How to write an Executive Summary

How to write an Executive Summary?Use the line items below for guidance. BUT if you have never written an executive summary before look for expert help, otherwise you will significantly reduce your chance of receiving funding from a professional investor.

An executive summary differs from an abstract in that an abstract will usually be shorter and is intended to provide a neutral overview or orientation rather than being a condensed version of the full document. Abstracts are extensively used in academic research where the concept of the executive summary would be meaningless. An abstract is a brief summarizing statement which must be able to stand alone, while an executive summary, unlike an abstract, is a document in miniature that may be read in place of the longer document.

A formal executive summary will address the followinghow to write an executive summary line items:

  1. Background/Synopsis – Problem definition
  2. Current Status (legal; investments; milestones)
  3. Business Model – “how the company is making money”
  4. Market Opportunity / “Problem”
  5. Competition / Competitive Advantages
  6. Marketing and Sales Strategy
  7. Technology
  8. Team
  9. Offering
  10. Use of funds
  11. Exit Strategies

The focus should be your business model. You need to know what it will cost you to acquire a client. If the investor does not understand how his $100,000 will turn into $10,000,000 he/she will not fund your business.

Also see the ‘venture capital valuation methods‘.

Further reading: Harvard Publication

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