HN Explorer

Ask HN: Any caveats with publishing business plans while looking for investors?

1 points by wcchandler ↗ HN
Hey HN, looking for some advice or insight from others. I've been kicking around the idea of starting a farm for the past 3-4 years. It's going to happen regardless. But in the past couple weeks I've been presented with an ambitious opportunity that requires investment from outsiders. I was already planning to publish all my research (business plans, market research, financial plannings, competitive advantages, etc.) through an open and public medium, but since I'm faced with this opportunity I have some reservations. How much do investors scoff at the idea of having this material available to the public? Would it in any way hinder or negatively impact my future engagements? Would I be limiting my pool of investors? For more details: the opportunity is to start a marijuana cultivation facility in Colorado (which already limits my scope of available investors). I'm also only looking at ~$100,000-$250,000. It's also technically a startup as I'm expecting 7% growth (measured seasonally/quarterly).

Thanks!

3 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 15.5 ms ] thread
The_DaveG
Having gone through the process of raising money in the past, I'd say the 1 determining factor is if you have some sort of IP that belongs to you that will make the idea work. If you have a patent,then there is nothing stopping you from publishing, but just know that it's strange in the community that this would be published.

As a Reference, my last start-up owned a patent and I believe that my pitch deck is still currently floating around online.

I have never lived in the marijuana industry and never dealt with their VC's do you have friends in the industry that you can reach out to to ask their opinion.

As a general rule, I wouldn't publish anything if you don't have the IP.

wcchandler
Thank you for mentioning IP! I haven't double checked that for a while so it's now on the front of my radar. Thankfully though IP capital isn't something I'm banking on... as far as I know.

In RE VC: Unfortunately not. I've met one person who owns a full scale dispensary + retail outlet and seemed cool but we didn't have that kind of introduction. It did seem like he'd be a business contact in the future, though.

The_DaveG
Understandable about the IP, mostly my thought being if you don't have IP, I wouldn't publish the work and let someone come and steal your plan.

You can figure out who you would like to get investment from and just call a couple places tell them that you're in the beginning of the process and want to ask a couple of questions. I know it sounds strange, but you'll get someone to bite.

I would think that the inventor groups are small with all the regulations. I was talking with a group from NY about what they were doing to get one of the dispensary licenses, and the regulatory red tape was crazy. I think the industry has crazy growth potential, and hope you succeed!