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		I. Questions related with Keiretsu Forum Membership II. Questions Related with the Entrepreneurs Application Process and Presentations I. Questions Related With Keiretsu Forum Membership Q: What is definition of a Keiretsu Forum member? Membership is by invitation only. Members are "Accredited Investors" as that term is defined in Regulation D under the 1993 Act and under other applicable securities laws and regulations. A Keiretsu Forum member is: An active private equity investor. A trusted, honest and respected member of our business community. A contributor of time, wisdom and expertise to our funded companies and soon to be founded companies. Enjoys building relationships with other members and companies we fund. Q: What is the membership structure? 80% Accredited private equity (angel) investors 10% Venture Capital firms and Corporate Investors 5% Sponsor Companies 5% Forum Resource Members. The qualifications for this membership are: Accredited and Private Equity Investor first, and May provide a service to the presenting Companies and to the Keiretsu Forum membership. An example of these services may include: Investment Banking, M&A, Marketing, Financing, Re-Structuring, and general Consulting Services. Q: How many members does Keiretsu Forum have? Each chapter is limited to 150 members. Keiretsu Forum has seven chapters in the United States and one in Calgary, Canada. For the number of members of a specific chapter, please contact the Chapter President. II. Questions Related With the Application Process and Presentations Q: What is the selection process for companies that present to the Keiretsu Forum? Complete on-line application Committee pre-screening (software, telecom, life sciences, automation & instrumentation, media/entertainment, real estate) Selected companies present to a deal screening (15-min presentation, 7-10 companies, the number of members in attendance depends on the specific chapter) Keiretsu Forum meeting (20-min presentation, 4-5 companies, the number of members in attendance depends on the specific chapter) Due Diligence (takes anywhere from 2-3 weeks to 5-6 months depending on the company's industry and stage. Members collaborate in the due diligence but invest as individuals) Multi-Chapter Investing (companies that receive investment traction from one chapter may present to other chapters for additional funding). Q: How many companies that presented to the Forum have achieved funding directly from Keiretsu activities? Please take a look at the list of portfolio companies. The investment interest that the companies receive depends on the specific company, industry, management, stage and other factors. What we've been able to see from past presentations is that there are 7-10 companies that present at the deal screening, 4-5 of them are selected to come to the full Keiretsu Forum meeting and 1 or 2 of them receive investment traction from the Keiretsu Forum members. Again, investment traction depends on a number of factors and is different for each meeting for different chapters. Q: How large are the investment rounds? Keiretsu Forum does not invest as a fund. Members make individual investment decisions. Our rounds have been from $250K to $1.5MM. The smallest investment an individual member has made was $5K. The largest investment an individual member has made was $900K. If you receive financial traction from the Keiretsu Forum, you will be receiving individual checks from members. Q: Does the Keiretsu Forum take commissions from Keiretsu investments? The Keiretsu Forum does not take warrants or commissions for capital raised through the Forum. Q: Is there a presentation fee to the Keiretsu Forum? There is no fee to present at the Screening meeting. However, if on the Screening meeting your company is selected to present to the full Forum, there is a presentation fee in order to defer management and organization cost. Also, the presentation fee serves as filter system. Please contact the Chapter President for more information. Q: What is the stage of companies presenting? Companies that apply to us are typically in their A or B rounds. They usually have accomplished a $500K to $1.5MM friends and family round before they reach us. Q: What is the industry of companies presenting? Forum members invest in high-quality, diverse investment opportunities in Emerging Technologies, Life Science/Healthcare/Biotech, Real Estate, and any other segment with high growth opportunity. Q: How long are the presentations? Screening: 15-minute presentation on 7-10 Power Point slides (7-minute core presentation followed by 8-minute Q&A) Forum: 20-minute presentation on 7-10 Power Point Slides (10-minute core presentation followed by 10-minute Q&A) Q: Are we going to run the presentation from our company's laptop? All presentations are run from the Keiretsu Forum laptop and LCD projector. You will have to e-mail us your Power Point presentation before the screening so that we can upload it on our laptop and enable smooth transition of the presentations. As a back-up, you are asked to have a laptop with you and the presentation on a floppy or CD. Q: What materials do we need to bring at the screening? At the Screening you need to bring 30 copies of the completed Keiretsu Forum Fact Sheet and a 2-page Executive Summary along with any other materials you deem necessary - brochures, product samples, etc. Q: What materials do we need for the Forum? Keiretsu Forum staff prepares a Booklet for the Keiretsu Forum, which has all the required materials. Q: When do we have to arrive at the screening and the Forum? The screening is from 8AM to noon and the Forum is from 7:30AM to noon. You will have the Agenda and the time when your company will present one week prior to the screening / Forum. We suggest that you arrive at least 40 minutes before you are scheduled to present. Q: When will we know whether our company has been selected to present at the Forum? Keiretsu Forum staff will follow up with you no later than the following day of your presentation at the Screening. Q: What are the investment criteria? Some of the investment criteria used to evaluate investment opportunities that come to the Keiretsu Forum are: Revenue is sustainable and recurring; Sustainable margin expansion; There is pain: a need with customers clamoring to pay for a solution. Existing paying customers; Market opportunity – initial vertical market has to be large and compelling; Sustainable competitive advantage with no foreseeable threats from disruptive technologies or other players; Experienced and driven management team with mix of technology skills for proper execution. Clear successes and failures we can see and discuss; Pre-Money Valuations have to be negotiable; Proprietary products or channels of distribution with no foreseeable threats from competing methodologies, technology or channels; The company has to be profitable within 2 years and more importantly this is the last round to profitability; Long-term cash generation capability. Within 3 – 4 years from inception, the company should be able to have the capability to fund itself from internal cash flow in the absence of continued funding; Flexible exit strategy including merger and acquisition by strategic corporate investors IP - Clearly defensive and protected; Knowledgeable Board of Directors with proper mix of strategy, technology and operational skills to support the management team. If you have any additional questions that are not addressed here, please contact the Chapter President of the specific chapter in which you have interest. [back to top]