Without sounding too much like Donald Rumsfeld, I know what I know and I know what I don't know, but I don't know what I don't know. And the specific topic in this instance is "how to get capital into my business idea?".I know that I will need a strong business case. And I know what I think is "strong" but what is "strong"? Are the measures & details of "strong" universal? Do some VC's want to see detailed research or are others interested in the idea first & foremost.
I know I will need to find a "venture capitalist" of some kind and I know I don't know any directly. I also know they are not listed in the Yellow Pages under VC, Capitalists or Dragons Den. I also know I will not be going on the Dragons Den programme... its definitely not for me - too much publicity, and to be frank, not enough money for the type of thing I want to do (£500k wouldn't even touch the sides over the next 3 years!).
So where to begin my search... the only place I can - my contacts! I've been thinking about who I know and how could they possibly get me in touch with an experienced Venture Capitalist, and hope that the six degrees of separation will work for me.
I have a number of contacts I think will be good for me...
- My dad - he has a number of drinking buddies who are of very high net worth and work in The City. They might not be interested but they might know somebody that is...
- My cousin, Derek - he works in The City in M&A, so again he might know people, that know people.
- My old school friend, Scott - he works in Private Banking so will either be able to refer me to his bank's specific department or perhaps a person of high net worth that might have the interest, cash & skills to support this venture.
- My old university American Football chums - one of them is a stockbroker, so again he might know somebody; another works in a University commercialisation team and is therefore in touch with VC's constantly - thing is he's based outside of the UK!
- An old colleague - his dad is completely minted and might be able to help either with the cash or at least in the start up
- A friend's girlfriend - is a strong businesswoman, and has a high net worth. Again she may be an investor or point me in the direction of an investor
- A friend who's a patent attorney - he may know VC's through his day job, or at least companies who might be interested in supporting this type of venture.
So, at least that's a start, but before I get started with getting the begging bowl out, I still have to answer the question about building a strong business case.
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