Good People Month 9 Progress Report
The big news of May 2017 was our first real angel investor pitch to a local accredited investor known for his community engagement. We had previously had an informal meeting with him about our plan for Good People in the early days and Ethan had been working on a pitch meeting since the beginning of the year.
We revised and customized our pitch deck, met into the evening to talk strategy, and then I had some last minute changes the night before the meeting. We met up again before the meeting to synchronize and I think we went into it feeling ready.
From a presentation perspective, it went completely sideways. We ended up pitching in an office where our laptops were impossible to present from and the whole vibe was different than we had expected. I don’t think we handled it badly, just differently. The investors questions showed interest and engagement, but we left completely unsure of what he really thought. As of mid-June, we still don’t have a definitive answer.
We received some good news from our licensor that sample units may soon be available from them, which gives us some confidence that we can proceed with sales meetings even if our own supply issues are still a work in progress. With that, we pulled the trigger on engaging a designer to help us with some initial branding. We hope to have business cards and maybe even a revamped website in June.
Good People Month 8
Continued to work on our documentation and supplier issues
Prepared for and pitched our first angel investor
Opened a checking account with local bank
Worked with licensor on plan for getting some demo units we can use for sales calls
Engaged local designer to help is with branding, business cards, and a prettier website
Setup meetings with potential supplier and CleanTech Center for early June
Good People By the Numbers
We installed no units and saved no energy
We made it easy for 0 new leads, new customers, or new partners to save energy
Our team held steady at 2, but we would really like to find an engineer
We engaged a local designer and a local bank (and kept eating at local restaurants)
We didn’t really donate anything to the community other than time
We brought in $0 revenue and $0 investment (other than a founder’s loan for costs)
We spent another $135 or so on eating and taxes
One outcome of our pitch was that the time has come for a formal business plan. That is going to be a significant project for June but should help us on multiple fronts.
