Business Plan Session

The business plan session gives presenters constructive advice on their plans (whether early or late stage) from established experts during a friendly and supportive round table discussion.

Bring a few questions you’d like addressed, whether about your business strategy, intellectual property position, management needs, marketing or distribution plans, whatever would help you progress your business or idea to the next level.

After you've registered to present we'll ask for a short summary. This could include background on your unique edge, market leading position, team/partners, intellectual property, business strategy, products/services to be developed, investment needed, equity on offer, and timeframe for delivery and exit, but leave out any details that could be confidential.

Panel

We provide a panel of investment, financial, legal & business experts who can give you detailed, real-world feedback on your plans.

Schedule

At our meetings, we assemble a group of typically about 5-7 advisors with interests and expertise in the field, they convene first to discuss the agenda and summaries. Each presenter or team meets individually with the panel, presenting for ~5 minutes each, followed by ~30 minutes of round-table discussion. People are also welcome to give a 1 minute pitch for free. The networking sessions provide opportunities to follow up with individual advisors.

Microsite and Video

Presenters may be profiled on the Science Capital website (if interested please let us know, we'll need a pic and a mini-bio). If you wish, we can arrange for a video-taped interviewed to be produced to get your message across.

Focus

The panel provides feedback to individuals or teams who may have developed intellectual property and initial funding for commercial development of their work, and are looking for expert guidance at vulnerable or critical stage of translating their research into solutions for the market.

Suggestions for presenting your plan:

  1. Focus on the business offering, not the details of the science or technology.
  2. You do not need to reveal the nature of your intellectual property, instead focus on its application, market and value. CDAs can be signed by the panel members on request.
  3. Turn complexity into plain English and accessible images. Avoid intellectual terms, jargon and abstraction. Instead, give specific examples and explain.
  4. Don’t read your talk. Notes are ok.
  5. Rehearse beforehand to get the timing, clarity and impact right.
  6. Don't pack in too many slides.
  7. A succinct line of text and single graphic image or video communicates better than packed paragraphs or crowded collages.
  8. Avoid slides which consist of only a headline and list of bullet-points. Use no more than 5 lines of text.
  9. Keep a clear surrounding margin around text for increased legibility.
  10. Sans-serif fonts (e.g. Helvetica) are easier to read at a distance than serif fonts (e.g. Times New Roman).
  11. Use a simple background that enhances the readability of your text.
  12. For data graphs or charts, be sure to use text font size that can be read from the back of a lecture room, including labels on x- and y-axes and data points.
  13. Be prepared to ask for advice - the investors, entrepreneurs, legal, business and financial experts have been there before and are prepared to help offer practical real world insights.
  14. Email your PPT file to us beforehand so that we can ensure technical compatibility. You may bring your own flash drive, computer, cable and adapter, and demonstration products. Please arrive in advance of your talk.

Questions? Contact us