On November 12, Shoobx Drive hold startup fundraising summit and introduced founders to different ways of raising capital. The event walked us through each part of the fundraising journey. Panelists detailed what happens after the term sheet, hand shake with investors and how to approach the next fundraising round.
I met a lot of investors, innovation leaders and founders who have long years experience in fundraising, who really have what it takes to successfully close financing of their startups and just know (after experiencing some ups and downs) how to avoid some common pitfalls. VC investors shared their due diligence practice, average timing from the first meeting until actually sending money to the account and the main pain points that may slow down the processes.
Getting into details, do you wanna know what William Sahlman, who invested in more than 210 private companies, thinks about investing? Here are some tips from him I found particularly helpful for founders as well as for investors.
– From whom you rise the capital is as much important as the terms.
– You need to control your destiny so make sure you know what you do.
– Out of 10 000 pitches he watched only 3 of them reached initially set up goals…why? Your idea evolves so take it for granted and just let it happen.
– You can run out of cash but better not out of trust. Look for people who will trust you and support you on the way no matter what. Get trustworthy people around you. It’s more imp than money.
– Fundraising is hard? VCs are looking for you. Just get into the door.
– Pattern recognition built for years is there and make you think in a particular way but then the feeling for founder must fit to all these as well.
– Product market fit is step one, just basic thing you do as default on the very beginning. Unless you are ashamed of it so then think about it twice.
– You need to have appearance of competition. Once one VC jump into your financing they all will follow 😉
– Investing in people building new technology is most rewarding thing in life. Thanks to you, founders, we see progress in life, technology and push boundaries of standards.
There is one main takeaway from the event, all VC investors are different, they all have unique company procedures, various missions and focus but they all see founders as partners and respect them equally. It’s win win game and the challenge here is to find the perfect match and people who are truly passionate about your idea. Once it’s done, they will go extra mile to make you succeed!
Speakers presenting during the event.
*Shoobx provides an all-in-one solution for managing your startup’s corporate activities by facilitating Equity Management, HR, Corporate Governance, Financings, and more in a single platform. Our workflows generate legal documents that automatically populate a secure data room, keeping your records organized and diligence-ready. Shoobx’s platform also allows easy and efficient collaboration with your company’s lawyer, stakeholders, and investors for every stage in your company’s journey.
