Texas Entrepreneur Network (TEN) Infographic -- TEN Funding Portal

The TEN Funding Portal helps entrepreneurs raise funding.  We help get the business ready, the investor documents ready, and the campaign ready.  The program helps any company at any stage raising capital.  If the startup business is ready to go then we focus on putting the documents together.  We focus on the executive summary, the pitch deck, and the five year financials together.  If the startup has a 50-page business plan, we’ll use it, but if not, then we’re probably not going to write one, because most investors aren’t reading it. 

For the campaign we look for a 2-minute pitch video. Those with pitch videos get 2x the viewership over those that do not.  We ask the startup to script out the video and send it to us in advance of making the video. Ninety percent of the time, we’re sending the pitch script back saying “this is a great product demo, now write one that tells the investor why he should invest.”  In general, the startup focuses on how the product works and not the broader picture of why the investor should put money in the deal. Investors go through the portals hitting the play button on the video.  They want the CEO to come up on the screen and in one minute or less tell us why he should invest in your business. 

I find in talking to entrepreneurs that they often has some key values in the business that make the opportunity compelling.  Those values are often buried down inside the executive summary but investors are not able to dig through and find it.  The startup has to put it out in front of them to make clear why someone should invest.

In running a campaign, the goal is to show movement and momentum in the deal. In my experience, investors are watching deals looking for signs of growth and activity. A carefully crafted campaign will give the investor a sense that the deal is making steady progress.  Going on the portal to raise funding is tantamount to going on stage in front of an audience.  You now have their attention. You must have something to say when you have it. 

The campaign program is similar to an investor relations campaign.  The startup is showing its progress on a regular basis to prospective investors.  Some startups invite TEN to continue the reporting to their investors after the fund raise is over.