It may be a lengthy and tough route to a successful investment round. A seed round takes an average of 18.5 weeks from the first meeting with a VC to the money in the bank. Within that time span, you will be pitching your heart out to a number of investors and, ideally, setting up a number of virtual or in-person meetings.
You are also juggling the creation and continual tuning of your story (and pitch deck), as well as the management of each of those meetings and the required follow-up. If all goes well, you will be negotiating term sheets and closing details. While doing so, I am also working on a startup full-time.
You gain an advantage by being able to see how investors interact with your pitch deck. So, how can you prepare for this critical step in your company’s development, handle the hurdles of fundraising, and avoid letting the process overwhelm your ability to operate your business? While no two fundraises are the same, entrepreneurs may learn from those who have gone before them to ensure their efforts are efficient and, most importantly, successful.
This may do numerically as well as qualitatively. Make advantage of your network to learn from peers who have just gone through the fundraising process as well as more seasoned specialists who can offer advice and insight. Furthermore, there wealth of quantitative data on the fundraising process that may help you as a startup eliminate the mystery and ambiguity.
You will be able to present a finely honed pitch to the correct investor if you have extremely precise data on where VCs spend their time on pitch decks or in meetings. The fundraising environment has grown in ways we have never seen before this year. Since April 2020, transaction value records have smashed on a consistent basis, and VC demand and startup supply have both surged.
While the tide appears to be turning in favor of entrepreneurs, investor expectations vary depending on the level of investment, from pre-seed to Series A and beyond.
As more entrepreneurs pitch their businesses, fundraising rounds are becoming more competitive, so you should plan properly. I will lay out a few key stages that any entrepreneur should follow along their fundraising journey, along with proven and data-driven approaches to pursue.
A strong pitch deck is essential for obtaining funding. It is your first impression on a VC, and with them churning through decks at breakneck speeds (2 minutes and 34 seconds every deck), it needs to be good.
It must convey purpose and value in a clear and concise manner, proving that your firm is a sound investment and that your concept is worth their money and time. DocSend discovered that successful fundraising firms had patterns in their pitch decks after examining deck composition and comparing it to metrics.
This may be divided down into phases to assist you to understand the sequencing of your slides, which portions to go into greater depth on, which sections will receive the most attention and more.
