Selection Criteria for Creative Industry Businesses that wnat to participate in teh FAME Financing Network / FAME Coaching & Pitching Events. FAME (Facilitating Access & Mobilisation of European finance for Creative industry growth) is a European project co-financed by the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) under the European Creative Industry Alliance. The main objective of FAME is to strengthen the fast-growing sector of Creative Industries (CIs) by helping channel financial resources to initiatives in this area.

1. FAME Selection Criteria
for Creative Industry Businesses
Criteria Explanation Definition
(cf. Businessdictionary.com)
Great market Growth Possibilities depend on the potential of the market. The market potential = the estimated maximum
potential market should be big enough and not dominated by too many total sales revenue of all suppliers of a
providers. It should be possible to gain a noticeable market share. product in a market during a certain period.
The evaluation of the market potential and the estimated market
share should be realistic. Only then it is attractive for VC
investment.
Sustainable A business idea should help to solve existing problems in a better competitive advantage = A superiority gained
competitive way as before. The improvement needs to be significant & by an organization when it can provide the
advantage measureable (no fuzzy terms to explain!). Furthermore the same value as its competitors but at a lower
business idea should not only work for a short time frame, but price, or can charge higher prices by providing
provide a long-term profit. The competitive advantage cannot be greater value through differentiation.
matched by competitors now, and should maintain that position Competitive advantage results from matching
when growing and facing new competitors. core competencies to the opportunities.
Sustainable competitive advantage = A long-
term competitive advantage that is not easily
duplicable or surpassable by the competitors.
Creative USP The business idea should be unique in order to differentiate from USP = Real or perceived benefit of a good or
(Unique Selling other competitors. It should be very clear what is different (and service that differentiates it from the
Point or Unique better) than already existing products/services. The question competing brands and gives its buyer a logical
Selling "Why should a customer decide to buy your offer and not that of reason to prefer it over other brands. USP is
Proposition) the competition?" should be answered very clearly and often a critical component of a promotional
convincing. The USP should be based on a creative idea not on a theme around which an advertising campaign
technology. is built.

2. Selection Criteria
Criteria Explanation Definition (cf. Businessdictionary.com)
Management Team with One of the most important criteria. The team
strong entrepreneurial should convince with a strong entrepreneurial
spirit, high drive factor and spirit. The motivation to work internationally
international outlook is a condition to be selected.
Highly committed and The organization/team should combine
competent organization professional and commercial skills. But also
the personality of each team member is
essential: experience, creativity, motivation,
strong nerves, cost awareness, etc. The team
should also be open to critique and
suggestions for improvement.
Business model with After having the fixed costs covered, each business model = Description of means and methods a
excellent inherent new customer/user should cause only very firm employs to earn the revenue projected in its plans.
scalability low (variable) costs. The scalability of a It views the business as a system and answers the
business model is a crucial factor for the question, "How are we going to make money to survive
high-growth potential of a business. High- and grow?"
growth businesses should focus on scalable = 1. Facility, plant, or unit whose size,
repeatable and scalable growth drivers. performance, or number of users can be increased on
demand without a penalty in cost or functionality.
2. System designed to handle proportionally very small
to very large usage and service levels almost instantly,
and with no significant drop in cost effectiveness,
functionality, performance, or reliability. Scaleable
systems employ technologies such as automatic load
balancing, clustering, and parallel processing.

3. Selection Criteria
Criteria Explanation Definition (cf. Businessdictionary.com)
Strong and Businesses that already have strong partnerships with
promising suppliers, potential customers, relevant stakeholders and
partnerships opinion leaders have better chances to succeed in the
target market.
International high- The high-growth potential should not be limited to the growth potential = Mathematical probability that a
growth potential country of origin but be valid for a broader target group business will become larger. The growth potential
from all over the world (or parts of it). The solution refers to amount of sales or revenues the
offered by the business idea should not only address a organization generates.
problem in a limited region but address people from
other regions and countries as well.
Attractive exit There should be some ideas for exit opportunities. exit = Point at which an investor (usually a venture
opportunity Only if these opportunities are attractive enough, the capitalist) sells his or her stake in a firm to realize
business is relevant for investment. his gains (or losses). Generally exit is a move
planned at the time of investment decision and
may also be included in the firm's overall plan. See
also exit strategy.