« The Advantages Of A Local VC | Main | Signs You’re Close To A Term Sheet »

The Importance Of Geography

Your executive summary should clearly list the location of your company's legal entity and physical headquarters because both of these factors are critical to many VCs’ investment decisions. If the location of either of these is in flux, you should clearly indicate that fact in your executive summary.

VCs are thoughtful about which countries they will invest in as laws vary substantially. Lesser-developed judiciary systems generally present more risk for corporations and shareholders, adding significant gravity to decisions to invest abroad.

Furthermore, many VCs have told their investors (limited partners) that they will invest in specific geographies so that their limited partners can create a balanced portfolio, with the desired exposure to country-specific risks. VCs who want to keep their investors happy so that they can raise money from them in the future are compelled to make investments in geographies that are consistent with their stated theses.

That said, some VCs tell their limited partners that they will make investments in numerous regional or international geographies, positioning them to be flexible.

When you send a VC your executive summary you should already know what geographies they will invest in and you should clearly indicate on your executive summary that your company is within the target geography. This will save VCs from having to ask you that question and make you look well prepared.

Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment