Deal Abstract

Energy nerds have built a new battery that is better than acid chemical batters. But can they build a unicorn out of it.

Financials (VRB)

Question	Notes
1. Fundraising Target?	$1070000
2. Fundraised So Far?	$526761
3. Pre-Money Valuation?	$10000000
4. Previous Year's Annual Revenue	$195358.35
5. Previous Year's Annual Net Income (+ Profitable, - Burning Cash)	~$-56208

Source

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: Boxford, MA
2. Has at least 2 founders?	False: Two
3. Has product in the market?	False: Contracting revenue
4. 6 months of continuous user growth or 6 months of revenue?	True: Grown
5. Notable investors?	False: No one I recognize
6. Post-funding, will have 18 months of runway?	True: If $600k then 18 months runway

Source

The 7 Thiel Questions (Every Time Man Profits, Don't Dismiss Serendipity)

Question	Score	Notes
1. Engineering?	3	Nice engineering new tech
2. Timing?	2	Not sure why suddenly the demand for these motors would go up
3. Monopoly?	1	No market share
4. People?	2	Lots of nerds trying to bring tech to market
5. Distribution?	2	People have right background but can they sell
6. Durability?	2	If they build and sell it, it should be durabel
7. Secret?	1	The advent of electric power demand will be solved by a novel technology that uses kinetic batteries as opposed to other innovations

What has to go right for the startup to return money on investment:

1. Commercialize product; 2. Leverage relationships to sell; 3. Genuinely be a paradigm shifting improvement and not just a marginal improvement

What the Risks Are

1. Good products don't make for good businesses; 2. The selling of a battery product instead of an integrated solution not good; 3. Nerds aren't the best at selling

Bonus Muhan's Notes

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

So, did I invest?

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Other thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns? Write me at mail@muhanzhang.com and let me know.