2. What is Timeless?
Timeless Enterprises is an umbrella brand, much like Richard Branson
has created with Virgin Enterprises. Each brand, whether it be
Timeless Ventures, Timeless Law, Timeless Talent Agency, Timeless
Newspaper and Magazine, Timeless News Channel, Timeless Security,
Timeless Records, Timeless Productions or Timeless Clothing... all
help to reinforce the positive brand perception that we hope to achieve.
This pitch deck will be focused solely on Timeless Ventures.
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3. 3
Timeless Enterprises Logo
Often the simplest symbols are the ones with the richest meanings.
The infinity sign, the figure of eight, and the mathematical lemniscate
all refer to the same shape that contains a wealth of complex meaning
within its fluid lines. This mysterious symbol is found on an everyday
object, the camera, where it appears as the infinity lens focus. Because
the circles of the lemniscate sit side by side, the sign implies equality
between these opposing forces, with the connecting point in the center
the convergent point. The sign epitomizes the idea of sexual union and
of "two becoming one." The infinity sign stands for wholeness and
completion.
5. The Timeless Ventures Story
Timeless Venture Capital is a firm founded by 21 year old John
Seyferth, along with his friends and business partner Connor McBride,
Nick Sirbu, and Sheldon Medici. John is an entrepreneur who believes
strongly in self education, due largely in part to the explosion of online
MOOC’s and the democratization of knowledge. Connor is a finance
major at Michigan State, Nick is neuroscience major at U of M, and
Sheldon is a consultant at one of the top firms in the world, Deloitte.
The initial idea for the firm was spawned by John, who was disappointed in
the lack of genuine education for entrepreneurs. Although the education
system has proven useful for many, the fact that you have to go into debt to get
the knowledge of what it takes to launch a company just didn't seem right to
him. The idea for this company is to educate people, while simultaneously
getting them involved with startup life.
The only way you can truly learn how to be an entrepreneur and obtain the
leadership skills necessary to build a dynamic company is to learn from the
best, and we hope to provide the culture and atmosphere that allows that to
happen.
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7. Brand Positioning
Positioning is one of the most important things a company has
to decide. The most obvious and glaring question, how do
we want people to view and perceive us? And, even more
importantly than that, the deepest soul searching question
a company can ask itself... what is our purpose for being here?
We plan on positioning ourselves as being one of the most
high class, professional firms in the world. We are the Uber of
Venture Capital, designing a convenient process that could help out
any entrepreneur, regardless of where they are along their
personal journey.
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8. Our purpose is to help people in poverty stricken situations, and
give them a real opportunity at achieving success. Our
founders are people who's roots are deeply imbedded in
Detroit, and we fully plan on aligning our skills, knowledge,
and expertise to help our great city.
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12. Venture Capital - UBERFIED
When you look at Uber, what you should see is not a taxi
app, but a blue print for how to do ‘convenience tech’. We are
taking that blueprint, and using it to create "convenience
Venture Capital."
Along with an approachable physical firm, we also want to
tap into the virtual Venture Capital world as well. Too many
firms place location as a top priority when determining if
they should invest in a startup or not. With cloud
technology, we will be investing in startups all over the world.
Timeless Ventures thinks local, and acts global.
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13. The real genius of Uber lies in a deep understanding of
convenience – what it is, and why it matters. That’s what
Uberfication is all about; pivoting your business to deliver on
the most valuable core under-exploited consumer need -
convenience.
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18. The Psychology of
Convenience
Uber does more than deliver convenience as a
simple service attribute, it delivers convenience
across every consumer touch-point.
Specifically, Uber taps into convenience research
that has identified five specific opportunities for
convenience tech to buy people time and save
them effort. And Uber and Timeless Ventures
deliver on every count.
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21. A Simplified Venture Capital
Experience
If you haven’t experienced Uber yet, it works
like this. You tap your smartphone screen, and
a taxi appears automatically - as if by magic.
Uber is all about 'uber-convenience', earning the
service hero status in the hot emerging category of
'convenience tech' – technology that buys you
time and saves you effort.
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22. 5 Opportunities for
Convenience
Decision Convenience – Making it fast and easy to choose. At
Timeless Ventures, we are one of a kind. We are a one stop
shop for any entrepreneur. There is no other firm like us.
Access Convenience – We plan on being located in the hot
spots, the places that are most accessible to people. By
creating a hybrid experience where you can just walk in,
share ideas, get educated, start working with other startups
or even building your own all in one place, we offer a one of
a kind experience not replicated by any other firm. The
partners of the firm are quite strong in our conviction that
this is the future of Venture Ventures.
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23. Convenience ( Continued )
Transaction Convenience – Making it fast and easy to pay,
often times with no payment required at all. We pay our
entrepreneurs, not the other way around.
Benefit Convenience – The benefits of working with Timeless
Ventures are unrivaled by any. We offer an experience that
no one else can match. Our name and logo say it all.
Post-Benefit Convenience – Making ourselves available every
day, 365 days a year to the entrepreneurs who have
graduated from the program, along with a plethora of
resources that can be accessed on demand.
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25. The Problems:
Timeless Ventures is going to solve 3 of the
country’s biggest problems... it’s a perfect storm.
The Problems
• The Creativity Crises
• The Debt Crises
• Lack of genuine education for entrepreneurs ( How can you
start a business coming out of school 100k in debt? )
27. The Global Creative-Class Index
Far from being the leader, the United States is not even in the top ten. The creative class
constitutes around a third of the workforce in Ireland, Belgium, Australia, and the
Netherlands; it accounts for roughly a quarter of the workforce in six other countries:
New Zealand, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Finland, and Iceland. When our
U.S. data are adjusted to be comparable to the ILO figures (which use a narrow definition
of creative job categories that excludes “technicians”), the United States comes in, with
23.6%, at 11th worldwide. 27
28. The Importance of
Creativity
There’s a whole new class of workers in the U.S. that’s 38 million
strong: the creative class. At its core are the scientists, engineers,
architects, designers, educators, artists, musicians, and
entertainers, whose economic function is to create new ideas, new
technology, or new content. Today, the creative sector of the U.S.
economy, broadly defined, employs more than 30% of the
workforce (more than all of manufacturing) and accounts for
nearly half of all wage and salary income (some $2 trillion)—
almost as much as the manufacturing and service sectors
together. Indeed, the United States has now entered what we at
Timeless Ventures call the Creative Age.
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33. 33
The biggest thing that separates entrepreneurs
from employees is that entrepreneurs are risk-
takers. You simply can't manufacture risk-takers.
The higher education system serves the purpose
of manufacturing like-minded clones with the
same attributes and mentalities. When we say
clones, we are not trying to be disrespectful... but
we’re not sure there's any other way to sugarcoat
it. A clone by definition is a model that matches
another with the same characteristics.
Think about how detrimental it would be if
entrepreneurs were all walking around with the
same thought processes and approach to
business. We'd never innovate. At the core of
entrepreneurship is the idea of individualism.
You Can't Manufacture Risk
Takers
34. Individualism is not an attribute that is encouraged in the classroom setting
and it never will be. It would force a learning environment with limited
curriculum because in an environment that cultivates the growth of
individuals, there's no way to appropriately grade each individual student.
Are you supposed to give one kid an "A" because his idea and business
plan worked, but then you give another kid an "F" because theirs didn't?
34
36. You Can’t Teach Entrepreneurism
Part 2
Selling products and services is less about having
the greatest quality or the best solution. It's more
about having distribution and the best
marketing. Gaining distribution comes down to
building relationships, pounding the pavement
and closing deals, and marketing comes down to
connecting with the consumer's deepest
emotional wants, needs and desires. In this day
and age with mass media proving to be less and
less effective, businesses that are doing well are
utilizing alternative marketing methods. They're
building their email lists, social media following
and they're prioritizing their customer
experience.
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37. The Rapid Pace of
Innovation
Since marketing continues to evolve at such a rapid pace
the notion that you can learn how to market a business in a
classroom is downright laughable. Before you graduate the
game will have changed 10 times over. What you
previously learned for four years will no longer be as
effective or relevant. This is even true for distribution.
Since the barriers to entry for an entrepreneur have
become smaller and smaller, more and more companies are
selling their products or services online. This allows
entrepreneurs to cut out the retail middle man and sell
direct to the consumer, so while you're wasting your time
in college learning models and theories; they'll all be
obsolete no matter what part of the entrepreneurial ladder
they rest on.
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39. You Can’t Teach Entrepreneurism
Part 3
The most prominent entrepreneurs never
studied the field. 39
40. We could make a page-long list with the names of entrepreneurs that didn't
graduate from college or get a degree in entrepreneurship. We could also use
these people as examples for why learning entrepreneurship in the classroom is
unnecessary and nonsensical. Many would retort that that list doesn't
accurately reflect the full spectrum of entrepreneurs who are successful. We'd
both be right.
However, there's something to be said about the fact that most of the world's most
successful entrepreneurs never studied entrepreneurship in the classroom. There's
also something to be concerned about when we try to manufacture entrepreneurs
the way we manufacture employees. I believe it will destroy the allure and beauty of
entrepreneurship.
40
42. College by default is the average person's Plan A and Plan B. Even
when young adults aren't necessarily excited about going to college,
they're pressured by their parents and they're told, "you need to
graduate from college so you have something to fall back on."
Entrepreneurs don't look for things to fall back on, and they're not fond
of Plan Bs. They go all in.
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43. What always drew us to entrepreneurship was the idea that you could
pursue your dreams building a business and achieve success based
purely on a good idea, providing something of value and busting your
butt to bring it to the world. This entrepreneurial spirit keeps the playing
field level, because at the core of entrepreneurship is the idea that
anybody with an idea and the fortitude to push through can achieve
success. This is why entrepreneurship can't and shouldn't be taught in
the classroom, because the entrepreneurial environment of risk, change
and individualism that makes entrepreneurs successful can't be taught, it
must be experienced in the field. 43
46. CURRENT SOLUTIONS
What is already being done to solve this problem is found where
you would expect it, companies like Google, Uber and Techstars
have created “startup factories.” This is a great idea... but what
they lack, is availability
Only Stanford and Ivy league grads are admitted to these startup
factories.
This causes a smaller field of ideas to choose from, and also can
cause a diversity issue, both in gender and race.
48. Timeless Ventures will be a much less selective firm, as we
will have our doors open to anyone who has a dream and
who is willing to work for it. We want our firm to be as
approachable as walking into a Starbucks.
By creating this platform for everyone, what we’re going to
get is something much, much more valuable than just
cultural diversity. We are going to get the most diverse range
of ideas imaginable.
By helping kids develop ideas, helping kids market their
product, helping kids create apps... the creations that come
out of Timeless Ventures will be astonishing.
Our Solution - The Best
Solution
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50. The 10x Strategy
Our goal is to create the most premier, high class startup factory
in the world. We provide startups with hands-on mentorship,
resources, a network of world class entrepreneurs, and up to
$200,000 in seed capital.
We are aiming to create a Venture Capital firm that is 10x more
amazing, holistic, innovative and disruptive than anything else out
there. With this idea... we are going to disrupt Venture Capital.
It's a moonshot strategy pulled right out of the Larry Page ( the CEO
of Google and the person who is hailed as the most ambitious
person on the planet ) playbook. Create something 10x more
innovative,.. and get 10x the profit.
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51. It's rare, and it's definitely an
exception to the rule. But...
51
52. But we firmly believe exceptional companies are built by
exceptional people. And at Timeless Ventures... we sure
are a group of exceptional people.
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54. What is a Startup Factory?
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DIGITAL STRATEGY
We do the research and develop the strategies that best represent your brand
and will reach your target market.
Here are the Services that Timeless Ventures Offers
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Our entrepreneurship training is the perfect way to move your company forward – we
cover everything from how to pitch to making a business plan. Anything a founder
needs, we have.
ACCELERATION
The Accelerator works together with Timeless tech entrepreneurs to bring their
ideas to ventures with validated business models, paying customers and established
partnerships.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Learning how to sell and make connections will take your company from 0 to 1. Skilled
business developers will teach people the most effective ways to do this.
WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
We create websites that match customers brand personality. We help people let
their customers know what you’re about and sell your product online.
55. Startup Factory
( Continued )
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DIGITAL MARKETING
Our marketing experts and Timeless advisers will walk people through developing
marketing strategies to reach their target audience.
MENTORING
Our team of mentors will coach and guide new Founders through the steps to
becoming a successful Timeless Ventures company.
INCUBATION
Our incubator works with Founders to grow and develop Timeless businesses that
are going to change the global American landscape. Learn from people that have
been there.
SEO & SEM
Through a combination of advertising and keyword optimization, our expert
marketers will help get you to the front of those search engines.
FUNDRAISING
We invest in ventures that we know are going to impact the global halal
industry. Access to external investors is also provided to grow new
companies.
58. As quoted by our founder and CEO, John - “I fully believe that one of
the biggest values that we’re bringing, and I don’t see it talked about much
in other accelerators, is the culture and community that we help you build
around your startup. Money is important because it equates to time and
runway. But it’s really about having a place where you can show up, and
be better. And be much better off rather than doing it alone. Because
entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. We’re a family, and we do
anything for our family. That’s just how it goes with our family.”
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59. Startups... The Ultimate Job
Creator
There are almost 28 million small businesses in the US, and
over 22 million are self employed with no additional payroll or
employees
“States and cities with job creation policies aimed at luring larger,
older employers can’t help but fail because they are not based in
realistic models of employment growth. Job growth is driven,
essentially entirely by startup firms that develop organically.”
–Kaufmann Foundation Research Series,
Tim Kane, Kaufmann Foundation of Entrepreneurship
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62. We don’t sell anything. Rather... We create a platform for
creation.
Instead of profiting and charging ridiculous prices for classes
that won't really help kids out anyways and putting kids into
loads of debt... we make a profit by nurturing and investing in
the future innovators and millionaires of our time. People who
will do wonders for the city of Detroit, and the economy as a
whole.
64. When Co-Creation Becomes the Heart of
Marketing, Companies Win
Advertising and marketing are changing and more than ever, and
it's the customers who are pulling the strings. The Internet has
given customers ever-increasing powers to research, compare,
and review brands, enabling both good and bad customer
experiences to be broadcast to the world. This is proving
challenging for many companies, who've always exercised so
much control over their brand messages.
But many brands are harnessing the power of the Internet and
"social proof" by optimizing user-generated content (UGC). These
are the brands that understand the power of co-creating their brand
together with consumers and tapping into the creativity of their
biggest fans.
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65. Co-Creation and Loyalty
The key to co-branding is to allow the
audience to feel part of the campaign while
retaining some control. This isn’t always an
easy concept for brands to grasp: it requires
bravery to put faith in voices beyond the
office walls. But being brave can pay off. By
giving millennials the opportunity to co-
create, you’re automatically encouraging
brand loyalty.
By becoming directly involved with a
brand, they gain a feeling of influence and
control, while seeing that their input
actually matters – thus this encourages
them to continue to engage.
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67. Millennials can prove to be one of your most
willing sources of ideas. As digital natives, they
naturally expect a stage on which their voice can
be heard, and are programmed to have access to
choice. Co-creation allows for all this. 67
76. 76
There's some real competition to this, so anyone on board of the firm understands the
importance of moving fast. The founder of Uber just launched a 50 million dollar fund...
For the same idea. Techstars, a firm founded in Boston, just raised nearly 150 million, for
the exact same idea. The founders of Andreeson Horowitz, the firm who is given credit for
disrupting the entire landscape of Silicon Valley itself, raised nearly 2 billion dollars... for
the exact same idea.
77. 77
When we say same idea... we mean at it's core. But based on every technical
factor out there, they don't compare to what Timeless Ventures is. They are
just regular venture capital firms. We are better. We are different. And we
pride ourselves on that.
We plan on franchising the heck out of this idea. We fully intend on creating
Silicon Valleys...
Everywhere.
82. Under digital disruption, the digital infrastructure that
companies like Apple and Google are building is relatively
quick – Apple sold more than 140 million iPads in under three
years, creating a kind of digital highway over which app
developers could deliver a new experience.
82
83. So if people + infrastructure has always led to
disruption, digital disruptors + digital infrastructure
leads to digital disruption, the most powerful type of
business innovation ever seen.
83
86. TARGET MARKET
Half of our target market at Timeless Ventures are people
just like our founders. People who have too big of ideas and
are just too ambitious to go to school. The other half is
people who couldn’t afford to get a degree... even if they
wanted to. We want to give those people a real opportunity
to do something with their lives.
With the right partners, and the right funding, Timeless
Ventures will find, educate, and empower the next great
thinker to become the next Mark Zuckerberg. He is out
there... and he needs our help.
88. Our product and services are more along the lines of an experience...
The firm is very passionate about creating amazing experiences for people.
Whether it be a free concert with people’s favorite artist, an awards show
featuring all their favorite stars, or experiencing a platform designed
specifically, not for them, but around them.
Above all else... We are experiences designers. It's what we do best. We believe
good experiences are the key to a fulfilling life. We are very passionate
about it. And it shows, in our work, and ideas.
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92. Top Brands Use Concerts as
Marketing
People from all walks of life engage with music
in their every day routines. Music brings out
positive feelings within humans and ultimately
makes people feel good. Brands are increasingly
beginning to interact with consumers through
the music medium, in order to turn good
feelings into a positive brand experience.
Brands are using music as a way to connect with
their consumers now more than ever. In fact, U.S.
music fans feel much more favorable toward
brands that engage them through their favorite
tunes.
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102. Timeless... The Best Customer
Experience in Town
Timeless Ventures offers a branded consumer
experience unlike any other.
An idea already adopted by established companies
like Techstars, we are taking it a step further with
innovative marketing and branding, and by having
our doors open to everyone, with a willingness to
nurture not just the Harvard grads.
105. In the old world, you devoted 30% of your time to building a
great service and 70% of your time to shouting about it. In the
new world, that inverts.
-Jeff Bezos
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