TO: Jeff Zalla, Diatom Ventures
FROM: SAMPLE MEMO ONE
RE: Increasing deal flow through low-cost, high-impact activities
All private equity firms have money to invest – what makes a private equity firm unique is the investors, through their guidance, expertise, and commitment. However, in order to turn these skills into a competitive advantage, it is necessary that, 1) you have a clear and consistent message, and 2) that the message is heard. This memo offers recommendations to increase the credibility and visibility of your firm, increasing deal flow through low-cost, high-impact activities.
1. Judging a book by its cover: the importance of website design
Because people will so often judge a company by its website design, simple aesthetic website tweaks would be a low-cost way to improve the company image. Some suggestions are:
▪ Rely less on bullets for communicating information. Though useful for quickly conveying ideas, too much reliance on bullet formatting makes the website less visually appealing. Instead, utilize flow charts, tables, and diagrams and expand important concepts into short paragraphs with key words or ideas highlighted. ▪ Not all fonts are created equally – using more condensed fonts like Georgia or Arial are easy ways to make the text automatically look more sophisticated. These fonts also appear to be more commonly used on financial firm websites. ▪ Utilize images more effectively as they are a quick and compelling way to present your message. The images of the earth are a good start as they tie in well with your tagline, “Building businesses that benefit the world.” However, the earth can’t tell the whole story, and the exclusivity of those images make Diatom appear to be environmentally focused. You’re looking for a broad range of investments, and your images should reflect that diversity.
2. The devil in the details: specificity is key
“Social responsibility” means