Evaluation
Let’s look at the possibilities.
We start working with our clients by making a few assessments. We look at the market opportunity, the competition and the strategic scope for growth of your product or service.
We’ll also put you under the microscope, as well as your partners and your team. We’ll review your background, history and track record of success (and otherwise) so far.
We need to see the vision the way you see it. We need to know whether you’ve got what it takes to pursue that vision with the energy and drive that will be required.
We’ll review the financial, human, operational and technology resources that you’ve been working with to get to where you are and start to identify what we think you’ll need to take your next step.
We’re going to get to know each other very well.
We’re not looking for people who have a perfect track record. Past failures can be some of the most valuable experiences in the life of an entrepreneur.
We’re not looking for companies who have everything figured out. We’re looking for companies and leaders with the right idea and some true grit, with enough swagger to see beyond the horizon and enough humility to accept good advice.
Planning
Strategy is everything
Your company is only a limited version of what it might become. The way that we bring it to its full potential is crystallized in the creation of a strategic plan. The map that we follow to implement the strategy is articulated in a project plan.
We’ll use our toolbox of analytic tools to identify the best strategic approach to grow your company, including rapid market penetration, blue ocean strategy, product expansion, talent acquisition, diversification or a range of alternatives.
Get the professional help that you need
We bring best-in-the-business support services including finance and accounting, legal, IT and engineering, marketing and communications, logistics, operations and locational expertise to address gaps and maximize opportunities for short-term growth.
Our menu of services will be customized to meet the specific needs of your company at the right time, with milestones and performance goals established with our funding objective in mind.
We’ll help sequence the onboarding of these services to match needs and resource capacity, creating a tactical project plan that builds robust and sustained in-house talent, prepares your company for the wild ride ahead.
Execution
It all comes down to the pitch
Watermark invests in small, innovative companies with big ideas. We have a proven track record of moving companies past the initial growth stages, focusing on the key areas and metrics that are most important to potential investors – this makes your company a better investment for you, for us, and for potential future investors. Even though we may have worked together prior to funding your company, you’ll still pitch us for funding.
Our main objective for all our clients is to prepare them for their shot at glory – the all-important VC pitch that can mean the difference between mere success and legend.
Let’s be clear. Not all firms that receive VC (or angel) funding become household names, or unicorns with billion-dollar valuations. But few companies achieve those outcomes or anything like them without the potent contribution of a VC firm.
Most companies don’t even get the opportunity to seek funding. Most that do fail to impress. You need to be as prepared for this moment than anything your company will ever do, and it’s our mission to make sure you’re ready.
It doesn’t happen by accident
Whatever myths and stories that companies have told about simply being in the right place at the right time, successful VC funding almost invariably happens when the proper groundwork has been laid, the right pathway has been taken and the right team has been assembled.
There is a grind that’s required to achieve the goal of explosive growth through VC funding, and we’ve lived this experience with many clients and partners. We know what it takes, and we’ll make sure you do too.
Following the strategic and tactical plans, drawing on expert service providers and partners, developing and assembling the necessary data, stories and success are all part of the journey in which we execute our plan in the weeks, months and perhaps years leading up to the final pitch.
There may be unexpected detours along the way, but our role is to be your partner, your advisor, and your coach. We’re excited to have the chance to join you.