by Max Gurvits

Raising Capital 101

@MxGur

GOAL: take away possible misconceptions about fundraising

Biggest misconception:

Biggest misconception:

Do you really need it and WHEN?

For growth companies: almost unavoidable

Rule no. 1: Capital is PASSIVE

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

VC for startups: Network and expertise

VC for investors: Reward for helping business grow

1.  When Do You Need VC?

2.  What Kind Of VC Do You Need?

3.  Getting It

Part 1: When Do You Need VC?

Reality check: Are you EARNING or LEARNING?

If you’re LEARNING….

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

No need for any money before

Reason for VC: TRACTION

No hard numbers, just indicators:

20+ recurring business/enterprise subscriptions 3x/5x in waiting list 1 distribution partnership Monthly break-even revenues

No hard numbers, just indicators:

100,000 downloads Double-digit MoM growth

Treat your project like an EXPERIMENT

No traction: something is wrong

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

Part 2: What VC do you need?

Silicon Valley 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!

Step 1: Understand your goals

Step 2: Finding the right people

Step 3: Finding the investors with that experience

Scrutinize the investor market

Step 4: Get them to pay for your new talent

Part 3: Getting the check

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

Step 2: Build database of investors

Step 3: Practice Perfect Pitch

Start with PERFECT 30-sec pitch

First pitch

Second pitch

Step 4: Have your docs ready

Step 5: CLOSE

If it didn’t work out

1.  Strategy not ready 2.  You suck at fundraising

And now, the takeaways

Takeaway 1: Build relationships with investors early on

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

Takeaway 3: Use your accelerator credentials wisely

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

Takeaway 5: It’s like dating

Takeaway 6: If you’re not in SV, you must be better

X + 1

Takeaway 7: When ready, raise as much as you can and be formidable

Not for the faint of heart: This Is SPARTA

@MxGur

Thank you! Max Gurvits Cross Border Angels

Freebie no. 1:

Freebie no. 2

Freebie no. 2

I WILL PAY FOR YOU TO GO THERE

If interested, please tweet:

Freebie no. 3: get featured on #MAXCAST

@MaxCa_ST

@MxGur

Thank you! Max Gurvits Cross Border Angels