Deal Abstract
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Technologists designed new N95 mask that they are hoping to sell to hospitals.
Financials (VRB)
|Question|Notes|
|---|---|---|
|1. Fundraising Target? |$1070000|
|2. Fundraised So Far?|$73816|
|3. Pre-Money Valuation?|$6500000|
|4. Previous Year's Annual Revenue |$0|
|5. Previous Year's Annual Net Income (+ Profitable, - Burning Cash) |~$0|
The 6 Calacanis Characteristics ("Sow Passion, Not easy mediocrity", or S2 P6 N18)
Criteria | Yes/No |
---|---|
1. A startup that is based in SV? | False: Katonah, NY |
2. Has at least 2 founders? | False: Two |
3. Has product in the market? | False: Raising money to Fulfilling initial shipments and launching hospital pilots in Q1 2021 |
4. 6 months of continuous user growth or 6 months of revenue? | False: No product in market |
5. Notable investors? | False: Bootstrapped |
6. Post-funding, will have 18 months of runway? | True: But no operations e.g. no burn |
The 7 Thiel Questions (Every Time Man Profits, Don't Dismiss Serendipity)
Question | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|
1. Engineering? | 2 | Marginally better but not 10x better |
2. Timing? | 2 | Definitely more demand now, but I'd argue with vaccines coming this won't be as priority for long term |
3. Monopoly? | 1 | No product in market |
4. People? | 3 | Good team but no one with medical PPE development and sales before |
5. Distribution? | 1 | Selling to B2B and no delivery history yet |
6. Durability? | 1 | Not sure how defensible this is once built, nothing proprietary here that is also insubstitutable |
7. Secret? | 2 | Making a new N95 mask will solve hospital problems |
What has to go right for the startup to return money on investment:
1. Ship product; 2. Nurture relationships with hospitals; 3. Get recurring revenue
What the Risks Are
1. Engineering marginally better; 2. Not a venture sized opportunity; 3. Margins are not favorable
Bonus Muhan's Notes
Very cool, shows how long it can take to take something from concept to production.
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Updates
This is where I’ll post updates about the company. This way all my notes from offering to post-offering updates will be on one page.
Review these deal memos every time the startup raises a new round
Test if original thesis still applies
Notice trends in how you think
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So, did I invest?
Click here to find out.Other thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns? Write me at mail@muhanzhang.com and let me know.