Event: From Idea to Investment by MDA and Expara Pte Ltd

Are you an IDM company, or an entrepreneur with an IDM idea? Would you like to raise funds to start or grow your IDM company? The event “From Idea to Investment for the IDM industry”, a 3-Day Business Plan & Investor Presentation Workshop presented by The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) & Expara Pte. Ltd may be good for aspiring entrepreneurs. Here is how you can register for this event.

The event will be held on 2nd, 3rd and 9th of April 2007 (9.00 am – 5.00 pm) in NUSS Guild House – Suntec City Tower 4, Level 5. Mr. Douglas Abrams, managing Director, Parallax Capital Management and co-Deputy Chairman, Business Angels Network Southeast Asia (BANSEA) is the speaker for this event.

Who should attend?

This workshop is designed for participants who have a serious interest in starting or growing a scalable IDM business – a business which can reach a significant size. It will be especially useful for participants who are interested in seeking venture funding for their business and who want to increase their chances of obtaining funding from venture capitalists, angels and other venture investors

How do we help you get from Idea to Investment?

This is not a “how to write a business plan” course. It is an intensive, hands-on workshop, in which participants will develop their existing IDM business or IDM business ideas into an actual business plan which they will be able to present to potential venture investors.

Workshop highlights

The workshop will help participants better understand the process and dynamics of fund-raising in order to increase their chances of success. By the end of the workshop, participants will learn:

• · What do investors look for in a business plan
• · What do investors look for in a presentation
• · How to avoid the most common mistakes and to get an investor to read your business plan
• · How to get investors to meet with you and how to make an effective investor presentation

Participants will learn to develop and will work through the following key elements of their business plans:
· Value proposition and innovation
· Market identification and analysis
· Marketing strategy
· Sustainable competitive advantage
· Business model, financial forecasts and valuation

At the end of the workshop, participants will present their business plan to a panel of investors.

Douglas Abrams and his track record

Douglas Abrams developed his workshops based on his experience as an entrepreneur and venture investor in Singapore, where he is a Managing Director of Parallax Capital Management; as a Vice President, intrapreneur and technology innovator for 14 years at JP Morgan in New York, and as an Adjunct Associate Professor lecturing on entrepreneurship at the National University of Singapore.

Douglas graduated from the Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania with a BAs in Communications and received an MBA from The Wharton School. He is a lecturer on New Venture Creation and Technopreneurship at the National University of Singapore Business School and was awarded the prize for Most Creative Teaching Method by the Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises Program at Syracuse University. Douglas is Co-Deputy Chairman of the Business Angel Network of South East Asia (BANSEA) and serves as an advisor for many start-up companies, including those started by his former students.

Douglas has trained more than 1000 fledgling and current entrepreneurs from 20 countries. His students and companies have raised more than S$3 million in investment, business plan prizes, and grants. From 2004-2006, Douglas’s students have taken home 80 prizes in major business plan competitions all over the world. He has founded two IDM start-ups in Singapore, is a Director in another and has worked as an advisor and trainer for more than 50 local early-stage IDM companies. He is also the founder of Expara, a company providing entrepreneurship and innovation training and advisory services.

What exactly is IDM and does my business/idea qualify?

Interactive and Digital Media (IDM) can apply to a wide range of businesses and business ideas, including IDM technologies, content and convergence. In addition to traditional media businesses, IDM can include IDM-enabling technologies, digital animation, mobile applications, Web 2.0 and 3.0 applications, and virtual worlds. If you are not sure whether your business or business idea qualifies as an IDM business, go ahead and register and we will review it for you.

To Register

Email Ms. Ivy Tan at ivy@expara.com with the following details:
(i) Full name
(ii) NRIC or Passport No. (if the latter, please indicate country of issue)
(iii) Nationality
(iv) Occupation &/or designation
(v) Company
(vi) Contact details (mailing address, email address, contact numbers)
(vii) A brief description of your IDM business or business idea

Note: The workshop is limited to 25 seats only and registration will be made on a first-come-first-serve basis. Payment of S$50 is to be made payable to Expara Pte Ltd via

Cheque and mailed to:
Expara Pte Ltd
1 George St, #17-05
Singapore 049145

Registration will be confirmed upon receipt of full payment, and successful registrants will be notified via email or telephone.

As this is the first in our series of 2007 IDM workshops, it will be offered free of charge. Your $50 check will be returned to you on the third day of the workshop. However, we must receive your $50 check to confirm your seat at the workshop.

For more information or general enquiries, please contact Ms. Ivy Tan at
Tel : +65 6435-5295
Fax : +65 6536-7908
Email : ivy@expara.com

About The Author

SGE - (SGE)

Covering the Singapore and Southeast Asia startup and entrepreneurship scene since 2005.

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