Trump University Entrepreneurship 101: How to Turn Your Idea into a Money Machine, Second Edition

P1: OTA/XYZ P2: ABC

c18 JWBT144/Gordon September 16, 2009 16:23 Printer Name: Courier Westford, Westford, MA

Develop a Simple, Effective Business Plan

⻫ Revise and upgrade your executive summary as you learn from each meet-

ing. As your executive summary evolves, you will know its strengths and

weaknesses completely. And this is what you want to accomplish.

⻫ Next, make a presentation to your banker. You are not meeting with him

or her necessarily to borrow money, but to get more sophisticated feedback

and to begin a banking relationship. You will also appreciate how, why, and

under what conditions bankers lend money.

⻫ With all that you have learned, make a reasoned decision to proceed with

this particular opportunity, collect more information, or go back in search

of other ideas and opportunities. This is a critical juncture.

Pep Talk

Nicely done! This was not easy. The hours you have spent on your executive

summary have been well worth the effort. By learning to see your business

through the seasoned eyes of investors, you have improved your own chances

and magnitude of success.

197

P1: OTA/XYZ P2: ABC

c18 JWBT144/Gordon September 16, 2009 16:23 Printer Name: Courier Westford, Westford, MA

Photo courtesy of the Trump Organization.

NEGOTIATING WITH DONALD TRUMP AND

HIS ORGANIZATION

Imagine this: You are an entrepreneur with a truly bold vision for a

new business unit that would benefit greatly if you could leverage

the Trump brand. You develop an executive summary and rehearse

your presentation. With dogged persistence, you make contact with

one of the executives in the Trump Organization who screens new

business opportunities. To your joy, you have captured his interest,

and he arranges a meeting between you and Donald Trump. Fifteen

minutes—not one minute more! Mr. Trump is interested and tells you

to come back for a second 15-minute meeting when you have a full

business plan. The second meeting results in a decision to GO. But a go

is not a go. Now you had better be a skillful negotiator. For months you

will be negotiating with some of the toughest dealmakers in the Trump

Organization, with legal, business, and financial skills. For starters, they

will present you with a term sheet containing several non-negotiable

points. Beyond that, the negotiation process will span the range from

big picture to haggling. You will be tested to your limits. Where is your

boundary? When will you walk away? Negotiating with the Trump

Organization will be one of the most exciting and challenging things

that will happen to you in life. At the end of the process, it will be either

win-win or no deal at all. A deal only works if both parties are happy!