Sarah Tan 🪄’s Post

How to turn your idea into a VC-backed startup in 10 steps. Struggling to get VCs to notice you? Let me help You probably don't have a simple checklist to help you build your fundraising strategy, Or you have generic templates downloaded from Google. I know because I once was in your position. Don't worry; I will share the simple checklist, which I have used for the last ten years, as your guide. I will also share 5 immediate actions your startup can take to add more value. These actions are at the end of the ten steps. Raising a seed VC round for an early-stage startup is brutally hard. It's about proving you’ve got a solid foundation and enormous potential. Here’s the game plan: 1.-Validate Your Idea: Show traction before approaching VCs. Whether it's users, revenue, or market demand, prove there’s interest in what you’re building. 2. Build a Strong Pitch Deck: Keep your pitch deck short, clear, and story-driven. VCs want to see a compelling founder story and vision. 3.-Network, Network, Network: Warm intros are essential. 4.- Find the Right VCs: Target VCs focusing on your stage and industry. 5.- Tell a Big Story: Show VCs how your vision scales long-term. They invest in future potential, so they paint the bigger picture. 6.- Show Traction: Highlight early customers or growth metrics. 7. Be Ready for Due Diligence: Prepare your financials, legal documents, and cap table. 8.- Negotiate Terms: Don’t accept the first offer. Understand standard terms and negotiate a fair deal that works for you. 9.- Create Urgency: If multiple investors are interested, use FOMO to your advantage. 10.- Close Strong: Act fast once you’ve got commitments. Lock in the terms and secure the funds to maintain momentum. Actionable Insights → Polish Your Pitch Deck: Focus on your story, traction, and vision to grab investor attention.: → Schedule 3 Networking Calls: Reach out to founders or VCs for warm introductions, boosting your chances. → Organize Your Docs: Prepare your financials, legal documents, and cap table to speed up due diligence. → Target 5 Relevant VCs: Research VCs in your stage and industry for tailored outreach. → Start by using this checklist as the ten steps for running a successful fundraiser as your guide. For each Step, write down more granular actions. Track Your Traction: Log your growth metrics weekly to showcase progress and momentum. Let me show you how. 8.- Negotiate Terms: Don’t accept the first offer. Understand standard terms and negotiate a fair deal that works for you. You start writing bullets for the monthly action plan from this high level. For example, the founders will discuss whether to optimize the Valuation and size of the round and at what valuation.

PredictGrowth 🤝 Start Insights Partnership Announcement 🚀 We at Start Insights are thrilled to partner with Predict Growth - The Founder's Co-Pilot. The Predict Growth platform offers stage-specific solutions for startups, providing tailored support for initial business planning, financial models, pitch deck tools, and data rooms! At Start Insights, we have always focused on delivering best-in-class offerings for startups, especially at the early stages. One of our primary areas of expertise is data room preparation and reaching out to investors—a global challenge we are committed to solving with world-class solutions. Additionally, fundraising education remains one of the most significant problems, and we are thoroughly analyzing every aspect of the fundraising journey. So far, we’ve helped 300+ startups raise a cumulative $12M and continue to thrive through strong partnerships. Both founding team, Jagriti Shreya and Premananth S, is the dual powerhouse 🔋that will accelerate your fundraising journey with a data-driven approach! Meet Jagriti Shreya, founder of Predict Growth, With nearly a decade of experience in the tech industry, Jagriti has designed and delivered outstanding SaaS solutions. From working with iconic companies in APAC to spearheading a global customer success team, she learned that simplicity and customer experience are key. She excels at leveraging business intelligence to make data-driven decisions and lead change from the front lines. Her background in product management and GTM for startups continues to shape everything we build at Predict Growth. As Jagriti says, “Simplicity breeds opportunity.” Meet Premananth (Pitch Deck Expert) Prem is a social entrepreneur with a vision to impact lives through his startup journey, helping others avoid the chaos he faced and guiding them toward clarity. Fundraising is his forte, and people are at the heart of his skills. Known as a pitch deck expert, he delves into every detail of the pitching process and is recognized for his selfless contributions to the startup ecosystem. His involvement with Startup Grind and NATIVELEAD, along with his cross-border experience, along with his extensive buy-side and sell-side experience, enables him to help startups raise funds faster. With two legends leading the way, we're excited to help more startups succeed and raise funds fasterrrrrr! adding sprinkles 🍩

❌ Fundraising Evolution: (Critical) Trends in Startup Fundraising in 2024 ❌ As the month comes to an end, so does the first fundraising period of the year. After weeks of intensive effort, many players are heading into their summer break. We, too, can look back on a successful first half of the year, noting not only quantitative but also qualitative improvements in our deal flow. Here are three (critical) trends that have caught my attention: 🚩 Notion Instead of Pitch Deck Some founders choose to skip a traditional pitch deck entirely when pre-seed fundraising, opting instead for a notion page that combines a data room with a pitch deck. While the benefits of flexible updates over a static document are obvious, I think it lacks personalization and impact. Much of the valuable information in a pitch deck is conveyed between the lines. 💡 My Tip: Create a small Notion data room together with a short teaser deck for the perfect information basis. 🚩 Variable Round Setup More frequently, fundraising starts without a clear target. Instead, all options are considered throughout the round, adapting based on circumstances and feedback before settling on the most suitable setup. While this flexibility has advantages, I believe every team needs clear goals within a well-defined framework to attract the right partners. 💡 My Tip: Establish a clear framework with a structured timeline to target investors effectively. 🚩 Fundraising as a Team Effort At most of my meetings in recent months, I have always met the entire founding team. From a resource allocation perspective, this is disastrous. It is important to get to know all the key players in a start-up, but all it takes is one in-depth conversation. Otherwise, valuable resources are wasted in the large number of fundraising meetings with various investors. 💡 My Tip: The CEO should centrally manage fundraising. This includes initial meetings, email communications, reference calls and closing. Involve your co-founders only in a detailed deep dive and use their resources more strategically. What experiences have you had with fundraising in 2024? How do you consider these developments? Do you have a different opinion? Let's discuss! #fundraising #startups #investment #venturecapital #datadrivenvc __ ROI VENTURES

Founders, what do you think it means to deserve venture funding? there's a quote by Charlie Munger that says "the safest way to get what you want is to deserve what you want" it sounds so simple... but I bet a lot of people skip over it. fundraising is more than just crafting a compelling pitch deck or mastering the art of storytelling – it's about demonstrating that your startup is worthy of investment the real question is how do you do that in a sea of other founders looking to get their startup venture-backed? part of that answer will always be nuanced, but I will say this.. Remember to think about what investors expect from you not only in the present but also in the future. what is happening in our startup NOW that shows them this is a big opportunity? what milestones do we need to hit? what potential do they see in my company and how can I build off of it? how can I showcase my team's capabilities and dedication to success? why should they trust me to return their investment? WHY ARE WE DESERVING OF THIS CAPITAL? These are the questions that should guide your fundraising efforts. I recorded a full TBC episode on this topic that dropped today, make sure to give it a listen if you're ready to ask yourself the hard questions 👀 Listen:

Spreadsheets were costing startups millions. So, I built a $50k MVP. 8 years later = I've helped power $17 billion in startup funding. Here's how I turned frustration into fundraising innovation👇 THE PROBLEM At JP Morgan and then at VentureArchetypes, I helped 100+ companies raise $200M+. The shocker? Founders were tracking multimillion-dollar rounds in spreadsheets 😱 THE LEAP In 2015, I invested $50k in savings into Foundersuite's MVP—a dedicated fundraising solution. EARLY DAY CHALLENGES I had 100 daily sign-ups but minimal retention and high churn. The lesson? User interest without engagement isn't failure—it's an invitation to improve furiously! 🔥 FUELING GROWTH So, I started raising a $500k convertible note, which morphed into a $1M VC round. Every $ went into rebuilding my investor CRM. I marketed aggressively, using Google Ads, startup events, and even launching our "How I Raised It" podcast. EVOLUTION Year after year, I added new (valuable) features. It was a slow grind, but the product got incrementally better. Foundersuite became a comprehensive platform with an investor database, data rooms, investor updates and pitch deck hosting. I even launched a sister platform for emerging manager VCs, called Fundingstack. Today, my platforms have facilitated over $17B in capital raises. The full-circle moment? One of my first clients from 2015 is now a unicorn, still using us for their Series D. 🦄 To aspiring founders: Your $50k idea could be the next billion-dollar platform. Keep pushing, keep solving real problems. #Entrepreneurship #StartupLife #Persistence #FundraisingSuccess PS 🔔 Follow me for strategies and resources for startups and VCs! Looking to raise capital? 💸https://fundingstack.com/ for VCs and investors 💸https://foundersuite.com/ for startups At only $250/month: Fundingstack gets you access to 227K+ global investors. Or you can send me a direct message with "FREETRIAL," and I'll give you a secret access link.

💡 Fueling Growth: Mastering Funding Strategies for Startups! 🚀 🌟 Funding is the lifeblood of startup growth, but navigating the funding landscape can be daunting. In this post, we're diving deep into funding strategies, uncovering key insights and tips to help startups choose the right funding options and propel their growth. 🚀 Know Your Options: Understand the different funding options available, including venture capital, angel investors, and crowdfunding. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages, so choose wisely based on your startup's needs and goals. 🔍 Research and Prepare: Before approaching investors, thoroughly research their investment criteria and tailor your pitch accordingly. Be prepared to clearly articulate your startup's value proposition, market potential, and growth strategy. 🤝 Build Relationships: Networking is key in the world of funding. Attend startup events, join networking groups, and build relationships with potential investors. A warm introduction can go a long way in securing funding. 💡 Diversify Your Funding: Don't rely on a single source of funding. Explore multiple funding options to diversify your risk and increase your chances of securing funding. 📈 Focus on Traction: Investors want to see traction. Focus on acquiring customers, generating revenue, and demonstrating growth potential. This will not only attract investors but also increase your valuation. 💬 Interactive Discussion: What are your top tips for funding startup growth? Share them in the comments below and let's learn from each other! #FundingStrategies #StartupGrowth #VentureCapital 🌟 Together, let's master the art of funding and fuel our startups' growth to new heights! #StartupSuccess #FinancialFreedom

🔍 Discussion of Venture Fundraising Metrics: Simplified! 💡 Hey LinkedIn community! 👋 Are you navigating the exciting yet complex world of venture fundraising? Here’s a quick rundown of key metrics that can help you understand where you stand and what investors are looking for! 1. Burn Rate What it is: The rate at which your startup is spending money. Why it matters: Investors want to know how quickly you're using your capital and how soon you might need more funding. 2. Runway What it is: The amount of time your startup can operate before running out of money. Why it matters: This helps investors understand how long you have to achieve your milestones before needing another round of investment. 3. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) What it is: Predictable revenue that you expect every month. Why it matters: Steady revenue streams are crucial for growth and sustainability, making your startup more attractive to investors. 4. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) What it is: The cost associated with acquiring a new customer. Why it matters: Lower costs mean more efficient growth. Investors look for startups that can scale efficiently. 5. Lifetime Value (LTV) What it is: The total revenue expected from a customer over their entire relationship with your company. Why it matters: High LTV indicates that customers find long-term value in your product, a positive signal for potential investors. 6. Churn Rate What it is: The percentage of customers who stop using your product over a certain period. Why it matters: High churn can signal problems with customer satisfaction or product-market fit. Investors prefer a lower churn rate. 7. Gross Margin What it is: The difference between revenue and the cost of goods sold, expressed as a percentage of revenue. Why it matters: High gross margins can lead to higher profitability, which is attractive to investors. Understanding these metrics can demystify the fundraising process and help you tell a compelling story to potential investors. 💪 Got questions or want to share your experiences with fundraising? Drop a comment below! Let's get the discussion going. 👇 #Startups #VentureCapital #Fundraising #Entrepreneurship #Metrics #BusinessGrowth #Investment #EntrepreneurLife #StartupAdvice #SeedFunding #ScalingUp #StartupCommunity #FundingStrategy #BusinessInnovation

Are you a startup navigating the world of venture fundraising? Understand key metrics like Burn Rate, Runway, MRR, CAC, LTV, Churn Rate, and Gross Margin to attract investors and secure funding. Check out our latest post for a quick rundown and join the discussion! 💡👇 #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTips #Investment #EntrepreneurLife #StartupAdvice #SeedFunding #ScalingUp #StartupCommunity #FundingStrategy #BusinessInnovation #FundraisingTips

Excellent post; I shared it with a few founders. I like this point the most: Key Insight: If you don’t need VC, don’t raise too early—focus on profitability.

Excellent and compelling statistics.