2. Private
Equity
Venture
Capital
Seed
FFF / Accelerators
More
$$$

3.  Angels
 VCs
 Crowdsourcing
 Other?

5.  GET AN INTRO. ALWAYS!
 No NDAs
 Elevator Pitch. Demo. Deck
 Less Features. More Focus
 What is the goal of the 1st meeting?

6.  Plan 1 year ahead
 Add a 30% buffer
 Fundraising will take 6-12 months
 Is bigger always better?

7.  Pre-money and Post-money
 It‟s an art. Try to turn it into a dog race
 Stock option pool (10-20%)
 Convertible debts (20% discount, caps)
 Exit considerations
 How much do investors expect to make?

8.  Don‟t waste much time negotiating
 Seedsummit standard terms
 Get to an “Yes” before you talk terms

9.  People give to people. Not to ideas,
companies or strategies.
 Fundraising is not about money. Money is
the means to an end.
 Traction matters.
 Honesty is the best policy.
 The mountain and Mohammed.

10.  Ask for money and you will get advice.
Ask for advice and you will get money.
 Raise money when you don‟t need it.
 Investors‟ herd mentality is notorious.
 Friend-making comes before fundraising.
Build relationships.

11.  Be „15 minutes ahead‟.
 Know your audience.
 Know whom to ask, how much to ask for,
and when.
 Successful fundraising involves storytelling
(with passion). Practice a lot
 Watch Shark Tank.

12.  Show commitment
 Keep us in the loop
 Use the network
 Collaborate
 Build a board

13.  Didn‟t research the competition
 The better mousetrap
 Painkillers versus vitamins
 The more features fallacy

14.  Things take longer than you expect
 Didn‟t take the money
 Chasing investors instead of befriending
investees
 Trying to win over everyone
 Fundraising is not (exactly) selling. Don‟t
oversell.

15.  Fundraising is hard
 Listen to investors
 Time is flying. Speed up
 Traction > Execution > Ideas