Inside Entrepreneurship: A specific plan works best when courting VCs

Q: Our company has been around for 25 years, arranging boat and mortgage financing for our clients. Recently, we've been approached to help obtain venture financing for a startup condominium development project. I have a list of "The 100 Top Venture Capital Firms." Do we start by sending each fund an executive summary?

C. John Charters, Anacortes

A: Twenty-five years! That's impressive. I bet if you thought for a moment about your secrets of success, good time management might be high on your list.

Everyone always says raising money takes time. But it also takes common sense.

Approaching large funds seems reasonable on the surface. But in terms of results, sending an executive summary for real estate deals to a hundred or more mega venture funds is like going to a butcher to buy bananas. You'll walk away hungry until you target with a little more precision.

Here's what I mean. Accel Partners and 3i are two top funds. 3i invests in technology and specifically avoids construction, real estate, leasing, education, hotels and leisure industry deals. Accel invests in hardware, software, optics, semiconductors and communications companies but stays away from construction, real estate, retailing, food, natural resources and leasing deals.

You can save time by matching your client's industry and stage of development to a venture fund's investment criteria. And just as you won't likely persuade the butcher to start selling bananas, venture funds rarely if ever make exceptions to their investment focus.

Of your Top 100 list, I would guess less than five include startup real estate in their investment criteria. And it wouldn't surprise me if the real number were zero.

So why not real estate? While there is money to be made in real estate, the Top 100 funds typically look for companies that can sell their products or services in large, growing international markets. Investing in a single condo deal is too narrow to provide meaningful upside for a venture capitalist's dollar.

Another reason why traditional ventures funds avoid real estate is their own investors' criteria. Venture funds get their money from state and private pension funds, university endowments and other large financial institutions. When institutions want to invest in real estate, they typically turn to Real Estate Investment Trusts as well as other corporate real estate development firms, not venture funds with growth company investment expertise.

Here are a few more tips for targeting:

Top 100 funds usually don't fund startups because they need to deploy larger amounts of money per transaction. As such, Top 100 funds are generally looking for more established companies that need over $5 million.

Send your deal to the partner who specializes in your business area. Otherwise, your proposal might be too readily dismissed.

Large funds with high name recognition draw hundreds of new business plans each month. Improve your odds by turning to smaller funds with a regional investment scope.

My recommendation is for you to be a sleuth. Act like Sherlock Holmes and seek out angels and corporate investors that have an appetite for real estate development. Ask local real estate lawyers, real estate bankers, and commercial construction owners for referrals. Pay attention to other condo deals noting their sources of financial backing. As you network, build your own database of investors by industries of investment interest. This database will make it easier to manage future client requests for fund-raising assistance.

Here's one last recommendation. Check out the National Association of Security Dealer's Web site for current agent requirements. You may have to forfeit your entire commission if the NASD deems your work should have been performed by a registered representative. It's better to know the rules ahead of time.

Again, congratulations for 25 years of client devotion.

Susan Schreter writes about startup planning and small business financing for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She has an investment banking and buyout background and serves as a coach to entrepreneurs and consultant to corporations. Find more Inside Entrepreneurship columns at seattlepi.com/venture. Send questions about small business management or raising money for your business to susan@insideentrepreneurship.com or by mail to Inside Entrepreneurship, c/o Seattle Post-Intelligencer Business Section, 101 Elliott Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119.

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