Fundraising Strategies They Don’t Want You to Know (Part 2) + Fundraising Fieldnotes 8.27.24

You took my unusual advice around pitch decks, tackling risk, and facing rejection head-on. I’ve got more for you.

Today, we’re getting into polishing your pitch and preparing your fundraise the right way. Let’s get you prepped and primed to make the most out of every meeting…

Pitch Smart, Not Staged

Stop staging your approach to investors you talk to. I know everyone says to do this, but I hate it. 

The common suggestion is to pitch third tier investors first. Then, after refining your pitch based on their feedback, you move on to tier 2, and finally, tier 1 investors once you’ve got your pitch honed. Here’s why I’m not a fan of this approach…

To start, what makes a firm tier 1, tier 2, or tier 3? There might be some league tables that rank A16z, Greylock, and Benchmark as top-tier, but there are also great investors who might not be on those lists. You might discover that an investor you thought was a tier-three is actually a perfect fit for you. You only find that out by talking to them and understanding their interest in your space.

More importantly, breaking it down into tiers can dilute the energy in your process. By doing a few pitches now, then waiting, and then doing more later, you lose momentum. Instead of wasting potentially high quality meetings to “get feedback”, I recommend you get all your practice, feedback, and iterations done before you even start pitching. You can get that stuff without burning pitches. 

Talk to other founders, get feedback from friends, or even pitch VCs who might not be the best fit for your stage to refine your story. Then get the idea of “staging” out of your mind and instead aim for calendar density. That means go fill up your schedule with as many meetings as you can in a densely packed area of your calendar. Skip the tiering system and focus on making each pitch count.

You Can’t Wing It And Win It

This one’s more of a controversy in founders’ minds.  Founders think they can wing it, fake it till they make it, and be successful without wasting the time to prep.  You might think you can catch lightning in a bottle—talk to one investor, and boom, they invest, but it’s just not true. Some of you probably disagree with this… but you HAVE to prepare to win. Preparation is the key to success. 

The best fundraisers, the ones that really nail it, are the ones who put in a ton of effort before they even step into the room. And I’m not talking about founders who had to hustle extra hard because they didn’t have a network or connections. I’m talking about founders from pristine backgrounds, with killer networks and experience that would make you think they’ve got it in the bag. These founders know that by preparing ahead of time, they are optimizing their opportunity and advancing their chance of success.

Remember, preparation is key. Don’t fool yourself into thinking overnight success is something you can plan for. It's the consistent work behind the scenes that truly makes a difference.

So, those are my “controversial” fundraising ideas. Yeah, we might be using the word controversial to add a bit of clickbait, but honestly, these are five concepts that should really get you thinking about how you approach your fundraising. If you take them to heart, they’ll push you to become a stronger, more effective fundraiser overall… 💪 

Be chased,
Jason

Most founders struggle with storytelling in their pitches.

They trail on and on or don’t incorporate memorable speaking points to amplify their message… or both.

To help I’m releasing a FREE mini-course on how to craft and use mini-stories. It includes:

• 2 key lessons with over 10 minutes of recorded lecture content

• 1 detailed exercise to implement your learnings - a compilation of essays I wrote on narrative, deck & pitch

To gain access:

1. Click on this link

2. Take 1 minute to create an account on Circle (the platform we use for our courses)

3. Boom! access granted

After 4 weeks, you will get booted out so that we can roll out the next mini-course! (this also serves as a push for you to actually absorb the content instead of feeling like you have forever to do it)

This is a huge value add. I suggest you take advantage of it!

That 2022 Q1 cohort is brutal. Also, the vintage of funds that invested 2020-2022 is going to be brutal...

This is right. Founders are sensitive so VCs are rarely rewarded for giving good negative feedback. Thus, most VC feedback sucks. Seek it out anyway…

Millions of Matches, 0 Teeth Lost. Ryu's Got The Moves And The Dental Health! 🥋🦷 … 😆 

Small asks!

If you thought this was helpful or enjoyable in any way, I’d love for you to:

• Forward this newsletter to others who would enjoy it (use your referral link and get some cool rewards☝️)

• Follow me on Twitter where I’ve begun building in public (my course, my podcast, etc)!

• Listen with a friend to Funded, my podcast that tells the rollercoaster stories of how founders raised millions (and subscribe🙏)

• Ask me your fundraising questions so I can help you and cover them in a future issue

• Are you planning to fundraise? Join Adamant Fundraising - the fundraising accelerator program that's helped founders raise over $311M 💰

• Sign up for our Pitch Deck Design Service

• Let us launch a best-in-class fundraise for you. Pain-free and effortless on your end!