I’m sending this one a day early to give me an additional chance to remind you to join my workshop tomorrow!

Over 475 people have registered 😳

Today’s post on founder anxieties leads perfectly into the workshop as we’ll be addressing a number of them over our 3 days together!

Register here ASAP!

…and now on to this week’s content for 8.15.22

Other founders, they’re just like me!

Founder anxieties are real. REALLY real. Like burning with the heat of 10,000 suns type real.

Especially during fundraising.

Try juggling all the needs of running a team, building a product, finding customers… and then layer on a complex, time consuming process that has existential consequences if you fail.

That sort of stress will crumble the strongest of founders. Oh, and don’t forget (in case that stress wasn’t enough)…putting on a strong, confident face is a big part of convincing people to invest in you! So how do you manage??

Managing the stress

Aside from general stress management approaches like healthy eating, exercise, meditation, connecting with other founders in the struggle has been a common practice in the entrepreneurial community.

Founder communities provide incredible support around building a company. There’s so much expertise, advice, ideas, and network in those groups that can hugely impact the success of a company. The simplest part of these groups may be the most valuable.

It’s what I’ve called “struggle sharing” with groups in the past. Hearing about similar anxieties. Realizing you’re not the only one…

Those things can lift a weight off your shoulders and give you the confidence to believe you can overcome those challenges.

A quick taste

I’d highly recommend you find a founder group to join or maybe organize one for yourself. It doesn’t take more than messaging a few founders and scheduling a monthly zoom call. Maybe add them to a WhatsApp group.

Not convinced?

Let me show you how much relief realizing others have the same anxieties can bring.

In our work building content, tools, and support for founders, we surveyed almost 300 founders asking them a wide range of questions. One of them was…

“What are you most anxious about when it comes to fundraising?”

Read below the aggregated data and a few select quotes from founders.

• Storytelling / Pitching / Confidence- 81

• Building a Network / Connecting with Investors- 73

• Time Management / Process- 62

• Current economic environment- 12

• Losing control of company / Giving up too much equity- 11

• Other- 50

Storytelling / Pitching / Confidence

• Having to schedule at least 10+ meetings per week and going through them constantly being rejected, knowing it’s part of the process.

• Being able to convey the story of my company in a compelling and confident way.

• Just standing in front of investors & pitching the idea, I get petrified.

Building a Network / Connecting with Investors

• Attracting smart money. People who would contribute to our company's development. Missionaries, not mercenaries.

• How to get the right investors who are aligned in vision, integrity and strategic goals.

• Running out of quality connections / warm intros.

Time Management / Process

• This whole process comes unnaturally to me. The type of communication that enables building FOMO comes unnaturally to me and I'm often uneasy & confused how to respond in certain situations to create time pressure without saying something that may come off as BS.

• Runway drying out before raising.

• Stepping away from the day to day in order to focus on [fundraising] only.

Current economic environment

• Navigating a tough market on top of being a woman founder.

• VCs being on hold for new deals, especially for first time founders

• This market!

Losing control of company / Giving up too much equity

• Screwing my team over by giving too much away because we're too close to end of runway.

• Not getting the best deal for the company. Wasting time on investors who are just curious and aren't really keen.

• Making a bad deal, committing too much equity.

Other

• I hate asking for help.

• As a pre-revenue company, It is so difficult to fundraise at this stage.

Smart Twitter Takes

Brings back tough memories of past searches for PMF. Investors love to see this focused understanding of a problem… if you pair with a big vision - the sky’s the limit

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Yup. Always good to have other voices putting out these scary numbers. It’s a lot of work.

P.S. Fundraising Summer 2022 - 🏖☠️