Assessment Task 2 – Entrepreneurial Presentation (Group) (30%)
Due Sunday 1 October – week 10 (on UTS Online by 23:59). Each group will present in the lecture venue in weeks 10 and 11.
Background
Consider that you are employees of a large and successful venture capital firm. The board of the firm is deciding upon its current round of investments and strategic direction. Each group in the firm is making a pitch to the board and their colleagues to try and secure funding for their identified opportunity. This could be a new or existing start-up, new piece of technology, an existing business looking to scale. For example, your board is open to considering future investments in renewable energy markets, mobile technology platforms, global professional outsourcing, social enterprises etc.
The board is meeting in Weeks 10-12 of this semester, and your group will need to make a pitch and submit a supporting strategic report to the board. Convincing the board to invest in your identified opportunity is essential as your job depends on it – the firm operates on a promotion system of “up or out”!
Task
In groups of 3-4 (pending class size), identify a promising new venture or investment that will appeal to the board. The board will most certainly need to understand the start-up’s wider competitive environment, business model, financial viability and amount of investment required (and corresponding equity on offer).
Your group needs to consider:
– Assessment of opportunity – technology, market and organizational capabilities
o Understanding of current baseline/problem/market.
o Description of the “technology” or idea under question (that solves a problem).
– Analysis of the business model or areas of industry investment
o How does this model create and capture value?
– Opportunity details such as:
- Financial – What is the financial viability of this investment?
- Marketing – Market size, target market, sales and distribution
- Operations – management team, key personnel
Background Report (to be used as supplementary material to your pitch deck, rather than a comprehensive business plan) in hard copy in the tutorial in which you are presenting. The written
report should be no longer than 2000 words, excluding references.
You will be assessed as follows:
Pitch deck 12%
– quality of slides – clarity, comprehension, visual appeal
– clear identification of problem/gap/opportunity, value proposition
– rationale to support value proposition and investment
Pitch delivery 10%
– enthusiasm, engagement, presentation style
– preparation and organisation of group members
– management of Q&A (responses to questions and queries)
Strategic Analysis Report 5%
– Description of key issues – marketing, environment, management team
– Appropriate financial forecasting
– Clarity of writing, spelling, grammar
Q&A contribution 3%
– Contribution towards analyses of other group pitches (graded throughout
the 3 ‘pitching weeks’)
Tips:
o Use the universal pitch deck – http://www.pollenizer.com/universal-startup-pitch-deck/
o Go to pitching competition’s (Friday afternoon’s at Fishburners or the UTS Hatchery):
http://fishburners.org or http://www.uts.edu.au/currentstudents/
opportunities/hatchery/overview – they use the universal pitch deck! Yes, it’s real!
o You can take the position of being members of a start-up and pitching to the board, or as
colleagues within the firm who have found a new start up to pitch.
o Clearly identify the problem you are solving or issue you are addressing.
o Pitching your ideas and projects is a skill necessary for entrepreneurs seeking angel
financing, but also for those within firms where you must ‘sell’ your projects and strategies
(i.e. making a business case) to senior management or shareholders.
o Develop a unique way of communicating what is most important in the industry or market,
particularly using your own new graphs, tables, or diagrams.
o The Background Report is a supporting document (that can show your depth of research and
analysis, and insights that cannot fit on to your slides). Please note this is NOT a business
plan.
Other background information:
Frederick and Kuratko – Chapters 13 and 14
Guy Kawasaki – The Art of the Start (2004): Chapter 3 – .http://www.guykawasaki.com/downloads/
www.garage.com
