Fundraising Is F'd Up
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•834 views
This presentation is for entrepreneurs that are new to the fundraising process and is designed to help them understand why the process is the way it is - as well as provide advice on how to navigate the process in a way that accelerates the timeline of fundraising and reduces stress. Please note - this talk contains profanity. However, that makes it (hopefully) a bit funny.
Recommended
More Related Content
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (7)
Featured
Featured (20)
Fundraising Is F'd Up
- 1. Blake Commagere @commagere Fundraising Is Fucked Up Why it is so fucked up, and how to make it less fucked up.
- 2. Blake Commagere @commagere Who the hell am I? It’s a fair question ●Started seven companies oFive of those have been bought ●Raised over 12M Angel / VC ●I build viral things oPlaxo oCauses oVampires ●I’m obsessed with human behavior 2
- 3. Blake Commagere @commagere My Fucking Talks Analogies Rule Dave McClure Blake Commagere ●Makes sailors blush with his swearing ●Occasionally uses hyperbole in his talks ●Is funny ●Makes Dave McClure blush with his swearing ●The most egregious abuse of hyperbole ●Thinks he’s funny 3
- 4. Blake Commagere @commagere This talk is for you. Interrupt at any point. Don’t be shy. If it sucks and you never say anything, I’m blaming you. 4
- 5. Blake Commagere @commagere What I’m covering ●How fundraising is so fucked up ●Why investors think the way they do ●How to mitigate the stress of fundraising ●Behaviors to increase your odds of success 5
- 6. Blake Commagere @commagere What I’m NOT covering AKA “Shit you should already know” ●What should be in your deck ●Deal terms oRead “Venture Deals” by Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson ●What to do if your deal is hot oIf your deal is hot, you don’t need help. No rules apply. Congratulations, be a giant asshole, there’s no consequences for your behaviour. Until the next round. 6
- 7. Blake Commagere @commagere How fucked up is fundraising? 7
- 8. Blake Commagere @commagere How fucked up is fundraising? What do you do when your job is to make it rain? ●It is inefficient oYou could spend 3 months on it oYou will likely spend 6-9 months on it oYou are not allowed to stop until the $ is in the bank ●It is stressful oIt is a distraction from building your company oYou can NOT fuck this up. There is no second place. ●The skills you use in fundraising are the same skills you use to get a date oIn high school oIf you’re a dude oWithout a car 8
- 9. Blake Commagere @commagere How investors think 9
- 10. Blake Commagere @commagere Investors. How do they work? What do you do when your job is to make it rain? ●Fund sizes necessitate huge returns ●Picking winners at the Series A stage is very hard oKnown quantities make this less very hard oFounder history oTraction oUnfair advantages are good ●If an investor says no 100% of the time, they will be correct 99% of the time oIt’s hard to say yes. It’s also hard to say no. Unfortunately. 10
- 11. Blake Commagere @commagere $20M is a lot of fucking money Especially if you don’t already have $20M ●If you build a company worth $20M after 8-12 yrs: oThat is an amazing accomplishment oYou should be proud that you achieved such a rare success oThat doesn’t move the needle for a $300M fund oIt certainly doesn’t move the needle for a $1B fund oYou have created a lifestyle business oYour company is a rounding error for them 11
- 12. Blake Commagere @commagere Opposites Attract You are not an investor Entrepreneurs Investors ●Most have never been an investor ●Almost every decision has to be fast ●Most decisions are reversible ●Most have never been an entrepreneur ●Only some decisions have to be fast ●Most decisions are NOT reversible 12
- 13. Blake Commagere @commagere Mitigating your stress 13
- 14. Blake Commagere @commagere Money Stress This fucking sucks 14
- 15. Blake Commagere @commagere Value Stress This sucks less 15
- 16. Blake Commagere @commagere Money isn’t everything Well, it is, but there is other value derived from the process ●You become better at pitching ●You learn about competitors oPotential/Actual oPerceived ●You network oYou’re becoming a known quantity ●Not convinced? LIE TO YOURSELF 16
- 17. Blake Commagere @commagere Increasing your odds of success 17
- 18. Blake Commagere @commagere Falling in love takes time Don’t rush it ●Be ready to discuss everybody’s favorite topic ●Confidence ●Warm up the same way you would with interviews ●You are a beautiful and unique snowflake oJust like everybody else oBrilliant? Passionate? Hard-working? Congrats, so is everybody else that is meeting with that investor. 18
- 19. Blake Commagere @commagere Use Active Voice Passive voice = weakness in your business ●You have a better chance of fundraising if you use active voice ●Using active voice makes you sound like an asshole ●Hooray Syllogisms ●Your competitors are assholes oOr at least you hope they are 19
- 20. Blake Commagere @commagere The Followup Be a better investment ●Maybe = No ●Sometimes you have to play hard to get oThe answer to “Should I call again?” is NO oNever. Ever. ●Your email wasn’t lost ●The only update they want is the one where you are better than last time 20
- 21. Blake Commagere @commagere Want more swearing and/or advice? blake.commagere@gmail.com @commagere 21
Editor's Notes
- Ok, obviously I’m a huge fan of Dave. I just like giving him attitude and poking fun at him.
- What is NOT covered is important to stress - most fundraising talks rehash the same information and aren’t particularly useful. This link is for the kindle edition of Venture Deals. If you read physical books, I’m sure you can order that too. Along with a fax machine and whatever else the fuck it is you luddites buy.
- A signed Term Sheet is not $ in the bank. A signed funding document is not $ in the bank. The only thing that is $ in the bank is $ in the bank.
- Unfortunately, magnets are a lot easier to understand. Ha. Get it? The ole “How do they work” joke? Eh? ‘Member that one? ...Screw you, I’m funny.
- Yes it sucks to hear that $20M is both amazing and insignificant, but it’s true. If you don’t have a multi-billion $ narrative, there’s no point in pitching to VCs.
- Serious thanks to Jeremy Liew @Lightspeed for his thoughts on this. Read his blog - he has great insights.
- This is an outrageously stressful graph to experience. Month 2 and Month 5 have created the same amount of mental value (ZERO!) but Month 5 has the distinction of spending an additional 3 months of time on fundraising and making absolutely no progress. This makes you feel as though you’ve completely wasted your time and will send your stress through the roof.
- This is the curve you want to feel. This requires you to think carefully about fundraising and to view the value you derive from the process to be more than just money.
- I’m a huge fan of cognitive dissonance. If you don’t believe these things are important, at the beginning of every week, physically write out the list of value you derive for you company from the fundraising process. If you can’t come up with 10 things, lie to yourself until you believe in those 10 things.
- Everybody’s favorite topic is inevitably themselves. You better know an investor’s investing thesis prior to meeting. You should learn as much as you can prior to a pitch. Where you can, make the pitch more personable/relevant. If you were looking for a job and rusty at interviewing, you wouldn’t start with your dream company. You’d start with a company you don’t care about so you can get back in the swing of things. Everybody that is meeting with an investor is all those things. Having a 4.0 isn’t enough to get into Harvard.
- Investors are looking for confirmation that their default decision (NO) is correct. Passive voice makes it sound as though there is a weakness in your business. I had a fantastic meeting with a VC that was once derailed because I used passive voice around hiring plans of all things. Inspiring and hiring talent is trivial for me, but that became the focus of the pitch. A note - money attracts assholes. Every time. If your competitors aren’t assholes, there’s no fucking money to be made in your industry. Or at least nobody has yet figured out how to make money in your industry yet.
- If your followup is nothing more than “Hey I haven’t heard from you in a couple weeks, are you in?” Then you’ve only made a stronger case for a no. If you are going to followup with an investor that hasn’t told you their decision, then it should be along the lines of how you are now a better investment than a few weeks ago.