The Battle Begins...
Do you need to find funding for your company? Then you need a strategic plan of attack! Make no mistake, raising capital is a process! To succeed, you're going to need to strategically out-think everyone, be emotionally resilient, brilliantly creative and totally prepared! Before an investor will even consider funding your company, they will scrutinize every detail of your business model, business plan and your total due diligence packet (in other words - your Strategic Battle PlanTM). Additionally, you must be able to speak the investor's language, justify every number in your financial projections, and respond to every question, suggestion and objection that they throw at you. Every aspect of your business must be explained and defendable. Then, you must learn how to passionately pitch investors and negotiate complicated and strategic deals while justifying your valuations and protecting your control. You must be better prepared than the rest - there's absolutely no room for weakness on these front lines! Very simply, either do it right or don't do it at all! Investors have no tolerance for weakness, incompetency or delays! Only the true Prima WarriorsTM will survive this battle and go on to victory. So the question is: Are You Maverick Ready?TM
Veteran entrepreneur, leading business coach and CEO of Maverick Entrepreneurs LLC, Erica Drake takes you through a two-part proven approach to the process of raising capital for your privately held company. In Part I of her Battle Guide (Guide), she teaches you using diagrams and simple examples the Maverick Approach - an 8-Step method of systematically approaching the daunting task of raising capital.
These steps include:
- Mentally Prepare and Emotionally Commit
- Build your total Strategic Battle PlanTM - it's more than just a business plan
- Develop (or Fortify) Your Executive Team
- Create Value: Perception, Proof, Partnerships and Intellectual Property
- Review and Polish Your Due Diligence ChecklistTM - a comprehensive list of what you must have prepared and ready for review prior to seeking investors
- Prospect for Investors
- Pitch and Present to Investors
- Negotiate and Close the Deal
- The Investment Battlefield - all about corporate structuring, the different types of investors and how to close a deal while maintaining control
- Understanding Valuations - how to calculate and justify your own valuation
In Part II of the Guide, theory turns into action! Drake gives you a checklist of items you need to complete, with detailed templates to build each item of your Strategic Battle PlanTM.
- The 6-Key Business Model DiagramsTM, Business Plan and 5-Year Financial Projections
- Investor Presentation (Pitch Deck and Pitch CardTM)
- Your Elevator Pitch, Email Pitch and Tagline
Finally, Drake gives you sample investor questions and answers to prepare for your presentation, along with where to find 1,000's of real accredited investors to pitch and close your deal.
This easy-to-read Guide will become every entrepreneur's capital-raising manual. It is designed to groom you for each battle by teaching you to think strategically from the very beginning, coach you so you'll learn the right approach, and then give you the survival skills and strategies necessary to persevere to a successful outcome. You can raise the capital you need to make your dreams come true - you just need to start by following behind a seasoned warrior, who will teach you, lead you and tell you when to duck (until you get some combat experience of your own)!
Erica Drake is the Founder and CEO of Maverick Entrepreneurs LLC, an entrepreneurial platform that educates, trains and provides funding solutions to entrepreneurs of all stages of development. She is a pragmatic leader with over 20 years of executive-level, entrepreneurial and business advisor experience. Entrepreneurial Background. Ms. Drake's leadership career began in executive-level positions in sales and marketing in the travel industry. At the age of 29, Ms. Drake left her VP position with the cruise lines to become an entrepreneur where she raised millions of dollars for her companies' growth. Ms. Drake went on to develop innovative business models that revolutionized the travel/cruise industry. Her accomplishments include: closing national deals with every major travel supplier, including Disney; developing a national direct sales team, which closed $22M+ in sales and built a sales pipeline in excess of $175M+ within the first six months; and, recruitment, training, motivating and supporting of thousands of outside sales professionals. Consulting with Entrepreneurs on their Capital-Raising Quest. While raising funds for her own companies, Ms. Drake learned the language of investors and how to network with and close an investor prospect with mutually acceptable terms. Over the past 20 years, Ms. Drake has worked with top corporate and SEC legal and financial advisors, expanding her knowledge of strategic deal negotiations and financial modeling techniques. Ms. Drake fully understands the funding process and what it takes to close an investment transaction in today's market. As a result, she has successfully closed many multi-million dollar deals with investors, and spearheaded multiple funding negotiations for multi-million dollar projects, mergers and acquisitions for her clients. She is well respected by the investment community, and over the past two decades has developed an enviable worldwide network of thousands of highly respected investment contacts, including top executives and decision makers with institutional, private equity, VC, angel and hedge funds funding sources. To date, Ms. Drake has assisted her clients in bringing in terms sheets in excess of $200M. Ms. Drake has been consulting with entrepreneurs to assist in their capital-raising quests for the past decade. Ms. Drake is a graduate of the University of Paris - Sorbonne (Paris, France) and George Mason University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French.
