to all of the time and expense of conducting a capital campaign.
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SUCCESSFUL FUNDING
YESTERDAY, TUESDAY, JUNE 11, my guest on the Successful Funding show was Eric Hanson. We discussed Viable Investment Opportunities.
You can see a recording of this show at:
You can see all of my shows at the time of broadcast or recordings of past shows at my profile on LinkedIn.
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DON COHEN SHOW
MONDAY, JUNE 10, I was a guest on Don Cohen’s show with Todd Dewett. We discussed leadership which focused on balancing one’s business and personal life.
You can see a recording at:
I enjoy being a guest and engaging in conversations with other guests and with Don on building communities and using LinkedIn as a communication channel. Every show is its own adventure as we start with a word of the day and then see where the conversation goes from there.
Don is an expert on LinkedIn, particularly on the use of Live streaming to build brands and communities. We will discuss using LinkedIn as a social media platform for building communities that support raising funding.
All shows where I have been a guest can be viewed on Don Cohen's LinkedIn page under Posts.
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Karl Dakin, the Capital Coach
Dakin Capital LLC
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I help you overcome challenges to raising capital. Take advantage of my Motivated Money Method to identify those investor candidates that are most likely to invest. Top expert in fundraising.
5 个月Does your investment offer present a realistic and believable outcome?