Venture Capital

VENTURE CAPITAL PROPOSALS

In order to best ensure that a proposal will be seriously considered by venture capital organizations, an entrepreneur should furnish several basic elements. After beginning with a statement of purpose and objectives, the proposal should outline the financing arrangements requested, i.e., how much money the small business needs, how the money will be used, and how the financing will be structured. The next section should feature the small business's marketing plans, from the characteristics of the market and the competition to specific plans for getting and keeping market share.

A good venture capital proposal will also include a history of the company, its major products and services, its banking relationships and financial milestones, and its hiring practices and employee relations. In addition, the proposal should include complete financial statements for the previous few years, as well as pro-forma projections for the next three to five years. The financial information should detail the small business's capitalization—i.e., provide a list of shareholders and bank loans—and show the effect of the proposed project on its capital structure. The proposal should also include biographies of the key players involved with the small business, as well as contact information for its principal suppliers and customers. Finally, the entrepreneur should outline the advantages of the proposal—including any special and unique features it may offer—as well as any problems that are anticipated.

If, after careful investigation and analysis, a venture capital organization should decide to invest in a small business, it then prepares its own proposal. The venture capital firm's proposal would detail how much money it would provide, the amount of stock it would expect the small business to surrender in exchange, and the protective covenants it would require as part of the agreement. The venture capital organization's proposal is presented to the management of the small business, and then a final agreement is negotiated between the two parties. Principal areas of negotiation include valuation, ownership, control, annual charges, and final objectives.

The valuation of the small business and the entrepreneur's stake in it are very important, as they determine the amount of equity that is required in exchange for the venture capital. When the present financial value of the entrepreneur's contribution is relatively low compared to that made by the venture capitalists—for example, when it consists only of an idea for a new product—then a large percentage of equity is generally required. On the other hand, when the valuation of a small business is relatively high—for example, when it is already a successful company—then a small percentage of equity is generally required. It is quite normal for venture capital firms to value a company at below the valuation the company has for itself. It is best if the small business looking for venture capital prepare for such an outcome.

The percentage of equity ownership required by a venture capital firm can range from 10 percent to 80 percent, depending on the amount of capital provided and the anticipated return. But most venture capital organizations want to secure equity in the 30-50 percent range so that the small business owners still have an incentive to grow the business. Since venture capital is in effect an investment in a small business's management team, the venture capitalists usually want to leave management with some control. In general, venture capital organizations have little or no interest in assuming day-to-day operational control of the small businesses in which they invest. They have neither the technical expertise or managerial personnel to do so. But venture capitalists usually do want to place a representative on each small business's board of directors in order to participate in strategic decision-making.

Many venture capital agreements include an annual charge, typically 2-3 percent of the amount of capital provided, although some firms instead opt to take a cut of profits above a certain level. Venture capital organizations also frequently include protective covenants in their agreements. These covenants usually give the venture capitalists the ability to appoint new officers and assume control of the small business in case of severe financial, operating, or marketing problems. Such control is intended to enable the venture capital organization to recover some of its investment if the small business should fail.

The final objectives of a venture capital agreement relate to the means and time frame in which the venture capitalists will earn a return on their investment. In most cases, the return takes the form of capital gains earned when the venture capital organization sells its equity holdings back to the small business or on a public stock exchange. Another option is for the venture capital firm to arrange for the small business to merge with a larger company. The majority of venture capital arrangements include an equity position, along with a final objective that involves the venture capitalist selling that position. For this reason, entrepreneurs considering using venture capital as a source of financing need to consider the impact a future stock sale will have on their own holdings and their personal ambition to run the company. Ideally, the entrepreneur and the venture capital organization can reach an agreement that will help the small business grow enough to provide the venture capitalists with a good return on their investment as well as to overcome the owner's loss of equity.

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