During the introductory discussion, let them know that you will conduct a quick assessment that will ultimately be advantageous to both of you before making a choice. This is a great way to validate the venture and give your organisation peace of mind while also strengthening the relationship!
What makes you want to invest in a particular venture? You should clearly define the organisational goals and expected outcomes of this process before delving into the investment evaluation because, as you may recall, there is a significant initial investment of time, energy, and knowledge way before money is involved.
An important first step in establishing a formal relationship and assessing a venture's investment potential is the pitch. Although it could be tempting to just have a casual conversation with the founder, it's important to set a formal pitch date and time and adhere to it. By doing this, you are letting the team know that they need to be organised, which will establish the standard for working together in the event that you choose to move forward with the Rapid Investment Evaluation track.
After seeing the pitch, you've determined your venturing objectives and chosen to work with a specific startup on a fast investment evaluation process. What comes next? the sharing of information. Ask for as much information as you'll need in advance to ensure that the collaboration gets off to a good start, as gathering this information may take some time.
The primary goal of any endeavour should be learning. After some time, it ought to start making money. Building things correctly comes first when you start concentrating on earning. If learning is your primary goal, you will initially ask yourself what the best thing to build is. That's the kind of thinking we need. Since everyone has read Lean Startup but nobody is putting it into practice, we need to determine with objectivity whether or not this mindset is reflected in the way the startup is managed.
The venture maturity will determine how much time you spend in this phase. In an early-stage startup, you would typically invest a significant amount of time and resources in determining whether the chosen problem is truly worthwhile to solve. After the problem space has been examined, you can concentrate your efforts on figuring out whether the venture's planned solution effectively and scalable addresses the issue.
Things might not go well when it comes time for the valuation discussion. There isn't a "one right way" to do this, so consulting an expert is highly advised. The issue is that, although valuing established businesses with market capitalization and sales multiples is relatively simple, valuing startups is frequently more difficult and requires investment of both time and money.