Investor Preparation

Londra appreciates the importance of investor meetings and is convinced that preparation is key to a funder progressing with an investment. More and more fund managers require a specific set of investor-facing documentation prior to even taking a meeting. Londra is experienced in assisting entrepreneurs (either actually writing or simply reviewing) with the following essential pieces of information and data.

• Business Plan – this can be a mammoth task, and can distract an entrepreneur away from his/her main task of building the business. Londra has written many plans and can undertake this work in a professional and affordable manner.
• Company Overview – often known as a “teaser”, or an investor-facing distillation of the Business Plan. Londra writes these documents as part of their offering within a standard business engagement.
• Financial Projections – once again, this is an essential part of the investment proposition. Londra make sure that the information is defensible, comprehensive, and in a style preferred by funders. EG, we find investors like quarterly cash flow and P&L extending 36 months from funding. Similarly the Use Of Funds is a key element in the investor’s decision making and must be carefully detailed.
• Powerpoint presentation – not all funders like this style of presentation but Londra believe that good PPTs can be used as a prompt and a storyboard that manages the investor proposition. We believe that these presentations should not be more than 20 slides long – preferably 10-15 – and mustn’t get bogged down in the technical offering! Investors want to know what they are getting for their money! Usually IPr, Management, Customers, Sales Pipeline, and a credible exit / ROI.
• Investor Presentation coaching – Londra know the people that you have to convince. We know the “hot buttons” of each investor. (All are different!) We can rehearse each presentation either at your offices or at our central London offices ahead of the meeting. We even serve excellent coffee!
• Confidentiality Agreement – Londra has a template document that covers all the Non Disclosure and other elements that offer protection regarding Customers, Financials, and other confidential information. This can be customized to suit the parties.
• Managing the Funding process – Londra will prepare a target investor spreadsheet for each customer. From this we will agree which parties should be approached, which should receive a Company Overview, which ones may require to sign a Confidentiality Agreement. Most of the targets will respond with an intention to progress or pass; if the former the next step is to prepare a date for a meeting. We try to arrange as many meetings on one day as possible, so as not to tie up too much management time. If the first meeting is successful, and the investor wishes to explore the opportunity further, we then proceed to manage the process through to funding. This means focussing on the most interested parties, and making sure that their aspirations meet those of the entrepreneur. (Note: Londra Ventures is not a regulated entity and cannot offer advice on Valuation or the shape of the investment deal. Londra will act to make sure that these elements are well communicated between the parties.)
• Strengthening Management – as part of Londra’s consultancy offering we may recommend that an early stage company strengthens its management team in a certain position. Londra has access to many IT professionals and may be able to actually bring in people to significantly strengthen the Board, and in turn the investment proposition.