#Nightlife, #Entertainment ‪#‎DrinkTech‬ #Startup requires Seed Funding - www.choicencheers.com

An Upcoming #Nightlife, #Entertainment ‪#‎DrinkTech‬ Start-up requires Seed Funding - www.choicencheers.com

1. MVP & Tech Concept and Patent In Place 

2. 30% Stake with INR 65 lacs (100,000 USD) of Investment 

3. Fund Utilization: Product Development and its Marketing 

4. First Phase: Launched in India, US, Middle-East

5. Android & Web App Developed - iOS in beta

6. Tie-up with Leading Corporates and Institutions already proposed

7. Expected Revenue within 3 Months of Funding

Write to us for the Pitch Deck at Hi@choicencheers.com

Customer Acquisition Strategies for Startups

Customer Acquisition – it’s easy to waste a lot of money in the wrong channels, especially ones where you go hand-in-hand with the big firms and can easily be outspent. As a startup, the majority of your time should be spent on customer acquisition and product development – the things that will move you forward. “Startup growth happens in spurts. Initially, growth is usually slow.

 

Cold emailing? SEO? Content Marketing? but at this point you’re just shooting in the dark. What works initially might not work later on, and what doesn’t work now might be worth revisiting in the future.

1. Establish your Goals
2. You create a process / system to work within
3. Then you fill it with strategy / ideas to align with your goals,
4. Lastly, you’ll break those down into specific tactics to execute…

1. Define your Ideal Customer - Prospect and Analyse your user and user markets.
2. Define your Goals = S.M.A.R.T. Goals may be monetary, user count, or activity based goals.
3. Define your Acquisition Funnel = Running multiple landing pages and you’re sending traffic to them from SEO, content marketing and paid acquisition, funnel to be measured individually
4. Know your Metrics = Start implementing Campaigns, you’ll know fairly know whether something is worth pursuing or not
5. Track everything from day one = Most Startups don’t begin this process early enough, and they pay for it later, start to build the history as early as possible. The best customer acquisition plans have measurement strategies organized in advance.
6. Reverse engineer your Growth = Look for bottlenecks in your metrics: is your visitor to trial rate low? Is your churn rate high? Do you need to drive traffic?
7. Create your growth ideas list = Prioritize your plans
8. Execute your plan = By using the following (some more) strategies

• Using Big Content to Generate Buzz
• Focusing on Long Tail Keywords
• Tools usage and Analytics
• Engaging in Forum Marketing
• Tracking and Reacting to Competitor Mentions
• Developing Online Partnerships
• Networking
• Reviving Old Customers

Treat Angel Investor as if you are on a Date!

A smart founder tries to reduce the reasons why an Investor can say no!

The initial request for a dialogue is generally by email, so draft it nicely. Most of the investors are happy to converse with Co-Founders, so try not to muddle this up. It’s best to go through LinkedIn or reference, to capitalize on your best chances of getting a foot in the door. Nevertheless, do commit to memory that angels are busy, and you need to respect their time. It’s a good idea to propel a deck, so he knows what to anticipate, and can plan for the meeting.

This is very unlikely to be a one-time communication, where the investor is so intimidated with you and your pitch that he whips out his cheque book and hands over your cheque. It’s much more like wooing a girlfriend, and the purpose of your first date is to set up your next one.

You should spend time listening to his interests and passions, and judge whether you fit into his goals. During your process of raising money, one will come across all kinds of stuff, and not all of them will be right for you. While you are trying to earn his trust and confidence, you should also be thinking about – Is this the class of person who I want to be a part of my company?

While it’s usually easy to get the first appointment, some investors can play hard to get. The best way to open the door is through a warm introduction.

What about the dynamics of the meeting?

Please don’t ask for a NDA – no one uses them anymore because they are not worth the paper they are written on. Make sure you are on time, please respect time. Also, be professionally attired. First impressions count, and you don’t want to turn him off by being sloppy or casual – you are not Mark Zuckerberg! Show that you have done your homework about the investor, this is a mark of respect, and flattery never hurts ! The worst thing you can do during your first meeting is to ask for money, so please don't do this. The irony is that investors will give you money only if they think you don’t need it!

The agenda of the first meeting should not be to raise money – it’s to establish trust and get permission to set up the next meeting. How you conduct the meeting depends upon many factors, and you need to be flexible and play this by ear. If he hasn’t seen your presentation, you may want to start by going through this. However, in a one-on-one meeting, this is usually not a good idea, because you then spend more time looking at the computer screen, rather than establishing eye contact. Also, please don’t read your slides; don’t parrot your canned pitch; and don’t use your slides as a crutch. It’s far more effective to pay attention to his body language, so you can address the areas he is interested in. You need to focus on his responses, so you can tailor your presentation to his interests. Every investor is different, and while you may have slaved over your pitch and have 20 slides crammed with facts and figures to show him, please remember that he will not be interested in all of them. There’s no rule which says you have to complete your presentation, and you should not do a data dump – it’s far more effective to be focused!

Please take notes during the meeting (ask for permission to do so). This will differentiate you from most of the other founders, and shows that you value his opinion and his time. It shows that you are well-organized and thoughtful; and will also help you extract more value from the meeting, because you don’t have to worry about forgetting key points. If things are going well, ask for a follow on meeting – he is much more likely to say yes at this time.

Send a thank you email within 24 hours, where you summaries the highlights. What were the questions he raised? Do you have the answers? How will you find these?

Your plan of action should be to interact over a period of 3-6 months, during which time you can show him that you are making steady progress, and are listening to his feedback. This will show him that you are persistent, responsible and responsive.

Best Wishes

Who are Angel Investors?

They are non- institutional, they are wealthy individuals who invest a lot of capital into a startup and motivated in the technology, business model and market as part of his or her return on investment.

The Checkbook Angel: A check book angel is passive in their investment and will invest in the area of $5000-$25000.00

Capital Active Angels: A Capital angel is active and usually is seeking a strategic role as, a mentor or member of the board

Super Angels: While Super angels are also active they invest anywhere in the range of half a million to $2M

Angel investors provide necessary seed funding to startups and raise capital for startups anywhere in the range of $20b annually in the U.S. There a number of different angel investor categories.

The Enthusiast – They like to do the deals, successful and established in their business and professional careers

The Professional – These folks are looking for a job and looking for a company to invest in and work for at the same time

The Micromanagers – The micromanager are business savvy with a strong business acumen they want a board seat and bring with a wealth of knowledge. It can become a problem when the micromanager does not agree with the business owners on business strategies or future business endeavors

The Corporate – These are people who have come out of fortune 500 companies as executives or members of senior management, and looking to invest in a startup that can turnaround profit

The Entrepreneur – People who have started their own companies and looking to invest in a new startup, they are willing to take risks, pride themselves on the ability to start a new venture and their ability to help a new startup grow and sell at the appropriate time.

Funding Stages:

Startup Stage – In these stages fund comes from personal investments, families or angels. First round of cash infusion is less than $1million.The business has no history of customers or generated revenues.

Seed Stage –This is funding towards R&D, customers are using the product or service but there is no cash flow. The funding range is usually under $5million.

Expansion/Growth Stage – This category is for companies that are up and running with a tested product or service. The business is seeking market expansion, product development and additional working and operational funds.

Buy out Stage – Current shareholders sell some portion of their current shares. This can involve acquisitions, change of ownership, exit strategies. The funds can be used for expansion or consolidation of the business.

Below are some terms used in startup funding:

BURN RATE: Negative cash flow on a monthly basis

SWEAT EQUITY: Value in a business based on hard work and know how rather than capital invested

SEED CAPITAL: Capital invested in the early stages of a business

DOWN ROUND: Stocks purchased from a company at a valuation lower than previous valuation by earlier investors

PRE-MONEY VALUATION: The value placed on your company by investors before you receive the money

PRO-FORMA: Forecasted financials of a business based on the projections of the performance of the business

DEBT SECURITY: This is money owed to another party, an obligation to pay back capital that has been borrowed. It is a binding document with terms of agreement attached to the debt.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - These are elected or appointed individuals responsible for making major decisions and can take action with regards to issues such as executive remuneration, hiring and firing of executives etc.

CASH FLOW - Cash generated less cash expenses. It is the difference between the cash you started with and the cash you are left with at the end of your accounting period. Positive cash flow means the cash coming in exceeds the cash going out, otherwise it is negative.

TERM SHEET - Is an invest document outlining the terms of agreement; it includes certain items like the amount to be raised, pre-money valuation etc.

Raising capital from Angels is not an easy task. The whole process of raising capital can disrupt entrepreneurs from doing the actual work of building their service or product and getting in contact with customers. Entrepreneurs should postpone the idea of raising funds for as long as possible, so that they can build value and get a higher valuation for their company .Angel investment is a great way to get raise capital.

Resume: Ritesh Saxena - Open for Hire! 13+ years into Global Strategic & Brand Management + Digital Marketing

RITESH SAXENA

Product & Marketing Evangelist

Co-Founder & CEO Choice N Cheers

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Cell: +91 965-453-1765                                                                                      E-Mail ID: titanritesh@gmail.com

LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/saxenaritesh                                                     Twitter: @RiteshSaxena777

Location: K – 4, Leela Homes, Vaishali, Ghaziabad       

                                                            

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Aspire to pursue Brand, Product Management & Digital Marketing with a Global IT Organization

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* Strategic Marketing * Brand Management * Digital Marketing * Marketing Automation * 

* Product & Service Launch * Market Research * Event Management * LinkedIn Optimization *

* Collateral Designing * MARCOM * Change Management *

ð  A stupendous communicator with excellent interpersonal skills with more than 13 years of comprehensive experience in US & UK markets and success in handling strategic marketing & possess leadership experience.

ð  Co-founded Choice N Cheers and serving as CEO. Established and directed Choice N Cheers product vision, team and marketing strategy. Direct board, manage budget, and mitigate risks. Engagements involve product and market research, technology, strategy refinement, business planning, team building, and capitalization.

ð  A sound "Product Geek” with track record creating successful user experiences online, within mobile apps. I bring a unique blend of marketing strategy, design, and technical capabilities while specializing in managing programme and product teams with expertise in the consumer web/mobile/IoT space.

ð  Experience in new services and products launch in the target markets through new strategies, digital marketing campaigns, branding, ATL & BTL activities and collateral development. Developed MARCOM Strategies via Marketing Collateral designed: electronic brochures, presentations, case-studies, whitepapers & videos. Executing content marketing via articles, bogs, press releases, and social media postings.

ð  Established and executed marketing automation via tools like Salesforce, Hubspot, Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Leadfeeder, Zoominfo, MailChimp, Seachman.

ð  Formulate business plans, campaign plans, forecasts and budgeting to grow ROI, customer-base and brand awareness through Online and Integrated Marketing efforts via Digital Marketing, handling company accounts of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Youtube.  

STRATEGIC MARKETING & BUSINESS ANALYSIS

ð  New products and services launch globally & business planning.

ð  Designing the marketing collateral & recommend promotional strategies.

ð  Business planning & market research to launch new services & product ideas.

ð  Adapt to multi-disciplinary jobs, technical write–ups, blogs, webinars, and videos.

ð  Competition reports, analysis, promotion, proposal writing, bidding & presentations.

ð  Ability to follow up through with the projects & campaigns from the inception to completion.

ð  Responsible for the website updates, PR activities, media relations – corporate communications.

ð  Campaigns, (ASO/SEO/SEM & Manage Accounts - Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter & Blogs advertising.

ð  E-Marketing & On-line Marketing, Work with management team to promote customer successes & ROI.

MANAGEMENT

v  Managing and assigning tasks to team and checking health of each department.

v  Dexterously managing and maintaining the marketing campaigns & promotions globally.

v  Administering various activities regarding investment, operations and financial management.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION & CONTENT MARKETING

ð  Market/Competition Research & Business Planning:

ü  Carry out market research on the industry trends, competitions research on products & advice the management with recommendations on existing services.

ð  Content Repository & Knowledge Management:

ü  Marketing Collaterals: Conceptualization and production of marketing materials like eBrochures, presentations, flyers, catalogues newsletters, website banners, promotional emails, landing pages, and print material (banners, standees, and posters etc.).

ü  Videos: Conceptualization, story boarding & production of corporate & promotional videos, training videos with help of video animators.

ü  Knowledge Repository: Conceptualization & creation of whitepapers, case studies, infographics, presentations, blogs, articles, press releases, social media & LinkedIn influencer posts, etc.

ð  Corporate & Internal Communication:

ü  Maintain & Administer Corporate Content: News, press releases and ensure the same is spread over all marketing channels - website, social media and internal communication channels. managing enterprise & internal communication through enterprise social network portal and other relevant channels. Communication with vendors and agencies for corporate requirements. 

ð  Events / Workshops / Seminars

ü  Active participation in corporate events, seminars, workshops to spread company's presence. Participated in: Silicon India conference and NASSCOM events

ð  Administer & Manage company’s Association Memberships/Subscriptions/ Certifications:

ü  Silicon India, NASSCOM, ISO Certification, Microsoft Membership, Channel Partner Program.

ð  Cross Functional Team Coordination: Work as POC along with Co-ordination with sales, development, design, QA, HR team for content repository & promotion related activities. Complete ownership of product management activities from conceptualization to deployment.

DIGITAL MARKETING / ONLINE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT (WEBSITES, PORTAL & MOBILE APPS)

Methods Used	Activities & Effects
SEO/SEM Activities: Collaborate with SEM Team to monetize the Website Traffic & for Lead Generation.	Keyword Research, Content Optimization	Navigation / UI Optimization, Location based promotion,  Other Off-Page Activities	Increased Visitor Base through Organic Traffic for respective websites in their target markets / locations.
Email Marketing: For Brand Awareness & Lead Generation.                                                  Tools: Salesforce, Mail Merge	Conceptualization / Content Finalization	Design with Collaboration with Designers & Developers, Ensuring Broadcasting & Delivery, Tracking & Reports	Increased Traffic for respective websites, Brand Awareness, generated Leads for sales team (web projects, training admissions, registrations & sign-ups)
Social Media Marketing: Managed Company Profiles in various Social Media Platforms	Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Vimeo, Google+, SlideShare and others.		Enhanced Referral Traffic for respective websites, Brand Awareness
Content Marketing: Collaborate with Content Writers & SEO team to spread content across various web properties.	Blogs Promotion (Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr), Article Promotion, Press Release, Document Sharing (SlideShare, Scribd etc.), Video Promotion, Infographics etc.		Collectively Delivered 100+ Articles, Blogs, PRs for respective projects for creating strong presence across web
Online Advertising & Campaign Management: For Brand Awareness & Lead Generation	Paid Campaigns (Google AdWords, Facebook Advertising), Online Classified Ads, Banner Promotion, etc.		Increased Visitor Base for respective websites, generated leads (website & mobile apps projects, training registrations)
Online Surveys & Contests:                                                     Tool: SurveyMonkey	Conducted Online Surveys for Pre & Post Product Launch, Customer Feedback. Target Audience: International Clients, Working Professionals, College & Company Representatives		Helped in making required changes in marketing strategy, product & service offerings to make customers happy.
Web & Social Media Analytics:                           Tools: Google Analytics, Facebook Analytics, LinkedIn Analytics	Tracking and Analysis of Website, Social Media Traffic & User Behavior using Web Analytics Tools.		Helped to take required changes in web promotion strategy to enhance the results.

PAST EMPLOYMENT RECITAL

Since April November ’12 till August 2015 with Software Assurance, LLC as Director Marketing

Revamped the Company’s Branding altogether making it visible on global platforms through online and digital marketing & branding efforts. I contributed strategic inputs to revitalize business set up, enabling it to succeed and exceed performance benchmarks in the backdrop of globally competitive business scenario. The outcome has been a steady rate of success, maximizing business performance, enhancing profit levels and team satisfaction, driving growth and productivity.

The role included the leadership of marketing programs, digital and inbound marketing, product positioning and launch management, insights and marketing research, advertising, media, leads channels and promotional campaigns as well as technical marketing, all designed to reach customer, business and ecosystem customers to drive demand, preference and purchase intent for SPA’s products and solutions.

Since April ’10 to October ’12 LTech India Group (IntelliTrade Technologies & LTech India Software) as Chief Marketing Officer & Global Marketing Manager

I introduced the Products in the target markets through new campaigns, new business plans, strategies, promotion programs, ATL & BTL activities. Developed MARCOM strategy and interfacing with the vendors & partners through marketing collateral – brochure designing, presentation, case studies, whitepapers & articles.

Established and executed Marketing and sales and operations directives for direct marketing. I developed strategic marketing plans, promotional plans, forecasts and budgets to grow revenue, customer-base and brand awareness through online and integrated marketing efforts rationalizing marketing budgets. It also included the including overall social media strategy, competition, cost/benefit/risk analysis & system process designing.

I had formulated business development plans including lead generation activities via bidding, SEO, mass-mailing, official Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter profiles, and blogs; finally integrating them with CRM. I adopted innovative approach towards new technologies/territories for increasing the business via new LinkedIn strategies.

Since Jan ’08 to March ‘10 with DatamanUSA LLC, Marketing Manager

I joined as Business Development Manager & through a series of promotions rose to the level of Marketing Manager. I handled the entire Marketing & Promoted Services like US IT Staffing & Launched the Business Line in India. I possessed leadership experience across a wide range of IT functions including: Marketing, Sales, Planning, Vendor and Team Management. The Company sponsored me J1 US Visa to Denver, Colorado for 3 Years (rejected by US Embassy).

Majorly handled and initiated Client Communications - Devised the Strategy of becoming a "Preferred IT Vendor" to Fortune 1000 Companies by getting into their "Supplier Diversity Program". I fetched some Big Deals and Clients Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Sallie Mae, Sungard, Citigroup etc. Along with these I was handling the QA of State and Federal IT Staffing Requirement Candidates submission and worked on the 8(a) SBA Program exclusively and the Marketing the Product RMS (Recruitment Management Software) with President and CIO - DatamanUSA LLC.

Nov ’06 to Dec ’07 with Telecommand Software & Services as Business Manager for US

I was responsible for identifying new Clients & Marketing the Software Solutions - Security, Consultancy & Services package offered by Telecommand, California in U.S.

I devised Strategies of hosting Seminars and Inviting Government Officials on a Particular Tech Topic and it resulted in effective Business Results. Mailing Officials and taking Appointments along with prospective Tele calling. Designed the marketing collateral, web content writing and updated..

Since Jan ’03 to Nov’ 06 with Prosix Softron Pvt. Ltd., Lucknow as Deputy Marketing Manager

Responsible for marketing the Software packages offered by Prosix Softron, which includes North India, Identified new Clients (Domestic & International), collaboration with MNC’ (Oracle, Microsoft & Tech labs).

I handled Finance, Government, Infrastructure, Housing & World Bank Domains across North India and W. Bengal. 

I cracked some big deals and the customers implemented solutions through customized software development, rapid customizable software products. I handled Marketing and Sales of the following Products:- TRACS - Treasury Accounting System, DOLFINS - Financial Accounting System, INVENT 1.0 - Software for Inventory Control & RECOVER 2000 - Loan Accounting System.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

ü  Pioneered JV with LTech India & IntelliSoft Technologies, Awarded with two appraisal in same year.

ü  J1 – US VISA sponsored by DatamanUSA LLC to Denver, Colorado – US

ü  Received Appreciation & Bonus from President DatamanUSA LLC outstanding performance. “One Man Army”

ü  Head Cultural Group and the Member of Placement Cell in PGDBM, was sent to Hyderabad.

ü  Won the Limca Best General Knowledge Student Award at School Level.

SCHOLASTIC BACKGROUND

ü  MBA (International Marketing & Business) from FIIB, New Delhi 2001–03

ü  B.Sc., from Christian College, Lucknow – 2000

ü  ISC from Christ Church College, Lucknow – 1997

ü  ICSE from Christ Church College, Lucknow – 1995

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ü  Software Engineering from NIIT

ü  E-Commerce from ZAP INFOTECH

LANGUAGES

ü  English (Full proficiency)

ü  Hindi (Full proficiency)

ü  German (Limited knowledge)

PERSONAL DOSSIER 

Date of Birth:                October 07, 1977

Hobbies:                       Resilience, motivation & promptness in Meeting deadlines & commitments;

Ardent listener of Jagjit Singh Ghazals

Marital Status:              Wife - Snigdhaa Ritesh Working as News Anchor in Doordarshan (New Delhi)

Awards & Recognition: J1 – US VISA sponsored by DatamanUSA LLC to Denver, Colorado - US

Master of Ceremonies and Anchoring" for cross-cultural Client events

References: To be provided on request

Date:

Place: Noida                                                                            

(RITESH SAXENA)