An overview on the best way to structure your fund raising efforts.

1. HOW DO START-UPS PLAY CHESS
A Strategic approach to fund raising
@fogeldavid
David Fogel Co-founder at ADV

2. QUICK OVERVIEW

3. 1. Who am I ?
2. The rules of the game
3. How to train and prepare
4. Playing the Game
5. Wining is finding a partner
6. How to avoid “Oh Shit Moments”
TODAY’S PRESENTATION

4. WHO AM I?

5. Investor @ADV
8 Years12 Years

8. Accelerated.ventures/apply

9. THE RULES OF THE GAME 1/2

10. TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR
WHO ARE YOU?

11. Are you a
business?

12. A business, is an entity involved in the
provision of goods and/or services to
consumers…businesses provide goods
and services to customers in
exchange for other goods, services,
or money.
Let’s define it
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business

13. So to be a business we need
to know

14. Do you know?

15. So are you a
Startup?

16. Let’s define it 1/2
A startup is an organisation formed to
search for a repeatable and scalable
business model
Steve Blank
Serial entrepreneur and
author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany

17. Let’s define it 2/2
A startup is a human institution designed to
deliver a new product or service under
conditions of extreme uncertainty.
Eric Reis
Serial Entrepreneur and
Author of The Lean Start-up

18. So if you are
Delivering a new
service in
conditions of
extreme
uncertainty
Searching for a
repeatable and
scalable
business model

20. What
does
that
mean?

26. REMEMBER ?

27. No revenue means
No sustainable business

28. How can we pay salaries?

29. Welcome to Extreme Uncertainty

30. THE RULES OF THE GAME 2/2

31. Investors!!!
Who are they and
what do they want
?

34. This is where VCs Play
Source: Startup Genome Report 2012

35. 2 Make
Money

37. $100m
$20m
AAA VC Fund 2018
Life time 10 year
Investment period 3-4
years
$400m
ROUND NUMBERS TO KEEP IT SIMPLE
AAA VC Fund 2028
Fees
$80m
$40m50% follow on
$40m $20m3-4 years $3m per ticket = 3 deals/ year

38. 10% $1bn
Awesome Execution
(After 5 years)
Huge Market
$100m
Potential Annual Recurring Revenue
THE BEST STARTUPS

39. $100m
Annual Revenue
$500m
Potential Company Valuation
5x
Revenue Multiple

40. 20% $500m
VC’s Share of your Company
(After 5 years)
Potential
Company Valuation
$100m
Potential VC Return

43. PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT FOR VCS – NOT
REAL NUMBERS
20
Deals a fund
10
Deals follow up
Next round
3
Deals follow up
Next round
10
Don’t return
Any money
7
Return 1X-3X
On total
capital
invested
2
Return >5X
1
Return >10X

46. How to
train and
prepare

47. 1. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO
BUILD

48. START-UP OR A BUSINESS

49. WHICH INVESTMENT LANE 2

50. 2. GET THE RIGHT NARRATIVE

51. Don‘t need
Lots of money to
Create Great
Games
Vision
10
years

52. Executio
n

54. 3.HOW
MUCH DO
YOU
WANT/NEED
TO RAISE

55. Size Matters

56. It will help you decide

57. ICO?

58. Or

60. So How much
should you raise?

61. 18 MONTHS – NO REVENUE

62. Because the average raise takes 6 months

63. 12 months to reach
meaningful
milestones
+6

64. 4. Prepare a list of the investors

65. WHERE TO FIND THE INVESTORS?
Dealroom List - Most
Prominent European
Investors
Techstars investor List

66. RANK THE LIST

70. Mapp on how are you connected
Warm intros work best

71. 5. GET YOUR DUCKS IN A
ROW

72. MANAGE THE PROCESS
1 2 3
• 1 pager
• Long deck
• Presentation deck
• …
• Business Model
• Product roadmap
• 24 months breakdown
• ...
Play the game

73. And come prepared

74. Playing the
Game

75. 1. Start raising
when you don’t
need money!!!

76. Wait!
What??
?

77. Investors don’t through money at you

78. Tip #5It’s all about showing you can execute
Today
Investor’sLevelofTrust

79. It’s all about showing you can execute over
time
After 3 months
Executing what you promise on
LevelofTrust

80. 2. Don’t ask for Money

81. “If you ask for Money you get advice, if you ask for
advice you get money. So go ask for EVERYBOADY’s
Advice”
Famous Chinese proverb*
*not really, I heard it somewhere I can’t remember
where

82. People LOVE to give advice

83. 3. You are looking
for a leader not just
an investor

84. A Leader will make the round (VC or
Angel)
Most investors want to invest but do
not want to lead
Leading means commitment,
dedication and believe in the team
YOU WANT a LEADER

85. Try to avoid party rounds (no lead)

86. 4. Research/DD your
investor

87. Remember
Getting a
divorce is
easier

88. 5. Create a competition between investors

89. Why?
How?

90. Investor 1 Investor 2 Investor 3
The more offers arrive the more power you
have

91. Winning is about finding a partner

92. This is a
marathon

93. Not a sprint

94. Avoiding oh shit moments

95. Yes is great but NO is your 2nd BFF

96. “This is amazing please keep us
posted”

97. “we would love to see more after your launch
“

98. Beware of “Death by Slow
NO”

99. You have to translate investor talk

100. MOST
WILL END
UP
SAYING
NO

101. But never ever EVER be
rude

104. Thank you
ANY QUESTIONS?
@fogeldavid
davidf@accelerated.ventures
Accelerated.ventures/apply