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Similaire à The Fundraising Toolkit #hnlondon
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The Fundraising Toolkit #hnlondon
- 1. The Fundraising Toolkit Arming Yourself for Success
- 3. Let’s be honest, people say’s its easy to raise money (but it’s not)
- 4. Fundraising is momentum-based “By far the biggest influence on investor’s opinions of a startup is the opinion of other investors.” – Paul Graham
- 5. This is the hardest part
- 6. Preparing for Battle • Networking • Have good Google results, blog, LinkedIn etc • Read up on the industry • Research every investor before you meet them • Founder splits, how much to raise
- 7. Final Prep • Pitch deck, not a business plan • How much to raise • Terms • Getting intro’s
- 8. Logistics 1. Create a spreadsheet of investors 2. Get on Angel.co 3. Start with terms and valuation below market 4. Create a termsheet (memorise it)
- 9. The Pitch
- 10. Technical details • Don’t give away board seats • Get a signed termsheet asap • Create a deadline (very hard to do well) • Name drop (investors love social proof)
- 11. a/b
Notes de l'éditeur
- How many people here have raised any money, angel, VC etc. Out of interest, which was harder angel or VC round?My objective is to arm you with the right tools and help you create the right strategy to successfully raise your next seed round.The rules here are not for VC rounds as they require much more time, diligence and differing tactics. Anyone raising VC now who wants to have a chat afterwards, let me know and I’ll tell you the main differences.
- Here are some of the companies I’m currently actively working with.DFJ Esprit has just over $1b in AUM. Current fund is a $150m early stage fund.My bread and butter is Series A deals of £1-5We’re also part of the DFJ Global Network.
- I’m assuming that you are in the process of completing or have very recently completed your prototype and are most likely a software, internet or mobile business and not a cleantech or biotech co. Seed deals are much harder to raise in those sectors.Biggest secret is to raise the money when you don’t need it – ie before you’ve launched your product.
- The most important thing to understand is that fundraising is an extremely momentum based process.
- The Hardest part is finding your first investor which can, but doesn’t need to be, your largest investor. These are people who commit significant capital ie $100k+ and are well known in the tech world or the space you’re going after.
- Networking - meet every entrepreneur you can. Often make the best intros to investors.Have good google results – this is the first thing people will do when they hear about you.Get smart on the industry – read TC, GigaOn, HN etc.Entrepreneurs love it if you give them good feedback on their product and have ACTUALLY registered or paid for their serviceMake sure you have the nitty gritty figured out ie what % of the company is going to whom. Make sure everyone is going to be working for the company 100% when you’re fundraising
- 1. Create a very short pitch deck. Pitch yourself, the idea second.
- What do you want in your termsheet
- Focus on the problem that you are solving.Talk about why your team is the best team in the world to solve this problem.Talk about the proof that you have from speaking to customers and potential customers that they need your product and will pay good $ for it.Talk about your big vision. It’s easier to raise money on a story than using your facts at this stageThe only facts investors should be looking for at this stage is user retention/usage.Describe how your terms are investor friendly.
- 1. Create a very short pitch deck. Pitch yourself, the idea second.
- After the pitch, immediately decipher what went well and what didn’t go well. I know a team who after every single pitch moved their slides around, changed the content and actively changed the way they pitched the company before their next meeting.