Accomplishments, Use of Funds, and Milestones

When you talk about accomplishments, use of funds, and milestones, investors get an idea of your company's stage, how well the team has executed against plan thus far, and how carefully you have thought through what is needed to achieve your intent. For our purposes, we define the terms as:

1. Accomplishments: What the company has accomplished to date
2. Use of funds: How the company plans to use the money being raised
3. Milestones: Specific measurable accomplishments that investors will use to evaluate the company's future progress

Accomplishments help potential investors to determine your company's stage and to assess the company's progress to date. They can include:

• Funds raised? From whom?
• Product development stage?
• Revenue and/or EBITDA to date?
• Patents secured?
• Major customers and/or partnerships?
• Consider highlighting your most compelling accomplishments in the first minute to pique your audience's interest
• A clear use of funds table indicates to your audience that you have thought through how the company will use the money
• Milestones make you get specific and help to measure the tangible progress. For example, if your company needs capital to build a sales force, investors may expect to see by a certain date, the more effective sales force having achieved a certain increase in the number of customers