For the founders out there… There’s raising smart money, and then there is raising money smartly.
The fundraising process can be daunting for entrepreneurs, and often involves a process of ‘frog kissing’ to find the right fit with investors. Many VC funds report that they invest in less than 1% of the opportunities they screen in a given year.
In an effort to help founders minimise frustration and making the fundraising process more efficient, I published my first post in Forbes, covering the five filters VCs apply before taking the first meeting with a startup.
Check out my new Forbes profile and read the full post here: The Five S’s Of VC Deal Filtering
The main takeaway is to do your research before you embark on your fundraising process, and put together a thoughtful target list of investors to approach. When you’re a hammer everything looks like a nail, but ignoring this advice might result in wasted energy and time.
Feedback is very welcome, as well as suggestions on what other content you’d like me to cover, offering a friendly VC perspective.
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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