• Col. Bernard Chachula (USAF Retired) will present his findings on various DoD Venture Capital models and their potential relevance to the USAF.
• Robert Kruse, VenLogic, will present his findings on the analysis of the AFRL business model and how venture capital industry tools can help accelerate "technology transition" initiatives.

VenLogic leads a series of exercises that demonstrate venture capital best practices in action - translated to the DoD environment. An audience of corporate investors representing well over $1B in investment capital will use these tools to assess a venture live (Russia Jet Direct - a charter airline raising $5M).

• Speaker: Bernard M. Chachula, Colonel (USAF, Ret.) and Attorney
  
  
• Get DoD Capital.
  The United States Air Force is among the world's largest technology investors, investing $3.2 billion each year in over 2000 projects. The USAF is faced with the daunting task of managing a huge portfolio of technology investments. It recently conducted a study to explore the feasibility of establishing a more traditional venture investment fund model, similar to the CIA's In-Q-Tel.
  
  
• Get DoD Contacts.
  Col. Chachula will present the findings of a recent study that explored various DoD venture investment business models and how early-stage technology development is done.
  - Learn the landscape of DoD corporate investors.
  - Get investor contact information.
  
  
• Get DoD Technology.
  Corporate investors may wish to consider partnering with VenLogic on the feasibility study of a new venture fund to target USAF technology spinouts into commercial market applications. Contact VenLogic for more information.
  
  Play Video Clip. Col. Bernard Chachula, USAF Ret.
  (Time: 2m:42s)

• "Evaluate Initiation of an Air Force Venture Capital Fund",
  by Col. Bernard M. Chachula. Published by Wright Brothers Institute.
  Released: May, 2004. 88 pages.
  
  
• Abstract.
  Widespread concern over a perceived technology gap, as exemplified in the above quote by one of the founders of In-Q-Tel (the Central Intelligence Agency's venture capital (VC) organization), has led to the emergence of several venture capital activities within the federal sector to address the problem. The Army now engages in VC activity through OnPoint Technologies of Maitland, Florida. The Navy was directed by a House committee "to examine the benefits of adopting commercial venture capital practices for the more rapid inclusion of cutting edge technologies in major Navy system acquisition programs."
  
  "Venturing activity," or the pursuit of any of a variety of dealings with the venture capital marketplace, is also taking place at the Department of Defense (DoD) level, at the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and other agencies. Given these developments, the leadership of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) decided to sponsor a study to compare these various activities and propose several models for possible adoption by AFRL in support of its Air Force mission. This report is the result of that effort.
  
  

• DoD Solution.
  DoD Investors Demand Lower Risk, and provide clear rules that enable risk measurement and tracking. The DoD acquisition processes mandates that the armed forces (e.g. USAF, ARMY, etc.) and its industry partners make investments and deliver solutions based on a common benchmark that is linked to measuring and tracking risk. This brings substantial benefits to all parties who operate in the DoD funding environment.
  
  
• CEO Paradox.
  Investors Demand Lower Risk, but lack the tools for measuring and tracking it, putting the CEO and it's existing shareholders at substantial risk. Unlike the DoD, the venture industry has simply not invested in the development of tools that help their own members or CEOs save time and money. This provides a vivid example of how the venture funding process is loaded with hidden landmines that are not always designed for the mutual benefit of the CEO seeking capital. As a result, the professional venture investor ends up with numerous unfair advantages that can easily work against the CEO, costing precious time, money, and equity. Without tools that enable investors to clearly reset their expectations for risk, all parties can easily get end up on opposite sides of a vast canyon.
  
  
• Real Tools to Mitigate Risk.
  Learn how VenLogic applies its DoD compatible tools that can help, both investors and CEOs mitigate risk. See how VenLogic made translation to the DoD specification simple and easy to apply to just about any early-stage investment opportunity. Receive a diagnostic tool and learn how to apply the DoD benchmark to your situation. See how substantial value can be added to the opportunity by benchmarking a deal to a NASA-generated specification and how it can accelerate the funding process, while saving time, money, and equity.
  
  Play Video Clip. Robert Kruse, VenLogic LLC
  (Time: 6 min.)

• Get the Answers.
  Venture Investors don't always have enough time to hear a detailed investment presentation by the CEO. CEOs must learn how to explain their opportunity in under five minutes, often without the use of presentation materials (e.g. at a restaurant or cafÈ), no matter how complicated the business. Failure to pass this brief quiz can have the unprepared entrepreneur back on the street in minutes while their coffee is still hot.
  
  
• Ace the Exam.
  Being prepared to answer these three questions will place you closer to the funding source. Entrepreneurs don't realize that they can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing an investor presentation over months and be screened out in a matter of minutes. Since this material is not well covered in MBA programs or published literature, learning it tends to be an unforgettable experience. Wisdom is usually acquired in the most expensive school of all - a real life humbling experience, often accompanied with the added expense of hotel, car rental, and airfare.
  
  
• Make an Impact.
  In this program, you will learn 3 killer investor questions that are used to screen most ventures and are the investor's coveted silver bullet. By learning the art of navigating in this very challenging equity sales interview, CEOs can have a substantial impact on their business. You will witness a room of professional investors and entrepreneurs working together to answer the question as it is applied just following a live CEO presentation using whiteboards. You get a clear visualization of the solution, mapped out and explained by one of the investor participants. You will be better able to save time, money, communicate effectively and have a clear understanding of your business ñ as seen from the investors' vantage point. By mastering just one of the three questions, you will be much closer to thinking and presenting like a professional investor than any Investor Preparation or MBA program we've seen, cutting years and thousands off the learning curve.
  
  Play Video Clip. Robert Kruse, VenLogic LLC
  (Time: 3 min.)

• What is the Strategic Equity Marketing Plan?
  
  
• The Strategic Equity Marketing Plan
  treats stock as a product, packages the deal, segments the investor market, and helps close investors faster. It results from applying product marketing best practices to the company's equity product when raising capital and outlines your "Equity Sales Plan." Companies who fail to apply Equity Marketing principles end up in the Equity Marketing Gap, creating a perpetual search for capital, where they can go out of business raising capital.
  
  
• Speed.
  Mastering the Art of Strategic Equity Marketing first requires strategic Product and Deal Positioning in the minds of 2 different customer groups in totally opposite markets: Investors and Product Customers. Applying this principle in real-time using whiteboard exercises is both the fastest way investors can screen an entrepreneur, as well as a very fast way for CEOs to learn the process. In live programs these techniques have enabled us to a parallel process and screen 9 entrepreneur presentations in 90 minutes with participants having little or no prior experience in this approach. This approach works really fast!
  
  
• Best-Fit Investors.
  One of the greatest challenges the experienced CEO faces is finding "smart money", best-fit investors who understand the space and can add value. CEOs raising capital face an increasingly difficult equity marketing and sales problem with their "stock product" in a growing complex investor marketplace. Applying the rules of Strategic Equity Marketing makes it easier, more predictable, and generates valuable investor feedback.
  
  
• Memorable.
  Learn an unforgettable process for decoding the deal killers to successful venture financing.
  
  Play Video Clip. Robert Kruse, VenLogic LLC
  (Time: 2.6 min.)

Introduced by VenLogic in 1998 in the
Wall Street Journal, reviews by numerous VCs, private investors, domain experts, MBA professors and executives agree this is the foundation material our audiences say every CEO must have in their toolbox before seeking financing.

In recent engagements with the USAF, VenLogic demonstrated how these same principles apply in the DoD environment.

Get the EM 101 Paper (pdf)

• Speaker: Sabrina Ford, CEO, Russia Jet Direct Inc.
  
  
• CEO Presentation:
  Watch a seasoned airline executive present their summary business case to a room of professional venture investors representing over a billion dollars in capital under management. Following the presentation, investors ask a focused investor question which is solved using whiteboards, seen below.
  
  
• CEO Success Story.
  Within 90 days of this program this company was acquired. The company executives cite the benefits achieved in this specific workshop in the program trailer (link below).
  
  
• As it Actually Happened.
  Watch a VenLogic client performing exactly as it happened. Witness how they used this program, one of several VenLogic Services provided, to achieve a substantial return on investment.
  
  Total presentation time: 7 minutes, 12 slides included.
  
  Play Video Clip. Sabrina Ford, CEO, Russia Jet Direct
  (Time: 45 sec.)
  
  Play Program Trailer. Includes endorsement by Sabrina Ford, CEO, Russia Jet Direct
  (Time: 7 min.)

• Live Collaboration
  
  
• Theory Applied:
  Answering the first Killer Investor Question is most effective in an executive investor peer group, performed on white boards. Watch as venture experts collaborate and provide real-time feedback, generating multiple outcomes for the company to consider.
  
  
• Investors Benefit
  Investors benefit from a tool-enabled conversation that rapidly screens ventures and creates syndication opportunities with fellow investors. A real-time venture investor peer review enables investors to stand apart and differentiate, enabling the entrepreneur to design a more targeted approach when seeking capital.
  
  
• Entrepreneurs Benefit
  Entrepreneurs benefit from multiple points of expert opinion directly focused on their deal. Rapid venture design is enhanced with a room of seasoned venture investors collectively analyzing the business case, generating scenarios, and providing a rich, high value, intellectually stimulating conversation. Discussions can instantly lead to board member recruitment, investor syndication, or joint ventures.
  
  Play Video Clip. Investor Exercises for CEOs on Whiteboards
  (Time: 1 min.)

• DoD Compatible
  
  
• Learn it.
  What do investors look for in a fundable, high technology product business case?
  See how pro investors use power tools and expert questions to rapidly assess a technology project investment in real-time.
  
  
• Rare Insight.
  Entrepreneurs get a privileged inside look at how venture investors make critical decisions, with great impact advice very quickly.
  
  
• Do it.
  Following the White board Exercises, watch as participants convert discussion points into measurable factors compatible with the DoD approach for measuring technology risk and maturity. Learn to analyze and benchmark a project using the Venture Maturity Index™.
  
  
  You will get:
  - Witness Live Feedback on a project's strengths and weaknesses
  - Venture Assessment Tools Introduction & Project Analysis
  - Venture Maturity Index™
  - 16-Point Diagnostic Tool Overview
  
  Play Video Clip. Robert Kruse, VenLogic LLC
  (Time: 3 min.)