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Since bumping into you on the web, your tips have been helpful with sending me in the right direction.   And most recently even assisted me in another source of income thanks to you. Together we will succeed!  
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PersonalDevelopmentSuccess.net
Auburn, WA

“Adam is the kind of Manager that gets the job done. From the moment I met him I beleived him to be a powerhouse. He has confidence and direction. He he is goal oriented and stays focused and on task. I would be proud to have Adam working with me on any project. He has good ethics and moral character.”

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“Adam's business acumen is plainly obvious after spending just a few moments engaged in conversation. He has accumulated a range of skills through his extensive, high-level business experiences uncommon at his age. If you want to work with a serious business superstar, then take a close look at Adam because he can dramatically impact any venture in a positive way.”

Julie Brumlik, Dremu.com

“If you're looking for an innovative and bright person to do business with, two words about Adam: "Do It." Among other things, I've had Adam speak to my business students when I was teaching at a local college and he not only was inspiring to them, but it's evident that Adam is a true entrepreneur at heart.”

Brian Collins, President, The Brainstorm Institute

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Heather Stearns, Technical Writer, Orlando Utilities Commissionts
 
“Adam is a brilliant marketer and entrepreneur, with the ability to tackle a wide variety of tasks across multiple roles. A quick learner and a master networker, Adam's impressive skills will no doubt lead to a bright future in his business career.”

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Gary S. Mezo Nanobiotech

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Steven J. Miguel, CEO, Design2Keys

Your writing is well written and down to earth.  It is good to know you come from a middle-class family.  Gives us hope.  You are a superb example of success.  Thus, with your eloquent writing and sharing your personal experiences, I am indebted to you for the advice and your friendship. Thanks for your friendship and continued help.  Perhaps someday I will know success.  Hopefully I will become a successful entrepreneur...  I will have you, partly, to thank for it.  :)

John Cambell
Future Robotics Mogul

Just a quick note to let you know I appreciate the advise, tips, strategies, freebies, recommendations and insight you've provided to me over the last few months I've been on your list.

I don't know what it is exactly, but certain people I instinctively know I want to white list in my email account.  It's probably a combination of things - like not sending me three sales pitch messages a day (or even one a day, every darn day), or not getting the same message multiple times the same day because the sender doesn't use a duplicate remover software, or maybe its just the lack of hype.

Whatever it is, I white listed you soon after reading a message or two from you AND I also have archived most of your instructional messages for future reference.  Keep it up!

Russ Guthrie
Las Vegas, NV


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Dennis Murphy
Marketing Consultant


Keep teaching because I love learning!!!

Nick Biagi
Vice President
BCProcessing

« Raising capital? Two sweet resources for writing business plans and executive summaries | Main | Top 10 takeaways from the TiE Florida Event: "Venture Capital Current & Future Trends" »
Monday
06Jul2009

How to use LinkedIn to prospect investors and raise capital for your startup business

A question posted by a member of one of the venture capital groups I belong to on LinkedIn inspired this post.

1. Have a well-written, 1-2 page executive summary that a high school student could easily comprehend. Include a tight, high impact 1-3 sentence "blurb" at beginning of the summary that will grab the reader's attention immediately.

2. Have your business plan in presentation form ready to go just in case you get a hot lead.

Learn how to "fix your pitch" using the outline and tips in this great article on Guy Kawasaki's blog written by his colleague Bill Reichert from Garage Technlogy Ventures.

3. Then, use LinkedIn's advanced search feature to filter out investors or firms that may already be investing in what you're pitching, and are likely to offer the type of financing you're seeking.

(Nothing would annoy me more as an investor than being contacted by someone with a pitch that is of no interest to me...especially if had that someone done their homework, would have known better.)

4. BEFORE you make contact, visit each prospective investor's website(s) if available and learn as much as you can about what kind of deals they invest in and how they prefer to be contacted.

5. Direct connections are tough and take an elegant approach. Referrals from a trusted source are always preferable for contacting prospective investors cold. Their attorneys and the founders of companies the prospective investor has invested in previously make excellent referring parties. Take the time to do the appropriate research and you will be rewarded with positive results.

6. Always follow up with potential leads as many times as necessary and be courteous and gracious to whomever helps you with additional information along the way.

7. Finally, if you're dealing with professional investors make sure you don't make any rookie mistakes like asking for an NDA. These folks quite possibly are reviewing tens if not hundreds of business plans each week and can not possibly assume the liability caused by signing an NDA.

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