A couple of weeks ago Al was honored that REC Innovation Lab asked him to share some of his fundraising tips and tricks that he's learned over many years of being a startup founder. This was about 30 minutes of presentation and 40 minutes of very engaging Q+A from the audience.
Presentation topics Included:
- Are you ready to raise capital for your startup?
- What it takes to raise capital.
- Network, Dedication, Momentum.
- Building your network, asking for advice, date when you’re not raising.
- Build measurable momentum, hypothesize your theories and test them, create a formula for success.
- Be hyper-organized, run a process.
- Prepare your tools, research targets.
- Read up, be smart, get in the right mindset.
- Building your deck, telling your story.
- Show me, don't tell me.
- Learn the language of your audience (VC).
- Providing meaningful updates
- Raise money and get back to work!
Q+A topics Included:
- Different angles to tell your story from.
- Hitting them in the heard vs. the head with your pitch.
- Different types of paperwork (SAFE, Convertible Debt, equity, etc).
- What to put into monthly updates.
- How to build a list of potential investors.
- How to on-board and provide equity to advisors.
- Raising capital that includes a major facility acquisition early stage.
- How to build partnerships.
- Is showing emotion during story telling OK?
- Sharktank vs. reality, should you hold off on talking to investors if you don't check enough boxes?
- Sharing your idea broadly vs. keeping things under wraps.
- Minimum Viable Product (MVP) vs. Minimum Sellable Product (MSP).
- Is equity crowdfunding a viable option, or looked down upon?
The REC Innovation Lab is a community business incubator dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to helping founders solve problems by launching high-growth startups.
To learn more about Miramar College Regional Entrepreneurship Center - REC Innovation Lab, visit them at:
Past and previous event recordings
