Now Playing: ETRE 2009, Paris, Oct-9-2009, European VC capital
Topic: Events Shows
1500 Business plans style "copy and paste"
average 60 pages land in the trash can of
Jean Schmitt, managing partner of Sofinnova
European VC capital
Schmitt said that he received 1,500 business plans a year but they're all consigned to the trashcan. He said these business plans were full of "bullsh*t" and were a "complete waste of time". He said: "I don't care if we have a full 60 page business plan - I want people to give us ideas." They were generally speaking full of cut and paste stuff based on financial analysts reports. There are very few original ideas around, he said.
Market Entry Plan
To those who do have bright ideas, Schmitt posed a warning. He said that Sofinnova often ended up with 70 percent or 80 percent ownership. Having only 20 percent of a company was a very frustrating experience, he said. The whole matter is a game of foxes - the VCs - and rabbits, the entrepreneurs. As the foxes get more successful at hunting, supplies of rabbits dry up and the fox population diminishes. That gives the rabbits the chances to breed and multiply again.
ETRE Paris
source: tgdaily.com
