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Application Guidelines
The following outline is a description of the IC online application. We highly recommend that you review these guidelines or print them out for reference before you begin your application.
General
The application should be a version of your executive summary and approximately
two to three pages in length. Please take care to do a final spelling &
grammar check of your application before submitting it. The character limits
listed in parentheses are the maximums for each section, and do not include
spaces.
Contact
Information
Please include the following contact details:
-Primary Contact Name & Title
-Company Name
-Mailing Address
-Phone, Fax, E-mail
-Company Website (if available)
Photograph and/or Logo
You will have the option of uploading up to two images. We suggest including
your company logo, if you have one, as well as a photo of your product, your
team, or a graphic or image that will help to describe your company.
Short Description (45 characters)
Please provide a one-sentence description of your product/service. You should
not restate your company name in this sentence.
Primary
Interest Group
You will be asked to designate which of the following industries most closely
describe your company:
- Environment & Energy
- Food & Organics
- Health & Wellness
- Education & Media
- Community & International Development
Is the Company Woman-Led? Yes or No
Is the Company Minority-Led? Yes or No
Date Established (Month and Year)
Deal Stage (Seed, Start-up, Early, Expansion, or Mezzanine)
Description
of Business (1,000 characters)
Please explain
your business, being sure to address the following questions:
- What is your product or service?
- What is the problem that your product or service solves?
- Who is your competition and why is your product or service superior?
Market
(1,000 characters)
-Who are your
target customers?
- How big is your market?
- What portion of your market do you expect to capture and by when?
- What is your marketing plan?
- What is your competitive positioning?
- If you have any strategic partners or have done any market research, please
elaborate here.
Proprietary
Technology and Intellectual Property (600 characters)
- Please note any patents, trademarks or legal barriers to entry that you may
have.
- Please keep this section limited to legally defensible technologies and
discuss competitive advantages in your Market section.
Business
Model (1,000 characters)
- How will you reach your customers? Do you have a sales plan? What
distribution channels will you use?
- What will be your key sources of revenue, and what % of your revenue do you
expect to generate from each of these sources?
- What will be your key expenses?
- What do you expect your margins to be and will your margins vary if you have
more than one product or more than one method of distribution?
Investors'
Circle Member Involvement (500
characters)
You will be asked to provide names and involvement of any IC members with a
financial or strategic connection to your company.
Third Party Involvement (500 characters)
You will be asked whether or not an investment banker or other third party will
receive fees or other compensation should an IC member invest.
Key
Principals (1,250 characters)
Please include titles and brief biographies
- This is often one of the first sections investors will look at. It is
critical that this section be as strong and concise as possible. Investors
generally look for academic credentials, qualifications, relevant awards or
certifications, years of experience, previous employers, accomplishments, etc.
- Investors often look to invest in a management team. Even if there are only 1
or 2 people currently employed by your company, we recommend including brief
1-2 line bios for any advisors, mentors or consultants that might be helping
you.
Social and/or Environmental Impact (1,000 characters)
- Please
provide a concise statement on the social and/or environmental mission of your
company (being careful not to repeat too much information from your Description
of Business section). If possible, please identify the metric(s) you will use
to quantify your impact.
- Please note that this section is particularly important to IC members.
Prior
Financing (750 characters)
- How much has been invested to date in your company? When was this money
raised? Who has already invested? How much have the principals invested to
date?
Financing
Sought and Use of Proceeds (750
characters)
- Please state what your proceeds will be used for and what % of the proceeds
will be used for the different projects you note.
- Do not state the percentage of ownership the company will relinquish. Your
summary cannot be circulated if you state any details of your financial offer.
Summarized Financials
Please complete the following
financials table. You can write “n/a” for any years in which the company was
not in operation. All figures should be in thousands. Please include any amount
listed under Cost of Sales in the amount listed under Total Expenses for that
same year. Net Profit should equal Revenues less Total Expenses.
Notes (250 characters)
In 000s
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Revenues
Cost of Sales
Total Expenses
Net Profit
Please let us know if you have any important explanatory or contextual
information on the data in your Summarized Financials.
Disclaimer
Please include the following disclaimer at the bottom of your application.
This material has been prepared by the company described and is being distributed by the Social Venture Briefings Company to Investors' Circle members in furtherance of the purposes set forth in its bylaws. While the Investors' Circle office may have provided some feedback to the company regarding the format of this summary, neither the Social Venture Briefings Company nor Investors' Circle has participated in the preparation of the facts that underlie this executive summary, and make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the information presented herein. This summary is not an offer to sell securities nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities.
Need Help?If you have any questions or difficulties completing the application, please contact Molly Deringer in our San Francisco office at 415.255.6844 or molly@investorscircle.net.