ePlan

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What are the benefits of ePlan?
There are numerous benefits to ePlan and reasons why ePlan can help you meet your financing goals:

Scalability & Cost-Effectiveness - With ePlan, you can reach more investors with less effort, less resources, and in less time.

Ideally, you would like to be able to meet personally with every potential investor, but there simply are not enough hours in the day, and the resources to do so are typically in short supply. Through ePlan, you have the ability to e-mail or send a CD of your presentation to any potential investor -- no need to spend hours on planes, in the car, or at initial screening meetings, no need to use your precious financial resources on get-to-know-you meetings that end up going nowhere. Instead, you are able to maximize your time and financial resources by effectively and inexpensively reaching many more investors than previously possible, and allowing them to view a video overview of your business at your and their convenience.

Investor Quality - With ePlan, you can invest your resources in investors with the highest potential.

When seeking capital, you want to invest your time and resources only with investors who have the highest likelihood of actually investing in your business. With ePlan, rather than needing to give every investor an initial presentation in person, they are able to see your presentation and your personality up front, in a professional format. By allowing potential investors to view a video of your presentation, you are able to save time and effectively pre-screen investors so when you actually meet in person, you know that the investors are truly interested.

Convenience - With ePlan, your presentation can be delivered and viewed anytime, anywhere.

Rather than needing to be in the same room at the same time with investors in order to deliver your business presentation, ePlan offers a dramatically more convenient way of connecting with investors. With your professionally recorded presentation in electronic format, you can deliver your presentation to anyone, anywhere, either via e-mail or by sending them a CD. Equally convenient for the investors, they can then view your presentation anywhere they have a computer, at their own leisure. The result? No more need to coordinate schedules for your initial presentation, and no geographical limits.

Best Impression - With ePlan you can make sure you put your best foot forward.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression and when you are dealing with investors, you always want to make a positive impression of yourself and your business. With ePlan, you are no longer on the spot up front. Through your pre-recorded ePlan video, you deliver a top-notch, professionally created presentation every single time. With so many variables that influence potential investors' decisions, ePlan allows you to make sure that this aspect is in the bag.

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What will the presentation look like?
The presentation is video-recorded using professional cameras, lighting, and editing equipment, with a podium and backdrop. For a sample presentation, click here.

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How does the process work?
After an appointment to film the ePlan presentation is set, the entrepreneur e-mails Joe Kremer his or her PowerPoint presentation slides, a .jpeg or .gif file of the company logo, and .pdf files of the executive summary and business plan (if you do not have Adobe software, you can create .pdf files online here). Prior to your arrival at the scheduled appointment time, WAN will set up the recording equipment. Upon arrival, WAN will conduct a lighting, video, and sound check with the entrepreneur. WAN will then video record the presentations (one 1-2 minute summary presentation, and one full-length --approximately 15 minutes -- presentation while the entrepreneur clicks through the slides at his or her own pace, just like giving a presentation in front of a normal audience. The presentation slides will be viewable next to the camera to help guide the entrepreneur through the presentation. After taping, WAN will format the presentation, create the CDs, and upload the presentation to WAN's server. The final product will be ready to ship within a week.

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Who can see my presentation online, and for how long?
Your ePlan presentation is hosted online at a randomly generated, non-intuitive web address, so your presentation will be viewable only to those with whom you share it. Additionally, the presentation will include a confidentiality statement, just like any other business plan. Further, as a part of ePlan, your presentation will also be available online on the Wisconsin Angel Network Deal Flow Pipeline to WAN investor-members. The presentation will be available online for six months.

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How long is the presentation? How much time will it take to film?
There will be two presentations. The first should be a 1-2 minute summary of the business. A template for this summary presentation is available here The full-length presentation should be approximately 15 minutes or less, and should be in WAN's standard format, available here. Entrepreneurs should be sufficiently prepared to successfully film the presentation in one take, so that the entrepreneur should be able to complete the process in about a half-hour. The finished product should be ready within a week.

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Where is the presentation recorded?
ePlan presentations are currently recorded at the Wisconsin Angel Network's Madison office.

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Will WAN help with developing the presentation and rehearsing?

In addition to using WAN’s standard presentation guide (summary guide available here), the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Network (WEN) is a great resource for developing and refining your presentation. For the scheduled filming time with WAN, Entrepreneurs should be prepared to film the presentation in one take.

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What's required on my part? Items to bring along, dress guidelines, filming requirements, presentation slides?

What you need to do:
- Set up an appointment to video tape your presentation -- we'll allocate 90 minutes together, but if you are able to tape both the short "elevator pitch" and full-length presentation in less than 90 minutes, that's fine, too
- Practice, practice, practice -- get your presentations ready to the point where you feel prepared to nail your presenation on the first try
- E-mail Joe Kremer your powerpoint slides, your company logo, and .pdf files of your business plan, contact information, and executive summary
- On the day of the taping, dress well and bring along a back-up copy of your files, just in case.
- Relax, smile, and record your presentation with enthusiasm!

Attire -- First, dress appropriately and ready to be filmed. The video may be the first time investors will see you, so dress as though you are actually presenting in front of live investors –be sure to give the best first impression possible. As some rules of thumb, avoid red and all-white outfits, as it can appear jarring on camera; bold stripes can appear to vibrate; and light blue or lavender colors (i.e. light blue shirts without a darker jacket) may appear to blend into the light blue backdrop. Generally speaking, business attire is appropriate.

Naturally, entrepreneurs should dress conservatively and neatly, with nice haircuts, and clean-shaven faces or well-trimmed beards for men. Also please note that the set will be lighted. For references, the evening news may provide some ideas on appearance in front of the camera.

Props -- If you have a small prop, like a widget or device you are selling, you may bring it along. However, to best show off the product, it is likely better to have pictures or diagrams in the PowerPoint presentation and explain them, rather than to solely hold up the product for the video camera –the camera will be stationary and will not be able to show detailed close-ups like a PowerPoint slide would. Also, please note for technology reasons, it is best to use low-resolution pictures in your presentation.

Computer files -- Prior to your filming date, e-mail Joe Kremer a copy of your presentation, company logo, and .pdf files of your executive summary and business plans (if you do not have Adobe software, you can create .pdf files online here), but also bring along a CD or flash drive with your presentation as a backup. As mentioned before, it is best to use low-resolution pictures in your presentation. Also, the PowerPoint slides should use a basic cut/transition between slides (i.e. no fading, sweeping slides, checkerboard transitions, etc). "Fancy" transitions will look choppy when recorded and therefore will not be used. Also, slides are best with dark fonts and a light background so that the slides are easy to read.

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What is included in ePlan and what is the cost?
The ePlan service package includes:

Professional quality video recording of your business presentation, digitally syncedwith your presentation slides (two presentations: summary and full-length)
Presentation formatting
Secure online version of your presentation along with unique web address to e-mail to prospective investors
5 auto-run mini CDs with your business plan presentation, executive summary, business plan, and contact information
Access to investor-members of the Wisconsin Angel Network
All for the current price of $495

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What times or days of week can I record my presentation with WAN?
Contact the Wisconsin Angel Network to schedule an appointment.

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Frequently Asked Questions