my father is an engineer and has developed an upper receiver modification for the popular m16 rifle. He claims he has a list of VC firms in the area but doesnt know how to get his foot in the door. I figured this would be a great place to start, how would those of you in the industry suggest?
thank you
Acquire customers, win contracts and start generating revenue, also get good feedback from customers. By this point, I guarantee you'll have investors knocking.
If that isn't possible, then try to get a recommendation via a mutual connection (check LinkedIn) or from the founder of a company they've backed.
thank you for your response! due to the heavy($$$) presses involved he wouldnt be able to start without start up capital...does that seem unrealistic?
For a capital intensive company, I'd guess he'd need to show how his invention is defensible (has a good shot at getting a patent). Alternatively, he could attempt to form a joint venture with potential customers (I assume weapons manufacturers) where they shoulder a large proportion of costs, but also receive revenue/profit share.
In fact, why not eschew VC firms altogether and seek investment from weapons manufacturers? They'd have more knowledge of the industry than most VCs and would be able to help with partnerships, R&D etc etc.
thank you for your insight!
Also matters how much capital he needs... VC isn't the only way of procuring start-up funding
^^^please expound
VCs are going to take a massive chunk of the equity and demand all sorts of operational controls - not to mention the fact that you'll have to waste a ton of time pitching them and dealing with them. I don't know any entrepreneurs who seek out VC capital if they can avoid it.
Unless you need millions in start-up capital, you should be able to find money from debt, friends, family, etc...
i also second that VC is not suitable here. First of all, this is more like an invention of sorts, like 1 specific product, so you might want to follow the licensing/patent model instead of VC. AS mentioned above, weapons manufacturers will be good targets. Also, this is simply not an industry that VCs go into (they prefer hi tech, healthcare, consumers, etc).
Skip VC, patent it, and sell to weapons manufacturers?
we have considered it but we were advised from someone in the industry weapons companies seem to have a tendency to falsify documents to show they started the idea before our patent was valid.
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