“Fundraising is a sales process. The investor is a customer and they have money to spend but only for a limited number of companies. They are buying trust in you that you will build a large business that will be valuable.”4 I believe entrepreneurs must demonstrate three essential qualities to win investors over: character, confidence, and

compelling pitch that tells the story of the company and lays out why someone should invest.

A safe is an alternative to a convertible note. Because it is not a debt instrument, safes do not have interest rates or loan maturity dates (unlike most convertible notes). It is what the acronym stands for: a simple agreement for future equity in the startup.

However . . . every percentage of equity that you give away dilutes, or reduces, the percentages held by previous investors (including the founders). The number of shares a company issues is meaningless—it’s only the percentages that count. And while adding new investors will dilute the founders’ stock, if the infusion of capital will be used to

“You know how to sell products on TV, but you don’t know how to raise money. I’m the guy that you’d be pitching, and I know how to pitch to the guys like me.” So he showed me how to talk to the investors, joined my team, and raised $3 million in ninety days. It was the same company, but the difference was suiting the packaging and the pitch to

You will have three financial templates (as well as a lot of backup documentation) in your business plan. The templates are: 1. A profit & loss (P&L) statement 2. A balance sheet 3. A cash flow statement that summarizes the P&L on the top line (cash flow from operations), and then lists line items for changes in balance sheet items.

One of my clients, Martin, grew up in the Netherlands but is originally from South America. When he turned eighteen his parents took him back to South America and dropped him, naked, into the Amazon jungle to survive on his own for two weeks—in his culture, that is the rite of passage into manhood. When I asked him what three lessons he learned

growth.” I recommend that you create a risk mitigation worksheet to use in your company. Then, be sure to address these five kinds of risk in your presentation, and be prepared to answer questions about them. Even if you don’t have clear solutions for every risk, simply showing that you are aware and are making efforts to mitigate them will go a

a valuation is simply a guess as to the economic value of your company, today and in the future. If your business already has sales and revenue, the valuation is at least an educated guess, because it is easier to extrapolate what the business will produce in terms of revenue and profits this year and several years into the future. In other cases,