Services

What I Can Do For You

Having built several companies of my own, I have gained hands on experience in virtually all aspects of a starting up a business.
Whether you need help in carrying out market and/or FTO analyses, writing a convincing business plan or acquiring capital for your project, I can save you a good deal of work. Once your company has been founded, I can assist you in implementing an effective project management system, building and leading a successful team, analysing, negotiating and/or concluding all kind of contracts, planning/organizing marketing and sales and many more things.

From Idea To Strategy

Turning a good idea into value is rarely an easy task. Besides enthusiasm you need sense of reality, creativity, persistence, and of course also a bit of luck. Certain steps in this process can be planned, yet there is no general recipe for success. To find an effective strategy, you could resort to try and error but in most cases it is better to rely on experience to avoid mistakes and significantly increase the chances of success.
It therefore makes sense to seek professional advice. But this is anything but trivial if you have no prior experience in these matters. Whether you need a controller for putting together a financial plan for your project, or a patent attorney to do a freedom-to-operate analysis, or a marketing specialist for devising a sales strategy, the selection of competent experts per se is not an easy task. If you choose the wrong experts (something that unfortunately often becomes apparent only in retrospect) or fail to coordinate their work in a meaningful way, this will cost valuable time (as well as money and nerves). In particular, it is generally not advisable to go with experts outside your field of specialty as they often don’t under¬stand the technological basis of your project and can therefore be misled to make wrong assumptions.
Wouldn’t it be better to cooperate with someone with an education in your field of specialty and a proven track record of solving similar problems? Someone who is knowledgable both in science and in business and disposes of an established network of trusted experts? Someone who has acquired more than 20 million EUR for his own companies and for the startup teams he has been coaching? Contact me today and find out whether I could be the right coach for your project, too.

Business Plan

Unless you are a millionaire already or count one or more rich individuals to your close relatives, a business plan will likely be the most important document you will need to prepare in order to acquire funding for your project. During my career, I have written many business plans and assessed many more as a juror in various business plan contests.
To write a good business plan (BP) from scratch, you should, as a rule of thumb, calculate 0,5 to 1 man-years. In order to convince investors of the merits of your project, your BP must provide plausible answers to the following questions (in descending order of importance): Why should an investor trust you and your team more than others? Can you name customers who would be willing to pay for your products and/or services? How will your product(s)/service(s) help them? And why will your customers trust you? What is your plan and how much will it cost to conquer the market? How much money will you make both short and long term? How do you plan to beat your major competitors? Do you have all the necessary rights to offer your product(s) and/or service(s)? What could jeopardize the success of your business?

As there is a number of potential serious pitfalls (see USEFUL), it is highly recommendable to seek professional advice when writing a BP – especially if it is the first time.

Finances & Financing

Experienced investors tend to invest in people rather than in product ideas. A good track record of you or your team will therefore help a lot to get funding.

However, it is equally important to find the right investors for your project. They should (i) have similar companies in their portfolio so that you can profit from their experience (or maybe from possible synergies), (ii) have realized exits within the last 2 years, (iii) operate with a time horizon that is compatible with your planned exit.

Presentation Skills

With a good teaser and a well written BP you will likely be able to generate initial interest among your target audience. In order to convert interest into a decision to invest in your project, it takes quite a bit more than that. Now it’s up to you to convince people that you not only have the necessary skills to make your project a success but you are also ready to put in everything you can to achieve your goals. In other words: it’s showtime and you should prepare your center-stage appearance well. In training sessions I can help you to get your audience „on the hook“ by using simple techniques.

IP & Licensing

Intellectual Property (IP) rights have gained more and more importance as a kind of „world currency“ in the high tech field. At the same time, it has become increasingly difficult to navigate one’s way through a veritable minefield of existing patents and published prior art. The two most critical questions for a high tech startup are therefore whether it will be possible to obtain and defend patent rights that are broad enough to provide sufficient protection for its business in the relevant markets, and whether or not one has freedom to operate (and what can be done to secure any required licenses).

Marketing & Sales

As good as your product(s) and/or service(s) may be, you still need to identify, approach and convince prospective customers to buy whatever you have to offer, a task which many startups tend to seriously underestimate. I can assist you in doing market research, identifying suitable multipliers, establishing a distributor network and planning and managing a product pipeline. Other critical points for a successful marketing of your product(s) and/or service(s) are finding the best format for maximum customer benefit and adequate pricing. In this context, it is important to know your competitors and to adjust your marketing strategy to best cope with their offerings.

Team

Time after time, it has been shown that even mediocre products can be turned into a success with the right people. Very rarely will a revolutionary product be successful on the market unless it is pushed forward by a determined and focused team. So one of the first hurdles to overcome when starting up is building a strong and stable team.
Besides professional competency, there are many more factors that make up a good team: commitment, loyalty, mutual respect and the willingness to constantly learn and improve the status quo. It is equally important to agree on a team structure early on to define the roles of each individual member (both in terms of his/her operative responsibilities and his/her share of the company). In addition, one must ensure sufficient communication regarding both the common long term goals and the day-to-day work. In addition, a good team will also admit possible deficiencies and accept external advice or be open to new additions that can remedy any shortcomings.