Anthology Ventures Clinic [ Sector Agnostic - Rolling]

We are a venture studio for early-stage teams & business angels. Let’s build something great...

Anthology Ventures is an Angel-funded incubator and venture studio for startups. We combine a 60-day clinic (no-obligation) with a longer incubation period (equity). The clinic is remote-based or on site if feasible. We join your team and work alongside you to define and meet your goals, including growth strategy and investment (either by our own Angel shareholders, or outside investors, organizations, and funds). Meetings are conducted virtually or on site

How this works

Our program has two phases - Clinic and Residency.
The Clinic is an intense 60-day program that tests our chemistry and ability to work together by identifying key addressable issues that can be tackled within a short time span. Although we expect (and offer) complete dedication to your project, this is a trial period and there is no obligation/financial or otherwise to continue.
- The second phase - Residency - is more long-term. Based on 60-days of working together, we decide that we want a deeper relationship and can bring value to building your company. Here we refine the goals and work that needs to be done in order to reach Investment readiness, and specify a timeline. After that we join your startup in exchange for a small equity stake (4-7%).

Monetary Investment:
Our shareholders (who are business angels themselves) may invest directly into your startup (as individual investors), without any intermediary or commission paid. Once you join Anthology Ventures’ portfolio our BA’s Shareholders as well as other investment entities get systematic updates on your progress and needs so they can decide based on their criteria and our recommendations.

Funding outside of Anthology:
A large part of our job in Phase 2 will be to search for investment for you, first from our own shareholders, and then from external Business Angel’s, corporates, and VC Funds. We can also help you apply for funding from public sources (EU, etc.) if this is an appropriate step for your company.

Criteria our investors are looking for AND that we can help you IMPROVE:

Team
• sufficient people to build/support the product and business in the early stages
• good chemistry between all team members
• shared vision and unity of purpose
• complementarity of skill-sets
• willingness to listen and question own assumptions
• ability to attract and accept new team members as needs arise

Product/Service:
working prototype: preferably enough to a) prove the technology and b) test the market
offers a significant improvement upon existing solutions

Validation:
• evidence of customer need (letters of intent, first customers, focus-groups with documented customer feedback, etc.)
• a strong competitor with a 'missing piece' that your startup provides
• First clients and/or users

Market:
• a large market (often VCs want $1B) Note: this means the market you are trying to enter, not the value of the market share you are hoping to gain)
• a realistic estimate of the TAM/SAM/SOM values for your market (Total Available Market, Segmented Addressable Market, Segmented Obtainable Market)
• clear evidence that a large market exists - this is usually shown via a detailed competition analysis

Business Model:
• how you will capture a % of the above market - this should include both the revenue model and the partners you will need to enter and grow in the market
• The more complex your model is, the more you must demonstrate how you will unite all the necessary partners. If you have a marketplace, for example, how will you balance the supply and demand sides? If you have a service that depends upon both B2B and B2C users/clients, how will you attract and retain all of them? In other words, how will you unite all the ‘moving parts’ into a smooth-running machine?

Speed to Market:
Specific steps, timeline, and resources necessary for your market entry. (see above: business model)

Financial Projections:
a complete set of financial projections, including cash flow and HR. Note: this is more an indication of how you think about and assess your business, not a promise of actual financial fact. Investors know that projections are almost always wrong, but it is important to engage in the process of financial planning so that you understand all the components of financial planning.

Metrics:
Estimates of certain metrics that concern your costs and revenue are important: CAC, AR/U, CLV, etc. Which particular metrics will vary slightly depending upon your business model, market sector, and product.

Impact:
Not all investors are interested in the social impact of your startup, however, for those products/services that may have a net-positive impact on society, it is good to know how to emphasize this as part of your 'story' and be aware of certain metrics that are specific to impact investing.

Exit:
Beyond everything else, investors look for their path to exit. The first and last thing they will consider when contemplating an investment is not how to get their money in, but how to get it out, preferably at a multiple of 5-10X. Such an exit (“liquidity event”) can come from a follow-on investment with new investors, the sale of your company to another company, or an IPO (but that’s a long way down the road). You need to have a plausible theory and plan for how, and when, you may achieve this exit for them, and in order to have that, you need to have all the rest of the factors above.

What to expect from us

You can expect engagement on a range of things that may include:
1. Challenge of your business and entrepreneurial approach
2. Exploration of the tactics to deploy the product/services
3. Alignment of tasks until they follow a first things first approach
4. Semi- due diligence on:
-Business potential and possibilities
-Direct and indirect competition
-Financial aspects
-IP rights and patentability
5. Preliminary Assessment of Funding and Financing Options

The aforementioned range of engagement will depend on the status and readiness of each individual case.