Some notes on fundraising I shared with a startup batch participating in a corporate accelerator back in 2017. I 'drew' some pictures and explained what I meant, these were my notes.

1. Some notes on fundraising
December 2017
Alex Farcet
Rainmaking

2. - Start with the objective not the amount
- Be clear and realistic about your runway
and burn rate
- So don’t say “we’re ready for a seed round
of €250K”
- Say “with €250K, and the following
assumptions, we get to break even” / ready
for next round / etc.
- Do more than a back of the envelope on
how many rounds your expect to do
- Build some knowledge about what your
peers are doing, who’s raising how much

3. - It’s a project, plan accordingly
- Build a pipeline
- Use a CRM / Google spreadsheet
- Set up follow up actions, be organised
Google open source list of investors
Series-A Plan
1mth Phase 0 - Preparation/Funnel
2mths Phase 1 - Blast PR - Explore Lead/Terms
1mth Phase 2 - Sign LEAD - Explore Syndicate
1mth Phase 3 - Sign Syndicate - Due Diligence
1mth Phase 4 - SHA Signed - Transfer

4. - Investors invest in a line, not dots
https://bothsidesofthetable.com/invest-in-
lines-not-dots-611f36491d73

5. - Always Be Closing
- Never miss an opportunity to impress,
especially when you don’t know who is in the
audience
- Feed all senses: hearing, seeing, touching
- Leave something in hand
- How will you be memorable?
- **Always have a call to action**

6. - Be easy to help
- Have empathy, people are busy
- If you need an intro:
- Look up people on LinkedIn, send link to
profile together with short bullet points, with
a great one-pager or short deck attached
- All of the above makes it easy (1 click plus a
few words) for your connection to make an
intro

7. - Say no more…
- All the rest (the deck, the intros, how
charming your, etc. are secondary).
- A shit deck and intro may work if the
traction is amazing
- If traction isn’t there then at least your deck,
approach, intros etc. should be stellar

8. - There is tremendous information /
experience asymmetry, especially between
founders and VCs
- Don’t take “that’s how it’s always done” at
face value

9. - Learn the vocabulary
- Put in the work now, you’re not going to get
less busy
- Read Venture Deals (book)
- Read Venture Hacks & download their PDFs
(blog)
- Google Brad Feld & fundraising
- Google Fred Wildon & fundraising
It’s all there.

10. - Understand the mechanics of VC
- 75%+ of all global VC don’t make money
- They usually need to make all their returns
from one or two (out of ca. 10) investments
- When you take their money, the
expectations change
- They raise funds too
- Time window to invest, follow on, wait and
see
- Are they fundraising, do they have ‘dry
powder’

11. - Don’t save money on legal advice
- Not all lawyers are created equal
- Someone somewhere in your network has
done it before, always ask, never assume or
guess
- It’s perfectly OK to ask an investor to explain
something, create an open dialogue and
partnership.
- If they don’t answer or answer sideways
then you have an additional data point on
that investor…

12. - When it comes to execution investors look
at the team:
Impact (hustle)
Smart
Slightly crazy
Leadership (ability to attract A mentors
/ advisors / employees)

13. - Never beg
- You (the high potential startup) are the rare
commodity, not the money
- How (and when) you start the relationship
sets the tone
- Start earlier than you need, not when you’re
desparate
- Therefore be on top of runway & burnrate

14. - Know Your Investor
- Not all investors are created equal
- Angels invest their own money
- Angels can be more emotional (irrational)
- There is absolutely an angel out there who
will fall in love with what you do. In Europe
angels are much more stealth, requires more
research, more networking, more hustle

15. - An investor is a co-owner, likely for the rest
of the lifespan of your startup
- A potential €400K check can be exciting but
don’t forget to do your homework
- Investor behavior is as varied as human
behavior
- Ask to talk to previous investees
- Talk to other investors they have syndicated
with
- This is not annoying (to the right investor), it
projects professionalism and will make them
feel even better about giving you money

16. Let’s create the future together.
Alex Farcet
af@rainmaking.io