By Nathan Beckord

You’re not promoting the product to the investor, you’re promoting the chance.

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You want to elevate capital in your startup. It’s one thing you are able to do by yourself, however what if somebody may present you the ropes and enhance you up?

Eva Dobrzanska is the go-to knowledgeable for including that additional oomph to your elevate. She’s a seasoned skilled within the area, well-known to founders looking for enterprise capital funding. Whether or not it is offering advert hoc steering or sourcing offers for Block Dojo’s blockchain startup accelerator, Eva Dobrzanska walks founders by way of each step of the funding course of.

Her experience covers a large spectrum; she advises founders on fairness fundraising methods, investor outreach, and concentrating on, scaling a enterprise and increasing internationally, and accessing the best funding. Notably, her fashionable “Capital Elevating Thoughts Map” just lately went viral on LinkedIn.

On this article, Eva shares precisely how she likes to speak with traders—plus how having an alternate pitch deck could be simply as vital as the principle deck.

The easiest way to speak with traders

Chilly calling and chilly emailing could be daunting, however not essentially efficient. Nevertheless, heat intros aren’t at all times doable. What’s a founder to do? With loads of observe within the artwork of partaking traders, Eva provides up some ideas for the way she likes to speak with traders to get outcomes.

Create urgency

“I at all times inform founders that in fundraising, they’ve to have the ability to create the sensation that ‘the practice is leaving the station,’” Eva shares. This implies cultivating a little bit of FOMO by highlighting your startup’s upcoming launches and different information. If the following quarter can be large for the corporate, discuss why. Additionally useful: any tidbits on why your organization presents a scorching alternative for a restricted time.

With that, she encourages follow-up anytime a brand new milestone is achieved. She provides the instance of opening a brand new distribution channel—the form of deal that will increase a startup’s income potential. Typically, an investor who’s been loosely following your progress will chew after seeing that your success is climbing.

Do your homework

Look sharp from the bounce by displaying traders that about them. Sure, this does require some legwork, but it surely’s time nicely spent.

“It’s best to know the newest funding they made. Should you’re a sustainable fintech enterprise and you might be reaching out to a VC who simply made an funding in a sustainable fintech enterprise, likelihood is they don’t seem to be going to go forward with you. They already invested in your competitor,” Eva says.

Nevertheless, you’ll be able to search for investments in companies which might be adjoining to yours as representing a chance to place your foot within the door. Even when you’re not elevating at that second, it’s a superb time to introduce your self and share the way you may work nicely with that firm sooner or later.

“Should you can spot a manner that you may assist this firm, or perhaps your merchandise are complementary, or perhaps you may develop into companions sooner or later . . . that is what you must say within the follow-up electronic mail,” says Eva. She recommends writing one thing like: I noticed you invested on this firm. We’re constructing the same product that might open up a brand new supply channel for them.

This technique reveals that you simply’ve achieved your analysis and what’s taking place for the VC.

Keep seen

There’s no straightforward manner to do that one, however Eva guarantees that it’s vital. Preserve a stable on-line presence when you’re on the lookout for an funding (or plan to take action sooner or later). Meaning having a superb website and lively accounts on no matter social media channels are hottest in your business. Set up your self as an authority, whether or not that’s on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Reddit.

Preserve a private contact

Eva doesn’t consider in automated communication with traders. Even when messages are disguised to sound private, traders can normally inform what’s computerized and what’s actually personalized for them. Sure, writing particular person messages takes longer, but it surely additionally creates extra genuine relationships.

And when you’re being private, don’t talk in a stodgy and buttoned-up manner if the investor doesn’t. “I at all times attempt to match the tone,” she says.

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Pitching for fulfillment

A typical investor spends three minutes and 44 seconds taking a look at a pitch deck. Sound brief? That’s as a result of it’s. With so little time to make an impression, it’s vital to hit the high notes first. Embrace solely three key factors per slide, with not more than 10 slides.

Eva has a number of extra tricks to make your pitch deck shine:

Put together a secondary deck for the dialog

Eva advises that founders not learn from their pitch decks after they get coveted conferences with traders. Most traders will seemingly breeze by way of the pitch deck you ship forward of time.

As a substitute, think about every assembly extra of a dialogue than a presentation. Create a second pitch deck to information that dialog. Embrace particulars like your present progress with the corporate and any information updates. This enables the investor to dig deeper earlier than diving into due diligence.

Don’t give an excessive amount of product element

We all know: Your tech is cool. Your cool tech acquired you a gathering. And sure, you must clarify the fundamentals of your product, however preserve it transient.

What’s extra vital is the chance at hand. A pitch deck is just not the identical factor as a gross sales deck. You’re not promoting the product to the investor. You’re promoting the chance.

Metrics

Eva at all times likes to see an organization’s margins. If it’s a SaaS firm, she needs greater than the consumer rely. Whereas a high complete consumer rely is spectacular, traders are actually extra within the variety of lively customers.

Make connections with traders

Eva has one easy option to sum up all of her recommendation for founders: “Put your self on the market,” she says. She encourages founders to attend occasions with different founders, like pitch nights and tech meetups. If geography is a limitation, she additionally recommends having a X (previously generally known as Twitter) presence and utilizing Slack channels for founders, like Gen Z VCs.

Each manner you’ll be able to join with others in your innovation neighborhood earlier than you begin to elevate will enable you in the long term.

Article is predicated on an interview between Nathan Beckord and Eva Dobrzanska on an episode of Foundersuite’s How I Raised It podcast.

Concerning the Writer

Nathan Beckord is the CEO of Foundersuite.com, which makes software program for startups elevating capital. Nathan can be the CEO of Fundingstack.com, which is a brand new platform for VCs and funding bankers to each elevate capital and help purchasers and portfolio corporations. Customers of those platforms have raised over $9.7 billion since 2016.

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