Monday, June 30, 2014

Keep a High Profile

The main problem that every new startup eventually faces is the issue of funding. This just might be the biggest challenge that any entrepreneur faces, and a good company profile is crucial to getting the attention of investors. But how do you write a company profile that will intrigue investors and engage them to take action afterwards? The key to this question is to speak the “language” of the investors. Getting in their heads and thinking the way they do will take all the guess work out of the process. Here are a few tips on how to do that.

Be clear on what you’re doing

A common mistake entrepreneurs make is to not clearly state the problem they are solving in their respective marketplace. They'll talk about the features of the product and get romantically lost in their own brilliance instead of emphasizing the benefits of their solution, who it helps, and how it will help them. Be very explicit about the problem you are tackling, and state exactly how you plan to solve it. 

Don't confuse me with details

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of putting too much information in their company profile. Overwhelming an investor with tons of useless information will get you nowhere fast. An investor’s time and attention span is very short early on in the game. Limit your profile to the highlights emphasizing the points that make you stand out. Hit hard and lead with your biggest benefits without getting too wordy. Use words, sentences and paragraphs that are short and clear. Long words and technical jargon will make you seem pompous and disconnected. Your potential investors may not know a thing about your industry, so burdening them with words they don't understand is a sure way to lose their attention. So KISS also works for company profiles. Keep It Short and Simple

Speak on your biggest assets - you and your team

A typical startup company scrambles to maximize the effectiveness of the few tangible assets it has. One of the strongest assets of an early-stage startup is the team. A strong team is a valuable selling tool. Talk about your qualifications, skills, experience and background. Your team and what they bring is one of the first things investors will look at. They want the confidence that you can take their investment and turn it into the next big exit. You are your company, your company is you.

So these are three key points that you need to address when writing your company profile. If you don't have the time to invest in this between development, marketing, biz dev, administration and the thousands of other tasks occupying your mind, you can outsource it to a professional copywriter. These web content providers specialize in writing services that can be targeted to different audiences (e.g. investors vs. users), but nonetheless, it's important for you to stay deeply involved in the process. Nobody can tell your story better than you.


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