Region Director
Northern California SBDC Network
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Attended year-long Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy (while a student at UC Davis)
Worked in several start-up high-growth companies in the sporting goods industry
Worked at Nike in sales and marketing
Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Center Director in Eureka 2003-2005
Northern CA SBDC Region Director 2006 – present. Region includes 10 SBDCs, territory = Monterey to the OR border.
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Have written/assisted others in writing dozens of
business plans
Have reviewed/critiqued hundreds of business plans
Have secured angel capital and venture capital for
my own businesses and others’
What I look for in a business plan
Realistic financial plan… what are growth projections based upon? Is growth financing adequate? Are start-up costs realistic? Are capital infusions well-timed?
Adequate assessment of risks… is the entrepreneur being realistic?
Is the entrepreneur invested… either personal money, length of time working for very little money, willing to sign a personal guarantee? In my opinion, the entrepreneur HAS TO be personally invested.
Is
there a realistic view of ownership as the company
grows? In other words, is the entrepreneur willing to give
up some of the ownership in exchange for capital? If not, don’t
waste investors’ time.