Submitting a Business Plan

Step 1: Review the Investment Philosophy page to see if your business fits the Murphree Venture Partners portfolio. Also, consider the following questions:

• Is your company bringing a new product or service to a large market?
• Is your company at the "seed" or first stages (i.e. raising less than $10 Million)?
• Is your company headquartered in the south or southwestern United States?
• Will your company offer 40%-60% compound annual returns on Murphree Venture Partners' money?
• Are there multiple exit strategies for your company (a company should not only be a potential candidate for IPO, but also a potential target for acquisition by other players in the industry) within a 5-7 year time frame?

Step 2: If the answer to each of the above questions is yes, then prepare your business plan to submit to the Murphree Venture Partner partner nearest to you (see our contact us page for offices in Houston, Austin, Albuquerque, Birmingham, and Boulder). Murphree Venture Partners has no required format for business plans, but as a minimum, each plan should include:

• Detailed information on the background of the founders and members of the management team.
• A clear description of the product or service the company is bringing to market.
• A detailed breakdown of the market for the company's product. This should include current and potential market size, and descriptions of all competitors in the area (either for equivalent products or services, or those which you plan to displace with your new offering).
• Financial projections for the first five years of the company's operations (or the next five years plus historical financials for companies already in business).
• A clear and concise (generally less than 2 pages) executive summary that provides the basics on the team, the product, the market and the opportunity. A strong executive summary is one of the most important elements of your plan when you are raising money. Venture capital firms typically see hundreds or even thousands of plans each year, and while we at Murphree Venture Partners pride ourselves on paying careful attention to each opportunity we see, a well-written plan helps us more quickly determine if there is a good fit between your company and our portfolio.

Please do not include non-disclosure agreements as part of your package, as we will not be able to sign them, and will have to return your plan unread (for a discussion of why this is the case, see our Note on NDAs ). Murphree Venture Partners is happy to provide feedback on business plans or guidance as you prepare your plan. If you have questions or concerns about what to include in your plan, feel free to contact the nearest office (again, see the contact us page for contact names and contact information for each office).

Step 3: Submit your business plan to the nearest office. We will get back to you within two weeks of receiving your plan to let you know if we have further interest.