Michael S.

Before engaging me, ask the hard question: "Are we confident investors will see our opportunity as bankable?" After years of working with startups and early stage founders.., from investor book to company structure, and financials, I often see a common thread: founders have an investor-readiness problem. In other words, the perception of investability doesn't create investment quality. This distinction defines my consulting services: I must engage like a COO to understand the business, then apply my experience in capital markets by thinking like an investor and knowing what they will want to see to consider the deal. Before recommending deliverables, I will understand whether your business is prepared for institutional capital, and if it isn't, what gaps are likely to concern experienced investors. Sometimes those gaps are strategic. Sometimes they're financial. Sometimes they're operational. In my experience, quite often, they involve a combination of all three. Institutional fundraising "readiness" is where a business is going to withstand investor scrutiny or fall short. Investors are remarkably consistent in the questions they ask, even as industries, technologies, and markets evolve. They want to understand why your business matters, why and how it can succeed, whether or not your team is capable of executing the plan, and why the proposed use of capital creates a compelling investment opportunity. Investors are evaluating you on "commercial evidence", testing your financial assumptions, assessing your operating plan, then considering execution risk, market position, and, almost without exception, forming opinions about the founders themselves: their experience, judgment, credibility, and ability to execute. If your objective is simply to format or decorate slides, there are many talented presentation designers on Upwork who specialize in exactly that work. If your objective is to better understand how experienced investors are likely to evaluate your business before significant time and resources are committed to due diligence..., this is where my consulting practice begins. If my approach makes sense and you'd like to discuss your business, I'd be pleased to schedule an introductory conversation. Mike