Press Release: “How to Finance a High-Tech Start-Up”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Video Helps High-Tech Entrepreneurs Get Money
“How to Finance a High-Tech Start-Up”

AUSTIN, TX – March 22, 2004 – Chanimal.com, a well-known high-tech industry resource for software marketing, has released a new video for high-tech entrepreneurs called, “How to Finance a High-Tech Start-Up.”  Within 55 minutes, containing over 126 separate comments, an entrepreneur will see and hear how to finance his start-up directly from leading angel investors, venture capitalist and CEO’s that have raised millions to finance high-tech start-up companies. The comments are frank, honest and fresh—providing relevant tips that could prove invaluable in getting a start-up financed in today’s 2004 economy.

When asked why he created this video, the president of Chanimal.com, Ted Finch, replied, “Within my consulting practice I talk with hundreds of early start-ups and their number one question is ‘How do I get funding.’ I can answer some of their questions, but not all. For this I wanted to turn to the experts, and what better experts than the investors themselves. What better way to learn than to have investors talk to you directly.”

There are plenty of books on the subject, but this video allows you to “see and hear” from the investors themselves and get a “feel” for what it will take to enlist these people as partners. The video helps take the fear of the unknown out of the financing process.

“Most entrepreneurs make the same mistakes time and again; such as having poor presentations, incomplete business plans, and a lack of market understanding. Many entrepreneurs have no idea what a VC “must see” to invest. This video covers all these topics and more. It is refreshingly personal and also relevant to 2004,” says Rod Favaron, CEO of a venture-backed company that has recently obtained over $20 million in VC financing.

New entrepreneurs will learn the stages of funding and what is expected at each stage; how to write a complete, yet concise business plan that will catch an investor’s attention and lead to the initial meeting; what investors look for in terms of the management team, the market, and concept; how to give a winning presentation, and most importantly, how to sell your “next” meeting; what questions to ask VC’s that you are considering as investment partners; things to look for in a term sheet; how much time to expect for each stage of funding, according to what kind of investor; alternative funding, including government grants and the 504b; plus more.

Existing entrepreneurs, who may have gone through the finance process a few years ago, will learn what has changed since then. They will either hear validation of their previous approach or important corrections, and they may learn new ideas that will help them get funding even quicker.

Jean Belanger, a successful CEO, VC, and angel investor, and one of the video participants, remarks, “I would love to talk to every entrepreneur personally, and tell them exactly what I need to see as an investor. But I can’t spend the time to educate them all. This video allows me to explain exactly what investors need to see. An entrepreneur could fare much better in the finance process by watching this video.”

The select group of participants includes a cross-section of boutique and regional investors, large national investment capitalists, angel investors, and experts in alternative methods of financing. It also includes practical advice from CEOs who have successfully taken their companies through the investment process.

Included in the roundup are also two authors: Steve Wagh, author of “The CEO Handbook – The Pocket Guide for Startup CEOs,” and Rob Adams, the author of “A Good Hard Kick in the A_ _ – Basic Training for Entrepreneurs.”

The video can be ordered on VHS, DVD, CD-ROM (Windows Media 9.0 format), and as a special DVD/CD-ROM combo. It lists for $99 but is available for $39.95 ($49.95 for the DVD/CD-ROM combo) during the product introduction. A $19.95 audio-only version is also available for download in MP3 format.

In addition, the video is available in a streaming format within a password-protected user-hosted website for a modest one-time fee of $199—perfect for VCs wishing to educate their visitors before an initial meeting, or for a college who wishes to make it available to students, or alumni entrepreneurs.

The video is sold directly from the Chanimal.com website at www.chanimal.com/video and is expected to be available soon through select online merchants.

The video is licensed for personal, business, educational, and public performance (it can be shown to a large or small group, or within college classrooms), but it cannot be distributed electronically or broadcast without specific permission.

Some alliances are bundling a special edition (SE) that is only 32 minutes, instead of 55 minutes. The first bundle is available immediately as a special offer with the 4th edition of, “The Product Marketing Handbook for Software,” by Merrill R. Chapman at www.aegis-resources.com.

 

About Chanimal.com

Chanimal.com was founded 9 years ago by Ted Finch to help start-ups and large high-tech companies become more market-driven. Over the last 22 years, Mr. Finch has been a Vice President at GE, Motorola, Harcourt, Metrowerks, Goldmine, Virtus (which helped with the start-up Red Storm Entertainment with noted author, Tom Clancy), and a founder and VP at Technology Advancement Group—a startup that grew from 13 to over 4,000 people. He has helped launch over 400 products for over 150 vendors (including Microsoft, HP, Corel, IBM, WordPerfect, Adobe, Aldus, Intel, Canon, Creative Labs, Franklin/Covey, Peachtree, DCA, Ashton-Tate, Autodesk, and more), has executed over 1 million promotions, gone through five acquisitions, helped raise over $27 million in financing from VC’s, angels, and corporations, and lead the marketing team that published Netscape Navigator, the #1 best-selling software product that inaugurated the .com era.

The video production was done by Videobackstage at www.videobackstage.com.

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