Second fundraising tip: Number your slides. Not even joking.
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Fundraising tip: Immediately after a meeting, write down every question that was asked - to the word. It feels tedious but it's the fastest way to improve your pitch.
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Third fundraising tip: Prepare for questions more than you prepare your "pitch." You're not giving a TED talk.
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Fourth fundraising tip: Write a 1-2 page executive summary in Word/GDocs and send that instead of a deck. A good template is the "Prospectus Summary" in any S1. Dropbox S1 is a good template: see pp 1-5 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1467623/000119312518055809/d451946ds1.htm …
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Note: Dropbox summarized 1. what they do 2. its progress 3. its business model 4. why it needs the $$ 5. its strategy and 6. its vision in less than 5 pages
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Subtip: If there were no good questions, they aren't investing.
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This tip was inspired by
@SHO_Billions btw. Like Homer S, I learn everything from TV. cc@briankoppelmanShow this thread
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Subtip: If an investor doesn't follow up within 48 hours, the chances of their investing decreased by 50%. With each additional day of non-response, those chances decay exponentially. Better to have peace of mind that someone has passed.
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The investing climate is way too competitive for a good investor to not follow up within that time frame if they are super interested.
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And that interest will wax or wane with the process. Very rarely do I see an investor go from "kind of interested" to "super interested." If they're not super interested after first meeting, it's basically a pass.
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In the early days, there are some startups for which raising $$ is a waste of time and some for which it is the best use of time (assuming investors ask good questions)
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Not just for fundraising for enterprise sales also :). Wide applicability. Simple concept. Powerful outcomes to be bad.
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yes!
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Literally did this during my Lyft ride returning from back to back VC meetings yesterday thanks
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Thanks! And from your bio, you're a true enigma...Boston and Lakers?! :)
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Facts. That’s what happens when you grow up playing basketball in Sub Saharan Africa, where only the Lakers are shown on TV. But then you go to grad school in Boston, and realize how much your team is hated
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David this is great practical advise. Will be sharing
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thank you!
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Dammit, where were you many years ago when I was *super* naive about this stuff??
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Great advise. Also pitch your “least likely to invest” investors first, so by the time you get to the ones that are likely to put in money, your pitch is polished and you know how to address the FAQs well.
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Great advice. And make sure to sequence your meetings by starting with the VC least likely to fund first.
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