Raising money for your startup is like any sales process. Run an effective process, you will get a great outcome.
Investors see hundreds of pitches. Most say no to 99% of companies they speak with, it’s the same as only converting 1% of your web traffic. This ‘no’ can come before a meeting, after one, or even after four. As a founder, you should have a system for knowing where you are in the sales funnel for a particular lead. If the signals are not positive, you should spend more time on a better lead.
<aside> 💡 It’s counterintuitive but you want to get as many no’s as quickly as possible, so you can double down on the actual prospects.
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A good way to temperature check is by only giving the investor more content as they start showing commitment.
It might feel weird, but it’s completely okay to make asks of your investors.
Typically, there are three stages of content that you give an investor.
You should only give content after you get interest. This is the golden rule.
Let’s see how this unfolds in the real world:
Investor: Hey XXXX, can I please have a look at your pitch deck or learn more about what you do?
Founder: Sure, would love to but do you mind if I learn a little more about you and your fund, to see if we would be a fit for each other? What is your investment thesis, what is average cheque size, what do you find interesting about the company …. Etc.
Investor: Yep sure, here is that info.