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Series A, B, C, D, and E Funding: How It Works

As Startups.co and Fundable founder Wil Schroter likes to says, “There’s not a lot of ‘fun’ in funding.”

Raising equity funding for your startup is a long, difficult, and often demoralizing process. However, if you’re successful, you walk away with money that will help your startup grow and become everything you hope it could become.

One of the major challenges that founders run across is that raising a round often takes more time than they expected. While a founder might know that your startup is excellent, convincing other people to invest thousands — and potentially millions — of dollars into their company is not a simple task.

Check out the full article here:

Series A, B, C, D, and E Funding: How It Works

 

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How to Write your Business Pitch

What is it?

The Pitch is the last pillar of your house, the finishing touch that can give the decisive edge to transform a good business idea into an exhaustive, appealing, convincing project for your managers or investors. It is a message, a speech, a presentation that in a few minutes concentrates everything you have included in the BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS and in the Business Plan to make your idea viable, sustainable and a winning one. In addition to business data, you have to put all your passion and ability into reaching those who listen to you.

Take the elevator to the sky

The perfect Pitch literature is very wide. Be aware, a perfect one does not exist. Or rather, there is no way to give an objective assessment. The variables involved are so many that they make everything very relative. Who is the investor audience you have in front of you? What is your business idea? Why did you decide to invest in this sector? Why did you launch your company? If you cannot answer these questions and delineate the scope of action, you will never be able to convey your passion to those who listen to you, to convince someone of the worthiness of your project, or find lenders for your dreams to come true.

Elevator Pitch, the Americans say. In this case, it is the only objective parameter to evaluate your performance. If in the time frame of a trip in the elevator you have not “broken through”, then it is sure that your Pitch was not so perfect.

How to prepare it?

Once you have completed the BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS, you will already have all the data to prepare your Pitch. You will need a speech and a keynote or PowerPoint to present it, your passion and your zeal to convey it. The following are the sections that should be touched on.

Key Partners

Schematically define the partnerships you have chosen to create the value to offer customers. Explain who will do what, when, how and why the partner you chose to take accompany you along the path for a time is the right one.

Key Activities

List the activities you will perform, explain how you will alleviate the distress of your customers and solve their problem. To do this, you can use a demo or a video that captures the attention of your listener.

Value Proposition

Represents your business idea at its best. Explains who you are, what you do, what need you fill or what problem you want to solve, who your ideal client is, why your approach is better than that of your competitors, why you can help your customers achieve their goal.

Customer Relations

Briefly sum up how you plan to acquire and keep your customers, what your marketing strategy will be and what kind of communication you will use to reach, retain, and indulge your target audience.

Customer Segments

Quickly present the segments into which you have divided the market, which of them you have decided to contact and why.

Key Resources

Outlines what resources you have decided to use to reach your goal. Who the people are who will accompany you in your business and why they are the right people. Which technical and financial resources you will put into action.

Channels

Summarise the touchpoints, sales, distribution and communication channels chosen to reach your target.

Revenue Streams

Summarise the expected revenues and their origins in a few figures. You can generate a chart to allow the listener to quickly view key data.

Cost Structure

As for revenues, the costs that you will have to bear for the success of your business project must be graphically summed up so as to be easily understood.

Financial Sources

Who will your lenders be? Where will you find the money for your business? Indicate what all sources are. Again, use your creativity to say it quickly and clearly.

Competitors

Present visually who the main competitors are in your market, but remember that in the end, you have to be the winner.

Tips & Tricks

The perfect Pitch does not exist, but there are some good tips to get off on the right foot.

  • Pitch is not just a document, but a presentation in front of a person or, often, as in the case of startups, before an audience of investors. You have to put your entire being into it. Public speaking will be fundamental, the tone of voice that you use, the colloquial and informal language, yet accurate or precise. Look to establish visual contact with your interlocutors, look them in the eye, demonstrate confidence in what you say and in what you present. Your idea is the best, but don’t be obnoxious or arrogant.
  • If you talk to a group of investors, focus on the opportunity that your business project represents for them to invest in and the value it can create compared to competitors. If you are in front of potential customers, keep the focus on the reasons why they should choose your idea, your product, your service.
  • Avoid common mistakes that are made on keynotes or PowerPoint. In the slides that accompany your Pitch, there must be only a few words and well-chosen. Insert impact images and information graphics.
  • Take all the time you need to prepare the Pitch well. It is not a joke, it is everything. Read and reread your speech, try it out several times, record your voice, correct yourself.
  • Find the right phrase, the effect phrase to open and close the Pitch.
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How to Write an Executive Summary

What is it?

It is the heart of your business plan, the first part of the document that your interlocutors will read, but usually the last part you will write. It summarises your project, your idea, your strategy. It explains who you are, what you want to do, how you want to do it and why you are the right person or company to do it. It summarizes your entire proposal in a few lines of text with the key figures. It is the key to being heard by those who must believe in you, to make them continue reading the document and getting a thorough understanding of your project.

2 Ways, 2 Readers: do the right thing

Startup or consolidated company? This is the first crossroads: to write the most correct, the most pertinent, the most convincing Executive Summary. One road leads to investors, the other to a company’s top management:

  1. Startup – If you are launching a new company, it will end up under the eyes of an investor. The bank manager, angel investor or venture capitalist, it does not matter. Before convincing him to fund your project, you will have to get him to continue reading the plan. To do this, you will have to focus on the solidity of your business idea.
  2. Established business: If, on the other hand, you are a middle manager of a company, the Executive Summary will be targeted to arrive on your boss’ desk or to some top management department in your company. In this case, you will have to focus on possible developments and business growth plans.

The 5 points which you cannot forego

Let’s see together what the 5 things are that cannot be omitted from an Executive Summary:

Startup

  • The opportunity – Explain to investors why your business idea is a winner and why it will work.
  • The market – Describe what your target audience will be, why your plan will work, what your business model is, what the extra element is that your products or services have compared to their competitors.
  • The strategy -Make a summary of your sales and marketing plans.
  • Numbers and people – Provide your financial plan and projections for the future for the first three years of activity. Present the managers and human resources who will be participating in the project and the reasons why they are the right people.
  • The kick-off – Emphasise the schedule and deadlines you have set for moving from a paper plan to cut the ribbon.

Established business

  • The mission – Explain what your company does, what its vision, values, and guiding philosophy are.
  • The company – Speak briefly about the company, its history, the offices, products, and services it provides, the market in which it operates, the number of employees.
  • The highlights – Describe the evolution of the company business and the results and growth achieved, using only some key figures.
  • The numbers – If you wish to update the business plan, make a summary of the financial plan
  • The objectives – Set business goals and explain how any new resources will be used to grow further and expand the business.

Tips & Tricks

Tips and tricks to prevent your Executive Summary from ending up in the trash with your entire business plan.

  • One page can be enough. Two are perfect. Three may be too many. In any case, the Executive Summary should not be longer than 10% of the whole document.
  • Use a positive, strong, confident tone of voice. Always give the impression of believing in what you write and what you do.
  • Remember who will read your document. Write clearly, accurately and using the right language.
  • If you are making a proposal to investors, you must make it clear that they have a unique opportunity on their hands.
  • Include in the Executive Summary data that can be found and discussed in depth only within the plan itself.
  • Capture the attention at the beginning with a couple of phrases that present the whole project idea in the best light.
  • Read your Executive Summary many times also out loud. If it flows, is clear and without errors or repetitions, then it’s really ready.