Paramount to every enterprise is a healthy, abundant supply chain. Regardless of the end product, the quality and quantity of the raw materials will dictate the quality of output. For those of us in the business of funding other businesses, a good, strong source of high quality deal flow is essential.

When I started to design the business model for Skin in the Game, I wanted a better, less expensive way to generate deal flow. Knowing supply-chain disruption from my past life, I sought to build a source pipeline that was plentiful, diverse (in sector, region, founder) and automated – with no staff or expense required. 

To solve the problem, I thought back to my own story, and that’s when the solution appeared.

When I started my first company, I knew nothing about starting a business. This naiveté had its advantages because I embraced every resource that was there to help, and in Chicago there were many. The Chamber of Commerce, The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and The Women’s Business Development Center helped me get our first bank loan, create financial statements, and facilitate introductions to our first clients. The City of Chicago made me an entrepreneur.

Local organizations, like those that helped me, are on the front lines of innovation. The see businesses every day that are the next great disruptor. In my case, the CEC and WBDC knew that my firm, Zorch, was disrupting a $20 billion industry many years before we were #8 on the Inc. 500 list. I have asked many of them, “How often are you contacted by a VC fund looking for investments?” Every one of them answered, “Never!”

Skin in the Game is going to change that. We are engaging these organizations to refer their clients that meet our criteria: innovative, revenue positive, and scalable. Included in this outreach are chambers of commerce, incubators, accelerators, and SBA chapters, and organizations that support women, minority, disabled, LGBT, and veteran entrepreneurs. 

When the organization refers a business, the founders will complete an application that triggers a technology-driven screening process that utilizes three deep-dive checkpoints including background checks, financial analysis, and more.  The referral and application process is completely automated. Beyond the upfront technology build, there is no cost for the cultivation of the deals, the receipt of referrals or the vetting process.

If every organization we engage sends us only one innovative business a quarter we will have 28,000 vetted deals without having to do a single bit of our own research.

Stay tuned for future developments from Skin in the Game.

 

 

Entrepreneur Nicole Loftus disrupted a $20 billion industry, built the 8th fastest growing company in the country and the #1 woman-led company in the U.S. (Inc. 500). Nicole’s difficult experiences with venture capitalists triggered her next obsession – a better way to fund entrepreneurs.

Nicole’s TEDx Talk shares the first discovery in her journey – the $2.5 trillion in corporate venture. Skin in the Game is the next step in her mission and will engage the public in the process of funding innovative businesses. Loftus is an author, speaker and a frequent guest faculty member at Chicago Public Schools and Northwestern University. Nicole has served as a mentor to many entrepreneurs, some through The Clinton Foundation and The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE).

About Skin in the Game: 

Skin in the Game is a fund, a show, and a movement bringing advertisers and consumers together to fuel innovation, create jobs, and change the game for good.

Nicole and her chief operating officer, Anna Belyaev, who is also a FOX member, presented “Skin in the Game: a Creative Approach for Entrepreneurs to Raise Capital” on Monday, October 23 at the 2017 FOX Fall Forum.