7. If yes, what are the options?
• Friends & family
• Local angel investors / preseed & seed funds
• Government and local grants / foundations
• Alternative paths:
• Crowd funding: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe
• Crowd investing – accredited: Angelist, EquityNet, Crowdfunder, Fundable
• Crowd investing - non-accredited: Republic, SeedInvest, MicroVentures, truCrowd
• Sector focused: CircleUp (consumer brands)
• Accelerator programs: Entrepreneur First, YC, 500 Startups, TechStars, etc.
• Other outside your geography VCs
8. Zero connections, where to start?
• Counter-intuitively – your connections!
• Call up your most connected friends, the ones people call “super
connectors” – there’s always at least a few in your social network
• Be shameless (but not annoying) – talk to everyone about your idea
• Power of weak connections – people love to help each other
• Create opportunities for yourself
11. Traditional VC
• BEST = warm intro through a good friend, business contact, founder
• DO NOT blanket bomb
• This is the biggest waste of time that I see
• DO your research:
• Categorize investors (not firms) by interest areas, stage, geographic exposure, etc.
• Have they invested into similar category but non-competitive startups?
• https://signal.nfx.com/login (free tool to find the right investors)
• FIND people who are incentivized to help you:
• Local angels & VCs
• Other VCs who have an office or interest in the geographic region you’re in
• Scouts: incentivized to look for VC deals
• ALWAYS get feedback if you can, so you can better iterate
12. Position yourself digitally
• Google yourself
• Re-read your historical Twitter tweets, Linkedin comments, etc.
• Keep your LinkedIn profile updated:
• Photo
• Brief summary of what you’re looking for
• No spelling mistakes, no gaps in years
• Get relevant recommendations if you can
• Connect with everyone you know
• Create memorable content
• Personal blog
• What is your story? Represent your narrative to show you in best light
18. Seeing people as an end in themselves
• Do not use people as a means to an end
• Align interests – make the situation win-win
• Give people a compelling reason to help you – people want to help
• Compelling reasons:
• You’re articulate, enthusiastic but also realistic
• You thoroughly understand your business: pros and cons, upsides and risks
• You can defend your position without being defensive
• You understand why it appeals to investors