- What should you look for in a venture capitalist?
- What is the best way to submit a plan to PTV? Would an introduction help?
- What do you need to evaluate my business?
- What is your decision-making process?
- How long does it take to make an investment decision?
What should you look for in a venture capitalist? 
Look for a partner - someone who you feel comfortable with and want to work with. This is a long-term relationship and the venture firm you choose should be capable of growing with you, not only financially but culturally and within the context of your business.
What is the best way to submit a plan to PTV? Would an introduction help?
Since we receive many plans a week, an introduction from a trusted source, industry colleague or portfolio company would certainly be of benefit. We work with many law firms, management consultants and accounting firms that are excellent conduits into our offices. We prefer to receive business plans by email: info@ptv.com.
What do you need to evaluate my business?
To get over the first hurdle and be in a position to present your full plan to us, we need an executive summary. This should be clear, concise and give us a complete thumbnail sketch of the opportunity. There are many successful formats but the shorter the better (without loss of content). Some things we definitely need to know are:
- What do you sell and to whom?
- Why do your customers need this?
- What is the core technology?
- Who do you worry about in terms of competition?
- Who is the team - why this team? (Include resumes of the key team members)
- Why this team/company/product now?
- How big is the addressable market?
- How will you win customers, how much will it cost and how you will reach them?
- What is your unfair advantage?
- What does the current capitalization look like?
- What milestones have you reached so far? What do you hope to accomplish with this round of financing?
What is your decision-making process?
We will get back to you quite quickly. The decision process is very simple - if we are intrigued by the summary we will ask you for a meeting. Our due diligence process however, is quite thorough - if we decide to move forward after the first meeting, we will start talking to customers, suppliers, partners etc. We will have the technology velted through several different avenues. If things look good, you will then be asked to meet with us again, this time with most of our investing team present. If we decide to proceed with the investment, we will submit a term sheet. A term sheet indicates that we expect to make the deal, barring any legal obstacles. Unlike some other firms, we submit a term sheet only after the vast majority of our due diligence is finished.
How long does it take to make an investment decision?
The process generally takes between four and eight weeks. This depends heavily on the organisation of the information flow from you to us and how quickly certain external experts and resources can be mobilised.