In the ADVISE stage, the entrepreneur meets with CincyTech's Executives-in-Residence to discuss the business opportunity. Entrepreneurs have a natural tendency to go right into a pitch to get investors to put money in the company. At this stage, we want you to put the money on hold until we have focused on all of the business issues that will get your company to the $30-50 million number! This stage lays the groundwork for the due diligence process that will be required to receive financing from CincyTech and others!

Your first meeting with the EIRs will probably last 1 to 2 hours. The EIRs have reviewed your overview and will ask you to present this overview at our offices. A sample presentation can be downloaded from our website (CTPresentationTemplate.ppt) During this stage you may be asked to do any or all of these activities for due diligence.

• Market definition and sizing
• Financial forecasting
• Competitive analysis
• Customer buying behavior
• Management team plan
• Exit strategy

The EIRs will evaluate your opportunity and come to one of three outcomes identical to the previous stage:

Next step: ACCELERATE