Step 1 - Define the Parameters of your Round

Ask Two Key Questions:

• What are the next milestones you want to achieve?
• What is the minimum amount of runway you need to achieve these goals?

<aside> 💡 Worked Example - 1. We want to reach $1M ARR in 12 months time. 2. Optimistically, we could achieve this with $2M as we have the product but just need to scale digital marketing (need to make a realistic forecast based off-key assumptions e.g. product road map. LTV/CAC etc)

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Fit yourself into a bucket

• The round name & size is just a naming convention and rough guide. Companies raise more or less at every stage. However, putting yourself into a bucket is important because certain investors can only invest in certain stages with certain cheque sizes, so it’s critical to put yourself in a bucket.

<aside> 💡 Tip: It’s best to say you’re raising less than more. If you think you need $2-$3M, say you’re raising $2M. This is because you can always accept more money in the round but you can’t get back investors who passed because it’s outside their mandate (an easy excuse to pass).

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Guide to Funding Rounds

Step 2 - Define Ideal Investor

My ideal investor...

Step 3 - Create Investor Hitlist

Filter your search based off your ideal ‘perfect investor’. It’s probably best to make a list of 30 target investors.

For VCs in Australia:

https://airtable.com/shrSHRMum8oJmDjFJ/tblQIsXHKoY0EtXO7?backgroundColor=purple&viewControls=on

<aside> 💡 Tip: Don’t limit yourself to just Aussie VCs, look for international investors with experience in your space. You can find them by searching companies you admire in the sector on Crunchbase and who backed them at the early stages. Also look for family offices of prominent figures in the sector who make personal investments in that sector.

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