Beyond Traditional Fundraising Resources to Stretch Your Start-Up Dollars
Jan 13, 2015
Beyond Traditional Fundraising
Resources to Stretch Your Start-Up Dollars
The Funding Dilemma: More than a Double Edged Sword
• Resources Strapped – People/Skills – Place/Tools – Money
• Low Signal to Noise Ratio – Conflicting Advice – Meaningful Feedback
• Endless Sense of Urgency
The LEAN Start-Up Invasion
• The MVP • Early Customer Validation • More with MUCH less
– Do you have a paying customer for your one prototype?
• Use of Incubators/Accelerators – Like-minded community driven networks
• Fail small and fast
Help is on the Way! • People/Network
– Mentors/Advisors – Contract Services – Interns and Co-Ops
• Place/Tools – Incubators/Accelerators – Research Institutions – Design and Manufacturing
• Money – Competitions – Grants and Grant Match – Strategic Partners
M2D2 Resources
• Start-up friendly space – Short term, scalable leases – Like-minded community
• Access to the larger community – Large Corporations – Industry support experts – Events
• Bolts to Clinical Trials • Competition
– Marketing – Validation
UMass Partnership
• Materials Characterization, Analysis, Selection • Design and Prototyping • Testing and Verification
• Surgeons with Ideas • Partnership with Pre-Clinical Investigators • Large animal testing/clinical trial facilities
Lowell: Engineering Expertise
Worcester: Clinical Expertise
Lowell: Business Expertise • Opportunity Assessment, Business Planning • Market Identification, Analysis • Integration into Graduate Courses
New Venture Support
• Other University Resource Access – Core Research Facilities – Corporate Collaborators – Testing and Research Partners for Grants
• Market Validation and Research • Mentor and Advisor Identification/
Introduction • Pre-Seed Funding
Accelerators and Competition– Choose Wisely
• M2D2 New Venture Competition • MassChallenge • Merrimack Valley Sandbox • Venture-Style and Corporate
Sponsored
• Is the award worth the time/diversion • Are there stings attached • Are they experts in your space or can they get you to
people who are
Are Grants the Answer?
• Moment Fund @ UMass Medical • MSLC • SBIR/STTR and State Matching
• Do they distract or validate your effort • Do you have what it takes to win • Does it fit within your timeline
Strategic Partnerships
• Can accelerate innovation, reduce costs and
provide a future sales/marketing channel and a
path to exit
• More than 70% fail over time; only 10% deliver on
original expectations (Ogilvy&Mather)
• Corporate BD, Open Innovation, Corporate VC
Do Your Homework
• Target – Pipeline and focus fit – The ‘soft’ stuff – Would I marry this guy?
Make the case: Can this be a mutual beneficial relationship?
Deep Dive
Before the outreach: • Know your potential partner completely and how
you are/should be connected • Know what you want from the relationship and
what’s in it for the partner – Be specific, but flexible – Plan with key milestones
• Have an internal lead, but coordinate with the entire team
Engage
• Use your network • Hear and understand what your partner
likes and needs – does it fit with your goals • No today doesn’t mean no forever • Don’t kiss a 1,000 frogs – word gets around
Manage the Partnership
• Formalize your relationship • What does the end look like • Build/add where necessary • Set up a joint work stream for major
milestones – how will the relationship work, who does what and when