Fundraising: Believe in Yourself
When I first was assigned this topic I did not know where to
start. So, I first began by simply
Googling the definition of “fundraising.”
According to Webster.com, Fundraising is “the organized activity of
raising funds.” This definition
still left me puzzled and made fundraising seem really basic. As I dug more into it I learned that
fundraising is not impossible, but is an ART. It is an art of believing in yourself that requires
networking persistence, sales/marketing, and lots of energy & passion. I was able to come to this conclusion
after doing what any savvy entrepreneur does.... reaching out to his or her
network. I first started by going
way back to when I took ESP 201 when I was a Sophomore. I was able to find the recorded
conversations I had with these folks and figured that would be a good
start. After listening to these I
decided that I would also email two other entrepreneurs that I had recently
met. Not only would this give me
first hand insight on what it takes to fundraise, but it would also be a great
way to network and connect back to these individuals. These individuals were able to provide me with useful
information as well as links to places I could find information on
fundraising. Below I will break
fundraising down by discussing the four areas of fundraising: networking,
persistence, sales/marketing, and having lots of energy and passion.
Networking
The idea of networking will be brought up the rest of your
life, (as we have discussed this already in class) and is very important in
fundraising. When I helped start a
charity in high school, my Dad explained to me the importance of what he called
the 2 F’s—Family & Friends.
These are the people who are the closest to you and will be your most
important resources. They can help
introduce you to others who may help with fundraising and can be extremely
beneficial financially when trying to get your first investments. It is best to build a network early
that can help mentor you and also provide you with the resources to fine tune
your product in order to receive further investments. These people will also help critique you, which is extremely
important when trying to improve as a person and improve your business
concept.
Persistence
Venture Capitalist receive thousands of pitches weekly, and
thus one of the most important aspects to receiving funding is being persistent
because you may not get the presentation the first time around. You do not want to be over the top when
reaching out to someone; however, when you truly believe in your product you
must work extremely hard to be given the opportunity to present to possible
investors. As my Dad always told
me if you want the job or the opportunity to pitch you must ask for and not
wait for it to come to you.
Sales/Marketing
This is the aspect of fundraising that occurs after
networking and being persistent in being given the opportunity to present your
idea to investors. Not only does
this step involve selling your idea to the investors, but more importantly you
are selling yourself to the investors.
There have been millions of ideas out there that have failed solely
because of leadership and investors not believing in the person behind the idea. Therefore, you must sell yourself to
the investors and make them believe in you, which in turn will make them
believe in your product. I have
read countless articles and talked to countless entrepreneurs about how they
believe it is more selling an investor or potential customer on yourself, rather
than the business concept. Chris
Barry, Founder of LifeStorage and Facilitec, told me that in order to win
people over when he first started his first company at age 21 that he sold
himself by imitating larger organizations in a similar field. He did this because he knew they had
more experience than him and he wanted to come off to others as looking very
professional. He later said he was
able win more customers by making himself look more professional in the way he
dressed and talked, even though he was a lot less experienced than his
competitors. Sales/Marketing also
involves the actual pitch and its content. When I talked to some entrepreneurs they provided me these
tips on what your pitch should include:
6 Tips from Matt Spiegel--CEO of Tap.me and Founder of
Resolution Media:
- Keep
your pitch simple
- Have a
vision
- Focus
on what's first
- Understand
what you need money for
- Have a
financial model (even though everyone will know its wrong)
- Listen
to VC's (their input can be valuable and they want to hear themselves be
smart)
Matt also told me to look at AirBnB Initial Pitch to
investors, as it is simple and concise.
AirBnB has risen $1.3 billion in funding, and they did this through
their simple pitch and networking by having investors persuade other investors
to invest in their idea. Here are
two links about AirBnB:
5 Tips on what VC’s are looking for from Andrew
Swinand--CEO of Cardinal Path and Partner at Abundant Ventures:
Energy & Passion
The last tip I have for successful fundraising is having
that energy and passion every time you talk about your product. Ask yourself this question: Would you
invest in an idea/person if they did not seem fully invested and passionate
about that idea? The answer to
that is NO, and therefore, you need to make sure to convey your energy and
passion in your presentation (Even if its talking to someone about the idea on
an elevator or over a cup of coffee).
One tip an entrepreneur gave me about starting something is that you
must find something that you truly enjoy doing in order to fully show passion
for it. For example, I helped
start Alpine Children’s Charity, which raised over $1,150,00 in seven years. This charity raised money for an issue
that affected me personally—Type 1 Diabetes. I was able to show others that I had the passion to find a
cure and thus they were willing to donate to my cause.
Conclusion
I could go on forever about fundraising as it involves more
and more aspects when actually pitching to an investor; however, I decided to
outline four topics in this Blog that I believe are crucial to not only setting
up an opportunity to fundraise, but also when convincing someone to invest in
YOU and your idea.
In addition, here are some useful links I was given by
the entrepreneurs I reached out to:
Question to Class:
- Why
does the idea of fundraising intimidate you?
- What
do you think is the best way to first fundraise and why? (Own money, VC’s,
family/friends, other)
- Can
you think of another creative way to fundraise other than the one’s above?
Give the advantages and disadvantages of this type of fundraising?
- How
would you describe Fundraising in 5 words?
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