What do they mean by executive summary?

Successful Executive summary

Keep it short and simple! Strip away redundant content to focus on the core message. Any layperson who reads your executive summary should clearly understand

• who you are and what you company does,
• what you aim to sell,
• what are the objectives of the proposed project and,
• how you are going to measure success.

Problem, solution & opportunity should be the ‘meat’ of your summary:

• what problem does this project solve,
• how does it solve it and,
• what’s the market for this solution.

This part should also include your value proposition and your unique selling point.

Start with a bang!!

Inspire the investor to read on:

• what is the most compelling thing about your company?
• what are you doing that nobody else is?

This could be along the following lines:

“A big problem today is x, and current solutions are not good; we propose Y which is innovative in aspects A, B and C, and is much more efficient / cheaper / solves issues which no one knew how to solve before.”

Sell, don’t tell!

The summary doesn’t need to outline your entire business plan, but rather it should convince the reader to read on. You may include a very brief financial summary. Provide some financial information such as: the company’s valuation, history and, future of revenue, cash, expenses and losses/profits.
This will help the investors get an idea of what return they can expect. Give info on the growth in headcount, as job creation is a very important factor in the evaluation.

• Emphasize your strong parts! Push hard whatever makes you stand out. Answer the question “Why you and not someone else?”
• Ask for what you need – what amount will help you get to the next milestone, and what is that milestone?
• Provide an excellent description of the market opportunity:
  • who are the clients and,
  • what is the market size (with a European angle, of course) of the competition and,
  • your competitive advantage,
  • the pricing model and,
  • the go to market
• Describe the team in short but powerful sentences.