Fresh Takes from Funded: extracting fundraising insights…

I always tell people that in order for advice to stick, it usually needs to be heard multiple times, in a variety of ways, from different people.

One way we’ll start doing that is sharing insights from my interviews with founders and builders for the Funded podcast. Hearing the stories and lessons from those who have been through the wringer themselves will have a big impact.

We just restarted Season 3 episodes last week so keep reading for:

Insights from Lolita Taub

After a much needed sabbatical, we are excited to announce Season 3 has resumed of Funded! 

In this episode, Lolita Taub of Ganas Ventures discusses her journey from an underestimated background to launching her own fund and making a positive impact on the industry.

Here are four main takeaways:

1. Embracing Ganas ( maintain that sense of grit)

"When you come from little to nothing, when you're struggling, you have to make do with what you have. You have to start with where you are. You have to do more with less."

Lolita's upbringing in a challenging environment taught her the power of persistence and determination, which she refers to as "Ganas." This determination to overcome obstacles and do more with less has become a driving force in her career, leading her to launch Ganas Ventures.

When she was just getting started in the VC world, she noticed how much it was lacking in diversity. Because of the common use of “pattern recognition” by investors, this can make things very difficult for minorities - and not out of explicit malice. It’s just how they were trained to work.

Overall, my main takeaway is that for a lot of founders out there who don't come from money or have a network, its gonna be tough. But tough doesn't mean impossible. And thanks to people like Lolita, there are venture funds out there purposely focused on founders who didn't have that head start.

2. Build a Community

"Build a community. Share your vision and mission. Attract those aligned with your vision. It will be so important to attract investors into the fund."

Ganas Ventures places a strong emphasis on community-driven startups. Lolita believes that every startup has an inherent community, and that the founders that go out there and build a strong foundation and network for their company are the ones that will last.

It's interesting because communities around even the most niche subjects seem to be sprouting everywhere, but it's not the most common focus to have as a fund manager. I’m excited to see how Ganas will help to supercharge these community-driven startups. After all, if you create a connection with the customers that you are serving and come from a place of good intentions - I could see why people would want to stick around.

From experience, I’ll say that having a community that supports you, that provides intelligence and insight is extremely valuable… especially if they’re also your customer!

3. Challenging the Status Quo

"We're trying to change the industry. It's a lot of work to have a lot of LPs, and they are smaller checks. But I am so happy to have a $50K or $100K check from individuals who believe in returns and want to see a shift in the industry."

Instead of pursuing a smaller number of large checks, Ganas Ventures aims to build a more inclusive and representative investor base with a larger number of smaller checks. The fund is a 506c organization which allows her to promote her fundraise publicly and more easily attract individuals to join the movement. This approach aligns with Lolita's mission to reshape the VC landscape and support founders and retail investors who have been overlooked by conventional investment structures.

An important takeaway here is that having a strong unique quality might mean flying in the face of the status quo. This also inherently means more rejection…but also greater upside. Be bold and move towards what you believe in with conviction like Lolita.

4. Be chased

"If you're not interested, just don't take the call."

Lolita had hundreds of conversations while raising for her fund, and this experience helped her hone her instinct on which potential partners would actually commit to writing a check versus those who just wanted to hear an inspiring story. If a potential investor is not truly interested or able to invest, they should not protract conversations or request personal anecdotes and details that could be very taxing to share.

When deciding to take on a significant time investment like a series of calls or meetings, it's crucial to double-check the potential investors’ intentions before giving your time away. For Lolita, that means confirming their alignment with her fund’s investment structure and focus areas. For founders, that means not putting investors on a pedestal and accommodating your story / changing your pitch for every investor meeting JUST because that’s what you think the investor wants to hear. Develop the mindset of being chased rather than chasing after investors.

Listen to the full episode here:

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• Google Podcasts

Lolita Taub

• Twitter: @lolitataub

• LinkedIn: Lolita Taub

• IG: @lolitataub

Ganas Ventures

• Twitter: @ganasvc

• Linkedin: Ganas Ventures

• IG: @ganasvc

*If you have any suggestions on who we should interview or what we should cover in any of our shows this season, please reply and let us know!

And finally, we'd love to see you subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts.

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Gs1yLa2ciXz8sekXtBNSy

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/funded/id1535885510

Thanks and happy listening!

Aggressive pricing is dangerous. Outlier pricing still exists but grow into that. Work on uncovering the amount of demand there is for you and then price based on that

I freaking love pricing. I’m not an expert but just love learning about it and Patrick is amazing to learn from.

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