How Digital Affected Agency Staffing

Here’s my prediction for 2018: more and more companies will take social media and digital marketing management in-house.

Reason 1: the supply of people who can manage social/digital continues to increase. Ten years ago, that was not the case. Smart agencies hired people who had the skills or trained staff to learn. Some people even started their own agencies. In either case, agencies not only provided the social/digital consulting, they also provided staffing services to companies.

As supply catches up to demand, companies are able to hire their own social/digital experts (for cheaper and cheaper, as supply continues to increase) and rely less on agencies for staffing.

Reason 2: social/digital requires real-time engagement. For example, it takes too much time for someone from an agency to write a response on Twitter, get approval from a supervisor and then get approval from the client to post it. Companies can respond more quickly if social/digital management is done in-house.

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What does this mean for agencies? Our roles are evolving. We’re going to provide less staffing and more consulting. In other words, companies will hire us for our ideas but not to monitor @ mentions.

How to Create a Pitch Deck for Angel Investors

INTRODUCTION

PresentationAcquiring investments in your company from angel investors can help your health tech startup take its first steps.

According to TechCrunch, investors spend just 3 minutes and 44 seconds on pitch decks. That’s not a lot of time to tell a compelling story.

Here are some tips on how to create the best angel investor presentation.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Unlike a venture capitalist, an angel investor is investing their own personal funds into a business opportunity, so they typically fund companies that appeal to them individually. This audience is more willing to invest in early-stage, pre-revenue companies, specifically during the last stage of technical development and early market entry.

Be prepared to answer questions such as risks your company faces, what milestones will this round of financing help achieve and how your company plans to scale in the next year. Plan to show angel investors a demonstration of your product or service as it will help answer lingering questions. Although some angel investors may not be as formal as VCs, you should still have a formal pitch deck. After you find out what they specifically want, you can tailor the presentation to their requirements and timeline.

One of the biggest differences in pitching to angel investors vs. venture capitalists is that you as the entrepreneur don’t need to know everything, but you do have to build trust with investors.

REMEMBER: LESS IS MORE

Avoid the minutia and other irrelevant details in your deck, as too many slides can make your pitch long-winded, and your audience may forget the most important information. Be simple and to the point and limit your pitch deck to 10-15 slides, as follows:

  • The first 1-5 slides should explain your company overview, mission, team, problem and solution. For example, how will IDNs benefit from your product or service, and what is the technical expertise of your staff?
  • Tailor slides 6-10 to your market opportunity and how you differentiate from competitors (e.g. use the beacon approach). Be sure to explain why healthcare systems would buy your product or service, show calculations and mention any competitive advantages, such as your IP.
  • The final 11-15 slides should go over your business model, financials and marketing efforts. Make sure you state what the angel investors will get with their investment (e.g. ROI). Although they will be relevant at some point, don’t worry too much about investment provisions such as liquidation preference, drag-along rights and vesting of incentive equity.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Revelation PR, Advertising & Social Media offers healthcare IT companies and startups services related to media relations, email marketing, investor relations, tradeshow marketing, content marketing and social media management. Please contact Brian Lee, brian [at] experiencerevelation.com or 608-622-7767.

Entrepreneurship and cards

playing cardsI enjoy the occasional game of low-stakes poker. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the phrase, “It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but how you play the hand” in respect to life, especially business.

In poker and in business, sometimes you start with a bad hand. You can whine about it, or you can do something about it. In other words, you can win with a bad hand, just like you can lose with a good hand. This is what makes being a business owner both frustrating and rewarding. Continue reading “Entrepreneurship and cards”