• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Submissions
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Mar 25, 2023
  • Startup
    • Creating a Plan
    • Funding a Startup
    • Franchise Center
    • Getting Your Office Ready
    • Making Your Business Official
    • Marketing Your New Business
    • Personal Readiness
  • Run & Grow
    • Customer Service
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Legal
    • Operations
    • Risk Management
  • Leadership
    • Best Practices
    • Communication
    • Green Initiatives
    • Open Culture
    • Strategic Planning
    • People Skills
  • Sales & Marketing
    • Advertising and Lead Generation
    • Marketing Innovations
    • Marketing Plans
    • Online Marketing
    • Relationships
    • Sales Activities
  • Finance
    • Budgeting and Personal Finance
    • Payments and Collections
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Pricing Strategy
    • Working with Investors
    • Working with Lenders
  • Tech
    • eCommerce
    • Hardware
    • Software
    • Security
    • Tech Reviews
    • Telecom
  • Shop

SmallBizClub

Helping You Succeed

taxbandits banner
Home / Finance / Working with Investors / Can You Defend Your Plan & Not Be Defensive?
Can You Defend Your Plan & Not Be Defensive?

Can You Defend Your Plan & Not Be Defensive?

1313 Views

Jun 4, 2021 By Dave Berkus

When meeting with investors or even your board, during the period devoted to feedback after your presentation, you will hear comments and recommendations that don’t resonate with you. Some will be from a misunderstanding of your explanation. Some listeners will challenge your assumptions.  Some will seem to ask just plain show-off questions, in which the questioner wants you and others in the room to know that s/he knows more than you do.

Are you the plan’s salesperson?

You are in a vulnerable position in that room, the salesperson looking for money or approval to proceed with your plan before individuals who have nothing to lose but risky profits far in the future.  You cannot appear to be standoffish, or above responding to some of these inappropriate questions.

The right way to defend

Defend your position when appropriate. But listen carefully.   Although you may be completely right, the questioner’s comment may indicate that you are not getting your points across.  That’s just as valuable for feedback as hearing a good, new idea.

Learning from the experience

If you are looking for investors or need to present to ever-higher levels for approval, sometimes, you will have an opportunity to present to several levels of the organization. Plan to incorporate the appropriate responses to earlier questions in the presentation to avoid those being repeated. Show that you are both humble and adaptable.

And gaining insight from feedback

Investment groups including venture capital fund managers will tell you that the very process of defending your plan will help you better think through the rough spots, better launch the business with fewer holes in reasoning, and better connect with resources that can be used to accelerate your growth to breakeven and beyond. The process is always time-consuming and grueling.  But approached correctly, the time is well spent and the results almost always positive, even if money doesn’t come from the present effort.

Filed Under: Working with Investors Tagged With: Business Plan, Investors

Source: Reprinted with permission of Berkonomics

Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus is a noted speaker, author and early stage private equity investor. He is acknowledged as one of the most active angel investors in the country, having made and actively participated in over 87 technology investments during the past decade. He currently manages two angel VC funds (Berkus Technology Ventures, LLC and Kodiak Ventures, L.P.) Dave is past Chairman of the Tech Coast Angels, one of the largest angel networks in the United States. Dave is author of “Basic Berkonomics,” “Berkonomics,” “Advanced Berkonomics,” “Extending the Runway,” and the Small Business Success Collection. Find out more at Berkus.com or contact Dave at dberkus@berkus.com

Related Posts

  • 5-essential-components-when-planning-a-startup-businessYour Business Plan Needs These 5 Things to Be Effective
  • How to Turn Your Idea Into a Real Business
  • 10 Tips For Crafting An Investment Grade Venture Plan

Primary Sidebar

bottom line ad

Random

All the Right Moves – What to Look For in a Luxury Moving Service

Mar 24, 2023 By Michael Dunlop

What’s a Bare Metal Server & Why is it Best for Online Businesses

Mar 24, 2023 By Paul Williams Short

Don’t Let Dirty Air Filters Harm Your Health: Tips for Maintaining Indoor Air Quality

Mar 22, 2023 By SmallBizClub.com

how-to-help-your-small-business-survive-a-tax-audit

What Exactly is an Audit and How Does it Work?

Mar 22, 2023 By Michael Dunlop

Top 5 Reasons an MBA Can Help if You’re an Aspiring Entrepreneur

Mar 22, 2023 By Paul Medea

Footer

About Us

Small Biz Club is the premier destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs. To succeed in business, you have to constantly learn about new things, evaluate what you’re doing, and look for ways to improve—that’s what we’re here to help you do.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 by Tarkenton Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms | Privacy