What We Do

Ian Stevenson and the team at Salient Point have a long track record of working in, managing, and consulting for early stage technology companies, and the basis of these engagements has varied widely depending on the needs of the customer.

Often we help young companies understand the problem that their underlying technology can solve for customers, how to package the technology into a product, and what the market for that product looks like. Activities include desk research through to market research with hundreds of potential customers and visits to sales prospects! We deliver progress - not just paperwork - but often a report on the work we do is a useful reference for the future.

We can also provide help with writing business plans, preparing marketing materials, building investor pitches and finding investors.

If ongoing support is needed then this can include taking a position as a non executive director or interim executive within the business.

You can find more information on our work on the customers page, and some examples projects are listed below to give you an idea of the range of activities we can support.

Getting Started

Many of our customers don't know exactly what they are looking for when they first contact us. The best way to resolve this is almost always to sit down and have a good chat! This will make it much easier to find the best way to work together.

We can work on defined projects (for a fixed price) or a simple day rate, and we usually do a small piece of work to start, to get to know each other better. In some cases the initial project may be to help get support for further work, for example to assist with writing an application for SMART Feasibility Study funding.

If we get on, and identify a suitable project, we will be write it up as a brief proposal or as a schedule to a service agreement, depending on your preferred basis for the contract.

We are always very happy to meet with early stage companies with no obligation, and hear about what they are doing (under NDA if necessary) - so please don't hesitate to contact us. We don't bite!

Example Projects

Examples of projects undertaken include:

• Developing a viable business model for a consumer telecommunications product
• Building an investor pitch, and presenting the business to potential investors
• Market assessment in the software and semiconductor industries
• Preparation for a trade show, including developing messages, writing materials, logistics, and helping to man the stand
• Delivering a workshop around preparing a pitch to the Scottish Enterprise High Growth Startup Unit (HGSU)
• Appraisal of intellectual property and business plan on behalf of a potential supporter
• Support for technical and commercial due diligence
• Appointment as interim Business Development Director
• Acting as an independent Non Executive Director
• Support for strategy development, managing and building the team, negotiating contracts, engaging with customers, building a web presence and general business support.

Fees

We believe that the fees we charge reflect the value that we deliver to our customers, and are competitive in the marketplace. Our customers seem to agree - most have commissioned further work after the end of the initial project! We recognise that young companies are often under great financial pressure, and we have a good track record of finding appropriate ways to work with customerss.

Please note that we are not usually able to work on an entirely sweat-equity basis for initial engagements.