You Will Raise Capital

Each person is born unique. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦. No one has the brain chemistry you do, The genetics, The childhood you did, The life experiences. Yet as we get older, we become more and more like everyone else. 𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 and start to listen more to the opinions of others. If you’re going to build that startup, that product, that blog, that piece of art - 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 and embrace it all in its horror, glory and beauty!

Investors are busy—just like the rest of us. Don't take it personally if they don’t respond the first, second, or even third time. And don’t give up. But remember, don’t be annoying! Find meaningful ways to follow up that are relevant, important, and grab the investor’s attention so they feel compelled to chat with you. They might be dealing with personal issues, such as a sick family member or stress from unrelated matters. Then, when the timing is right, and you hit them with the right message, their mind will be open to a conversation. This could lead to a booked call and, many times, a written check.

We all want our lives to be great, yet we don’t even know what we want…

Each person is born unique. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦. No one has the brain chemistry you do, The genetics, The childhood you did, The life experiences. Yet as we get older, we become more and more like everyone else. 𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 and start to listen more to the opinions of others. If you’re going to build that startup, that product, that blog, that piece of art - 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 and embrace it all in its horror, glory and beauty!

𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬? 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮: knock on every door in your neighborhood and ask each person what their goals are. If you find someone who has their goals written down and can show you, I'll pay you $500 per person. The reason? 𝙽𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜. Think about it—so many people desire a good life for themselves and their family yet never take the time to define what that means for them. We spend hours on things that don’t matter, but neglect 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠: writing down our goals. The real reason people fail isn't that they can't achieve their goals. It's that they never clearly define them in the first place.

The six things successful businesses do differently ✔️

Something important to remember as a founder building something new…

𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗼: 1. Intelligent, clear pitch on why your team, product, traction and market are compelling. You have ONE second to grab them. 2. Finding investors who actually invest in your space (not say they do) 3. Reaching enough of them (it’s still a numbers game) 4. Overcoming objections and not taking every “not a fit” at face value. 5. Organized and intelligent follow up through clear best practices and CRM systems (investors get busy) 6. Nailing the diligence process with succinct clarity. 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀! 🚀💼 #Fundraising #Investment #StartupSuccess #YouWillRaiseCapital #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth #InvestorRelations

🚀 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 🚀 1.) 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀: 📝 Tailor your decks to different investor interests. For example, if you're in mental health/consciousness and CPG, create separate decks for each. Similarly, if you're pitching Alt Protein and CleanTech/Sustainability, prepare distinct presentations for each. 2.) 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀: 📑 Build a comprehensive 10-page template with a clickable table of contents. This ensures you control the dialogue when your venture partner presents your investment to their team. One of the most frustrating things is having a great call with a partner at the firm only to receive an email two days later saying the team rejected it. This often happens because the partner botched the pitch. Remember, no one can pitch better than you, so you must control the dialogue at all times, even when you're not there. 𝟯.) 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: 💵 Ensure your financial model is robust and trustworthy. Don't make a perfect business school model, it must withstand investor scrutiny to avoid distrust or deal failure and be defensible. 𝟰.) 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀: 📊 Keep historical financials clean and straightforward, with notes on any unusual areas. 5.) 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽: 🗂️ Build a clean, professional data room to present data elegantly and make an investor’s job as easy as possible. 𝟲.) 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀: 📧 Prepare 3-4 email campaigns that fit each investor profile, each with 4-5 sequences depending on the investor. 7.) 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀: 💬 Craft compelling LinkedIn messages within the 300-character limit. Avoid the common pitfall of starting with "Hey John - great to connect!" Instead, grab their attention with the first few words, saving the niceties for the end. 𝟴.) 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽: 🛠️ Build 3-4 subdomains and set up 20-25 email addresses. Ensure no email sends more than 15 emails per day to avoid spam filters and maintain a healthy email score with synthetic interactions. 𝟵.) 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀: 📌 Compile basic company information so your pipeline specialist does not need to bother you for easy info during the raise. 𝟭𝟬.) 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: 💡 Prepare responses for the 15-20 common objections specific to your niche to overcome objections pre-call, post-call, and during closing. If you take every 'not a fit' at face value, fundraising will take WAY too long - be prepared to overcome objections succinctly and clearly along each step. 𝟭𝟭.) 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 📂 As you get close to bringing in your lead, be ready for the 4-5 specific documents a firm may ask for in their own idiosyncratic way (e.g., staffing plans, model changes, clarifying IP, product roadmap).

I can’t stress this enough to founders. 🤝