Report Structure
A report will outline essential information regarding the current status of a specific, early stage technology company. The purpose of the report is to assist a potential investor in gathering information about said company, helping them make an informed decision. This outline lists and describes the major components that will be included in each report. For this outline, the company that is being covered by the report will be called The Company.
Summary
Summary will serve to briefly outline each section of the full report. Each section will be introduced and with a short overview of 2-5 sentences, not exceeding 100 words. The table below gives examples for a few sections.
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Overview | Company A is a new technology company that focuses in the health and wellness sector. Company A has been able to develop traction with their simple solution for keeping track of one’s personal health stats. Inexpensive peripheral devices, a great mobile application, and a solid team of experienced professionals have built Company A into a rapidly expanding company. Currently Company A is moving forward with a series of second generation peripherals and plans to attain a larger market share. |
| Company History | Company A was founded in May 2012 and participated in Stanford University’s StartX program. In December 2013 the company announced one million active monthly users and that John Smith of Google would be joining as COO. |
| Investment Timeline | Company A secured an angel round of $500k in 2012 with Sequoia Capital. Recent reports indicate that a Company is seeking further investment in a Series A round. |
Company Overview
Provides thorough coverage of the history of The Company. This will include how The Company was founded - from idea to founding team and its first product launch. It will then list any incubators, major accomplishments, and any significant milestones. Information as to when key employees joined or left The Company will be provided before a general overview of products or services offered by The Company.
Market Overview
Market Overview will discuss the overall marketplace in which The Company is competing. The subsections below indicate which specific aspects will be covered.
Size
Market size will discuss the total demand for said market in both monetary value and gross number of consumers. Total attainable market and how it is distributed should be discussed.
Major Participants
This section will introduce the major participants in the market and how they have been able to be successful.
History and Trends
History will give a brief overview of the market since its inception while trends will include both recent changes as well as insight into the general direction of which it is heading.
Key Factors
Key Factors will mention the most important aspects that brought success to any market participants as well as the key reasons for any failure(s).
Investment Timeline
A detailed summary of all investment history in The Company. Each round will be outlined for its valuation at given time, the parties involved, and the size of the investment. Information for this section will be primarily sourced from SEC disclosures as well as popular technology news websites.
Management Team
Provides a biography for each executive involved in The Company and include links to all social accounts in case a reader wishes to further assess an individual. The biography will include education and all noteworthy positions held in previous employment. These biographies serve to show the qualifications for each individual in their role at The Company.
In a separate paragraph, all known Advisors and Board Members will be listed along with a short biography. Non-employee board members will have an explanation for how they have attained the role.
Growth Outlook
Growth will seek to forecast future expansion of The Company and assess where and when revenues may be generated. This forecast would outline a timeline and provide a reasonable prediction of such performance. A third party may be contacted to assist with financial modeling for this section.
Competitive Landscape
Expanding on the subsection written in Market Overview, Competitive Landscape will further analyze each participant in the market. This will include major participants and any other new startups. Noteworthy competitors will be briefly assessed in terms of their product, traction, and team. An emphasis will be placed on comparing how The Company differs from each of these competitors in order to highlight any advantages or disadvantages that The Company may have.
Comparable Exits
Comparable Exits is a continuation of Competitive Landscape, but serves to highlight the available opportunities for investors to exit their positions and realize any returns. An exit may include an Initial Public Offering, an acquisition, or a merger. For each exit, the size, the timeline, realized returns, and other important factors will be discussed. This section will also assess the opportunity for another worthwhile exit to occur in the same market. Finally, any companies that shut down will also be discussed with an explanation.
Technology
Technology and Innovation will discuss both the product and the underlying technology. This section will be split into three parts:
Technology
This subsection will analyze all current nfrastructure and intellectual property of The Company. This may include mobile applications, hardware, or even algorithms. The current technology will be analyzed in detail, and may include how it works, system architecture, scalability, and security.
Product
Product will address both the user-facing aspects of The Company’s products as well as the audience it specifically caters to. User experience will be analyzed as will a timeframe of user engagements. Any future plans in terms of audience or product will also be mentioned here.
Innovation
Innovation will round out the Technology section with the remaining necessary content. This will include any patents and any proprietary innovations. Also in this section will be a brief synopsis of what makes The Company unique, and how that will benefit them going over. Finally, barriers to entry will be discussed here.
Opinions
Opinions will include qualitative input from each writer for their own observations. These observations will summarize information stated previously and make future predictions regarding long-term performance and growth of The Company. These predictions are not fact, and only opinions based on evidence provided in the report. Possibly included Opinions will be a third paragraph written by a valued industry expert. This industry expert will have a history of working closely in the market and should be able to add keen insights to the matter.