Successful new ventures start with a well-thought business model implemented by top-teams, well-connected and capable of pursuing business opportunities

Navigating through a rapidly evolving competitive landscape, requires swift yet well coordinated efforts that unfold along the lines of a scalable business model

• Create a business model for your new venture and position your products & services to make a home-run

• Identify prime customers and segments with potential to yield the most value for your venture

• Create value propositions to fulfill unmet, or better yet, address existing underserved customer needs

• Connect with your customers through channels that enable optimal reach, given the firms’ resources

• Implement enabling processes that make good use of your firms’ human resources and business partners

Generating revenue growth in international markets is key to drive continued value-creation in any later stage venture

Some firms turn to partnerships and alliances to access new channels and customers, and to realize additional profits from existing product-lines

• Develop an expansion strategy that realizes product-line traction fast, utilizing existing resources

• Leverage flexible business models adapted to the local markets addressed, avoiding home-grown mind-set inertia

• Enhance and apply the competitive advantage in a greenfield approach, or through partnerships and acquisitions that add value

• Adapt the communication “feel” and channel mix, to connect with the culture in each region addressed

• Scale-up the expansion effort at a sustainable pace, matching to the organization’s ability to respond effectively

As cash-flow is vital in new venture formation and expansion, attracting good high-potential investors in time is an important task of CEO’s

Some firms are able to attract funds, but sometimes it’s questionable how much added value those funds bring-in, in terms of access to customers, partners and talent, apart from their monetary contribution per se

• Identify and approach Angels and Venture Capital firms that are likely to consider favorably the deal, based on their investment strategy, approach and objectives

• Pitch the venture to the General Partner most interested in the deal and leverage a well-balanced mix of communication channels to unfold the effort

• Follow-up promptly to create a pool of prospective investors and build momentum

• Guide the deal-making process as it unfolds, bridge gaps and ensure a fair deal is reached for both investors and founders

• Close on the deal in a smooth way, avoiding last-minute surprises

As new developments emerge, your venture is called to evolve swiftly, not once, but continuously; apart from cash-flow, scaling and optimal deployment of resources play a key role to succeed in this evolution

Innovative firms position themselves to respond rapidly as new opportunities for strengthening their competitive advantage emerge

• Reconfigure teams, enhance skills, adjust incentive schemes and empower employees to create value collaboratively

• Scale organization capabilities, deploy resources and evolve management approaches when needed, without hesitation

• Apply forward looking, yet proven, enabling business technologies that ease scaling

• Deploy flexible processes end-to-end and empower employees to shape them, while respecting the values and principles of the venture

• Form a corporate culture that’s basis for ongoing organizational evolution and adaptation

Dimitri Papaioannou is Partner and Managing Director of Exelon Partners, a consulting firm specializing in new venture creation & expansion for knowledge-intensive industries, fundraising for technology, energy, infrastructure and clean-tech projects. 

George Kissandrakis is Investment Director at Exelon Partners responsible for deal structuring and sourcing. He is also Private Asset Manager for accounts primarily in the shipping industry and serves as Chief Investment Officer for a Greek shipping family, managing an aggressive portfolio in equities, equity derivatives, FX and commodities.