While the track record of the team and the firm’s advisors are very important, investors usually first focus on the Founder of the firm or the CEO. In general, investors look for CEOs who: Has “been there and done that”;Has specific domain experience/expertise;Is aware of
In general, the following milestone of your business usually attracts, and become more valuable in the eyes of an investor: CEO and management teams with proven track records;Strong customer validation (i.e., people are buying your product or service in good numbers);A potentially huge market for
There are two main types of money out there - smart investors’ money and dumb investors’ money. Dumb investors (e.g., friends and family) are not necessarily bad, since they have money and often with very good intentions. They tend to invest based on first impressions
It's tempting to raise as much money as you can, but there are consequences that might cause problems later on. First of all, the amount of money being raised is a good indicator of how much the entrepreneur thinks the company is worth. The thing
Despite the fact that there is plenty of money out there, investors are still risk averse and more often than not prefer to say "no". So, instead of trying to raise money on your own, should you engage a professional advisor? You probably want to
I’m frequently asked this question from our entrepreneurs, “How do I raise capital given this economy?” There’s a lot of anxiety surrounding it, but don’t worry, options are available. Even though the banks have pretty much cut back their lending, and investment bankers are sitting
The answer is “Yes” if the firm and its team are ready to earn the commitment of investors. In my experience of watching market cycles of more than 20-years, general market conditions, no matter whether good or bad, do not correlate with effective fundraising. Regardless
Investors want to see a number of things, but the thing that they want to see the most is your equity story. Your equity story creates so many opportunities for you, not only for fundraising, but as a roadmap for your own success. 4 Key