Canonical Checklist of SequoiaCap.com

We would enjoy learning about your business and considering it for venture capital funding. It’s easy to reach us. Email or call. Have a mutual acquaintance connect us. Before you send your business plan ideas please read the Elements of Sustainable Companies and Writing A Business Plan.

 start@sequoiacap.com

(Do not submit any information or other materials that you consider to be confidential or proprietary. Because of the large number of business plans and related materials that we review, and the similarity of many such plans and materials, we cannot accept responsibility for protecting against misuse or disclosure of any confidential or proprietary information or other materials in the absence of our express written agreement to do so.)

Elements of Sustainable Companies

Start-ups with these characteristics have the best chance of becoming enduring companies. We like to partner with start-ups that have:

Clarity of Purpose

Summarize the company’s business on the back of a business card.

Large Markets

Address existing markets poised for rapid growth or change. A market on the path to a $1B potential allows for error and time for real margins to develop.

Rich Customers

Target customers who will move fast and pay a premium for a unique offering.

Focus

Customers will only buy a simple product with a singular value proposition.

Pain Killers

Pick the one thing that is of burning importance to the customer then delight them with a compelling solution.

Think Differently

Constantly challenge conventional wisdom. Take the contrarian route. Create novel solutions. Outwit the competition.

Team DNA

A company’s DNA is set in the first 90 days. All team members are the smartest or most clever in their domain. “A” level founders attract an “A” level team.

Agility

Stealth and speed will usually help beat-out large companies.

Frugality

Focus spending on what’s critical. Spend only on the priorities and maximize profitability.

Inferno

Start with only a little money. It forces discipline and focus. A huge market with customers yearning for a product developed by great engineers requires very little firepower.

Writing a Business Plan

We like business plans that present a lot of information in as few words as possible. The following business plan format, within 15-20 slides, is all that’s needed:

Company Purpose

• Define the company/business in a single declarative sentence.

Problem

• Describe the pain of the customer (or the customer’s customer).
• Outline how the customer addresses the issue today.

Solution

• Demonstrate your company’s value proposition to make the customer’s life better.
• Show where your product physically sits.
• Provide use cases.

Why Now

• Set-up the historical evolution of your category.
• Define recent trends that make your solution possible.

Market Size

• Identify/profile the customer you cater to.
• Calculate the TAM (top down), SAM (bottoms up) and SOM.

Competition

• List competitors
• List competitive advantages

Product

• Product line-up (form factor, functionality, features, architecture, intellectual property).
• Development roadmap.

Business Model

• Revenue model
• Pricing
• Average account size and/or lifetime value
• Sales & distribution model
• Customer/pipeline list

Team

• Founders & Management
• Board of Directors/Board of Advisors

Financials

• P&L;
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow
• Cap table
• The deal