New Enterprise Name

New Enterprise Description

Primary Contact Name		Phone
Sponsoring Individual or Organization
Address		Email
City	State/Province	FAX
Country		Postal Code

Instructions:

Fill out the Program Snapshot table that follows. Do not attempt to create a full-blown business plan. That will come later. The purpose of this exercise is to communicate the essence of your business concepts, and to test them against the tough criteria that will be applied by a potential investor. Assistance with this exercise is available upon request.

After you have completed the Program Snapshot, score it, using the Self-Scoring Matrix provided. Using this feedback, revise your Snapshot until you are satisfied with the score. Next, have someone else score it for you. Again, revise as necessary.

When you really like the results, attach it to your Application for Provisional Membership in VTKnowledgeWorks, and schedule your initial review with

Jim Flowers, Director

VTKnowledgeWorks

1715 Pratt Drive, Suite 2800

Blacksburg, VA 24060

540-443-9100

jim.flowers@vtknowledgeworks.com
Program Snapshot

Market

Market Opportunity (basic drivers of growth)

Target Definition (specific end users)

Growth Potential (how big the company can become)

Competition (strengths, weaknesses)

Marketing & Sales (how you will promote yourself, who will close the deals, etc)

Product/Service

Product Status (idea, prototype, early sales complete, etc.)

Value Proposition (“unfair” competitive advantage)

Product/Service Differentiation & Intellectual Property Protection (what makes it special, and how is that protected)

Human Resources

Management Team (who will do each key job)

Organization Concept (how will the team grow)

Special Needs

Financial Considerations

Economic Model (how will you make money)

Financing Requirements (how much outside capital will be required to reach profitability)

Self-scoring Matrix

	0	2	4	6	8	10
Market
Market opportunity	No visible market	Small, low growth market	Small stagnating or large diminishing market	Small growing or large mature market	Small booming or large growing market	Large booming market
Customer understanding	Target group and needs not defined or understood	Target group vaguely defined	Target group defined but hard to recognize	Market segmentation stated and target group defined	Market segmentation and target group defined	Market segmentation presented persuasively; target group well defined
Growth potential	Zero, looks like a disaster	Sales > $5M in 5 years	Sales > $10M in 5 years	Sales > $25M in 5 years	Sales > $50M in 5 years	Sales > $100M in 5 years
Competition	Very tough, entrenched competition	Tough active competition or expected in the short term	Avg. competition active or expected in the near term; tough competition expected in the medium or long term	Weak competition active or expected in the short term; tough competition expected in the medium or long term	Weak competition active or expected in the short term; average competition expected in the medium or long term	No competition established or expected in the short term or weak competition expected in the medium or long term
Marketing & Sales	No real strategy	Unclear or unconvincing strategy	Individual ideas OK, but overall strategy unclear	Overall strategy clear, but details could be tricky	Clear and complete marketing strategy	Very convincing marketing strategy presented with high market penetration expected

	0	2	4	6	8	10
Product/Service
Status	Idea sketched only roughly	Idea clearly described; plausible but no working demonstration of product	Alpha product developed and functionality tested	Beta product tested; necessary product refinements identified and development	End product defined and working to customer satisfaction; commercial sales are being achieved	End product fully commercialized, efficiently produced and ready for wide distribution to customers
Value proposition	Not addressed	Addressed but not validated	Addressed but has marginal value	Value clear but low to customer	Medium value validated	High value validated
Product/service differentiation and intellectual property protection	Sustainable differentiation to competing products on the market unclear or not stated	Considerations for differentiation evident (e.g., patents, protective rights)	Definite differentiation strategy formulated (e.g., patents, protective rights)	Effective differentiation strategy defined, first steps already taken (e.g., patent application filed)	Key measures for sustained differentiation introduced (e.g., multiple patents pending)	Significant measures for sustained differentiation (e.g., strong patents issued)
Human Resources
Team	No notable domain experience or abilities	Little notable domain experience or abilities	One team member with notable domain experience	Several team members with notable domain experience, but all major areas not covered yet	Team covers all major areas with very good experience/abilities	Team covers all major areas with excellent experience/abilities and high profile CEO heading the company
Organization	No organization presented	Organization stated but poor delegation of tasks and responsibilities	Largely adequate organization but open issues to address	Fully adequate organization	Fully adequate organization and competent partners	Excellent organization and strong partners
Special Needs – Technical or Professional	Failure to fill certain slots could doom the enterprise	Special needs not addressed at all	Special needs identified	Special needs identified and under consideration	Special needs identified and fully-addressed	No special needs

	0	2	4	6	8	10
Financial Considerations
Economic Model	Critical assumptions not presented	Planning and expected return based on hunches	Planning and expected return backed by some research	Planning and expected return backed by serious research but return is not attractive	Planning and expected return backed by serious research and return is modestly attractive	Planning and expected return backed by serious research and return is highly attractive
Launch Stage Financing Requirements	>$3M required	$1M-$3M required	$250K-$1M required	<$250K required	<$100K required	No outside funds needed
	0	4	8	12	16	20
Overall Impression
	On the whole, little point in pursuing: the business concept has little potential, the planning is sketchy, and the presentation careless	Contains several interesting aspects, but in its present form, the overall concept is not very persuasive	Contains a number of interesting elements possibly worth pursuing, but overall the concept has clear weaknesses in potential, planning, or presentation	On the whole, interesting and possibly worth pursuing but planning and presentation need improvement	On the whole, attractive and worth pursuing; a business concept with great potential, good prospects for success, and a convincing presentation	On the whole, highly attractive and persuasive in all main aspects; a business concept with great potential, excellent prospects for success, and an exciting presentation
Total Score – 150 is perfect