To increase your chances of getting money, there is a certain manner of going about it. Here’s how.

Get to know the right investors over time before you start your fundraising process. By their nature, investors like to invest in people they know and like. It goes a long way to have them on your side and get to know you and your business over time. Engagement before any fundraising means that you are savvy about the fact that you need to build something interesting before you ask for money.

🧗🏻 Treat fundraising like a major project, not a haphazard effort. You need a realistic schedule and a strategy for reaching out. Decide how big a round you need, and at what valuation. identify your ideal investors, develop a list, and gather the right contacts. Prepare your outreach materials. Write up draft emails, sketch out follow-ups, and think about potential proof points (indicators that you have momentum).

🫂 Leverage your network to get warm introductions. Identify everyone in your network – on LinkedIn or otherwise – and map out your connections. Who can set you up with a warm introduction to the funds you’re targeting? A warm introduction is much more likely to get a positive response than a cold outreach.

🕵🏻‍♂️ Don’t rely only on VCs. Angels, high-net-worth folks, or even debt might be better sources of funding for a long time. Diversify your candidate search. The more folks you talk with, the more likely you are to find someone with the right fit for your needs. 

🐞 Make the fundraising process short and compact. Hold a lot of meetings in a short time. It creates buzz, it looks like you have momentum, you’re ‘killing it’, and investors begin to talk to each other. If you concentrate your effort in a little burst, it might help.

🛫 Try to line up a lead investor as soon as possible. A lead investor gives your round legitimacy and also helps you attract other investors. This is easier if your fundraising period is brief and intense, maintaining momentum and keeping potential leads from cooling off.