Raising your first seed or VC round requires dedication and understanding of what investors want to see in a startup, and how they are best triggered to give you their fullest. This presentation contains 5 must-dos and 7 suggestions for structuring a coherent and actionable fundraising process at the seed stage

1. by Max Gurvits
Raising Capital 101

2. @MxGur

3. GOAL: take away possible
misconceptions about fundraising

4. Do you really need it?

5. For growth companies: unavoidable

6. Rule no. 1: Capital is PASSIVE

7. Rule no. 2: Unlike professional $$,
VC $$ is not a product but TOOL

8. VC for startups: Network and
expertise

9. VC for investors: Reward for helping
business grow

10. 1. When Do You Need VC?
2. What Kind Of VC Do You Need?
3. Getting It

11. Part 1: When Do You Need VC?

12. Reality check: Are you EARNING or
LEARNING?

13. Money (like all resources) must be
scarce at early stage

14. Reason for VC: TRACTION

15. No hard numbers, just indicators:
20+ recurring business/enterprise subscriptions
3x/5x in waiting list
1 distribution partnership
Monthly break-even revenues

16. No hard numbers, just indicators:
100,000 downloads
Double-digit MoM growth

17. No traction: something is wrong

18. Face it, change/pivot, or get money
to make problems go away

19. Part 2: What VC do you need?

20. SV fundraising model:
1. Here is what we have
2. Here is where we’re going
3. Here is WHO we need to get there
4. Help convince these guys and
pay for them!

21. Step 1: Understand your goals

22. Step 2: Finding the right people

23. Step 3: Finding the investors with that
experience

24. Scrutinize the investor market

25. Part 3: Getting the check

26. Step 1: Map your fundraising social
graph and talk to ALL in your
vertical

27. Step 2: Build database of investors

28. Step 3: Practice Perfect Pitch

29. First pitch

30. Second pitch

31. Step 4: Have your docs ready

32. Step 5: CLOSE

33. If it didn’t work out
1. Company not ready
2. You suck at fundraising

34. And now, the takeaways

35. Takeaway 1: Build relationships with
investors early on

36. Takeaway 2: Choose who will lead
the effort (or hire someone)

37. Takeaway 3: Use your accelerator
credentials wisely

38. Takeaway 4: Set up your fundraising
process and run it as such

39. Takeaway 5: It’s like dating

40. Takeaway 6: If you’re not in SV, you
must be better
X + 1

41. Takeaway 7: Raise as much as you
can and be formidable

42. Not for the faint of heart: This Is SPARTA

43. max@cccstartups.com
@MxGur
@CCCStartups
Thank you!
Max Gurvits
CCC Startups