Beyond the VC meeting process and diligence, there is another less-discussed but equally integral component of the NextView investment process: creating an investment memo document.  For every seed stage startup we invest in, we write a one to two-page summary, which provides an overview of the company and our thesis about investing in it.  While many peer seed firms skip this stage of the investing process, writing an investment memo has been a key component for NextView since the very beginning of our firm.

The purpose of writing a “formal” investment memo for us is twofold:

1. The process itself.  Taking meaningful time to deliberately think through the key components of the investment and clearly and concisely (!) articulate the rationale for an investment decision hones the decision process for this particular company and for continual improvement for the firm as a whole.
2. A snapshot in time.  The document is a way to timestamp a summary of all of the contributing factors that gave us the conviction to invest. Therefore, it becomes a reference point in the future, documenting our thinking at a specific moment. This can be helpful to reflect on as the facts of the company or a market change.

Again, our memos aren’t needlessly exhaustive binders of financial analysis or diligence details. They’re intentionally no more than two pages, broken into the following sections:

Overview. The overview is at most two sentences that explain the company’s concept clearly and concisely.

Market and Background.  This section can be one of the most extensive, depending on how young the company is, as we articulate our current market analysis and map the company against projected product-market-fit via publicly available data and proprietary info from past and present portfolio companies.

Founding Team.  Short and sweet, we include a few bullet points on each key team member’s background, especially as their experience demonstrates why they have an unfair advantage to be successful given their domain expertise and past functional execution.

Business Model and Strategy.  Here we outline the current approach the startup is taking to address a problem and/or market opportunity, and attempt to map the current/future growth and revenue metrics.  Upon completion of this section, a reader should appreciate what the startup “does” and how it will win.

Competition. This section summarizes the existing and speculated potential competitive landscape for the company.  We draw from publicly available information and in-network, in-portfolio diligence calls here to address differentiation points vis-à-vis competitors and the relative threat level.

Financial Metrics & Financing.  The first part of this section can be a detailed metric-laden financial reflection of the traffic to date -or- a high-level anticipation projection.  Since we at NextView invest across a broad range of seed, our investments range from incubated ideas that are pre-launch/pre-product/pre-seed to companies that are just at the point of reaching product-market fit.  The second part details just the facts of the round: structure, pricing, terms, amounts, and syndicate partners.

Due Diligence Summary.  Our diligence process varies depending on the type and stage of the company, and this section shares an overview of a typical combination of in-network calls, in-portfolio calls, individual research, product testing, customer-user interviews, and extensive founder (backchannel) reference calls.

Investment Positives.  Taking a step back to see the big picture, we articulate no more than four bullet points that highlight the true “why” of what makes this startup a compelling investment.

Investment Concerns.  We strive to directly and accurately identify the startup’s risks upfront to include an honest assessment of downside challenges.  It’s better to articulate the risks that yield negative results than to be completely blind to the possibilities.  Putting them at the forefront allows you to hopefully recognize when these challenges do manifest to potentially address them earlier.

Exit Scenarios.  A short presentation of our internal set of projected outcomes for the company, both in quantitative and qualitative/scenario forms.

Glimmer of Greatness / Golazo.  My personal favorite, this concluding section attempts to articulate the improbable and exceptional goal for the ultimate vision of what this company could become.  Golazo is a Spanish slang word most often used in soccer for a truly special goal – it has become a seamless part of our verbiage and dialog here at NextView.  All of the investments we make must demonstrate a possibility of greatness, the glimmer that they can become transformative companies fundamentally changing how consumers experience the world.  One or two sentences paint the picture of what could be if all the stars align.

As mentioned, all VC firms treat investment write-ups differently.  At NextView, the memos are an internal discipline kept confidential within the team to ensure full honesty.  Other firms treat their blog posts announcing new investments as de facto investment memos made public for the world.  Some (especially larger firms with more analysts) write even much more lengthy memos, while some do not write any at all.

In the end, for me, writing an investment memo is a learning exercise.  Learning why you’re following both your gut and your brain to make an investment.  Learning where you can be impactful for the company, especially at the earliest of stages.  Later on, learning upon reflecting back what you saw correctly to affirm rationale and reasoning.  And perhaps most importantly, learning what you incorrectly believed in will help you work with that startup effectively and push you to become a better investor in the future.