SCREENING

Prior to screening, all prospective companies must apply to The New York Angels on Gust and complete a one page executive summary. Screening takes place once a month. At each screening meeting 8-12 companies will present for 15 minutes and 5 minutes of Q&A.

The objective of the screening presentation is to offer a high-level summary of the company that will excite investors and convince them that you should present to the entire membership. Slideshows with fewer than 20 slides are generally most effective. Use the limited time to emphasize the compelling factors about your investment opportunity and save unnecessary technology details for future meetings. The most compelling presentations answer the questions of what, why and who.

We strongly suggest putting your slides in the following order:

• Company Title Page - with the name and logo of the company, the name and title of your presenter, and a one-line description or tag line about the company.
• Business Overview - boiling down your elevator pitch to one or two short sentences or bullet points. Tell us what you sell or do in very concrete language, as this sets the context for the rest of your presentation.
• Management Team- talent & experience, with one line background on each member
• Market - what is the environment, how big is the addressable market, what are the pain points
• Product - How do you solve the pain, and what exactly do you do. This can be illustrated with a clear product or screen shot, or a simple process diagram, but if we don't know what you do, we won't know why we should fund you. If necessary, a brief demonstration or example may be appropriate.
• Business Model - who pays, how much, and from where.
• Customers - how many, who are they, distribution process
• Strategic Relationships - if you have any, make sure we know about them
• Competition - who and how threatening, what are differentiation factors. Remember that everyone has competition, even if it is just 'the old way' of doing something, and if you tell us that there isn't any, you are unlikely to get funded. Include both direct and indirect competitors.
• Barriers to Entry - how will other competitors be kept at bay
• Financial Overview - top line revenues and expenses, EBITDA, two years back and four years out. How long will cash last after this round?
• Potential for Business/Use of Proceeds - where will our money take you
• Capital Structure & Valuation - how much have you raised previously, who are your current investors, what are you looking for in this round, and how do you come to your suggested valuation
• Potential exits for business and industry comparables
• Summary - a review of your strongest features, narrowed to the five or six most important points, ending on a high note.