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193: Top 5 Fundraising Mistakes Founders Make
In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the top fundraising mistakes founders make. From copying and pasting templates to just blindly following the trends, Steli and Hiten address each mistake and how it can work against you. They also offer up valuable advice on how to effectively fundraise, so that you can avoid these key errors.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
00:05 – Today’s episode is about the top 5 fundraising mistakes
00:35 – We may exceed 5 mistakes, but the aim for this episode is to talk about the mistakes founders make to better warn and equip listeners from making these mistakes
00:51 – Hiten is currently creating a software product that can help founders fundraise
01:37 – The first mistake is believing that “pitch deck templates won’t get you funding”
02:15 – People are just copying and pasting the templates they see on the internet, so what they end up making looks the same as other businesses
02:45 – Episode 188 talked about how to make a killer pitch deck
03:41 – The pitch deck is the new business plan
04:36 – You need to stand out and find your own voice to make your business compelling
05:18 – The second mistake is sending your pitch deck to investors before it’s ready
05:39 – Your pitch deck has to tell a story
06:36 – First impressions matter more than anything else
07:27 – Investors have the busiest schedules
07:54 – Every founder should get feedback from people that are trusted
08:18 – The next mistake—one’s investor outreach strategy or lack thereof
08:39 – 99% of investors will not take you seriously if you cold email them
09:05 – The best way to meet investors is to be personally introduced to them
09:33 – The email inbox of investors are probably full of pitch decks
10:45 – The fundraising advice you are getting is not helping you
10:58 – There is conflicting advice about fundraising
11:22 – Do what you think is right for you
11:57 – The fundraising climate changes every 6 months
12:11 – There are a lot of different opinions out there because founders only have less than 5 experiences fundraising
12:54 – Next mistake: founders are insecure when it comes to fundraising
13:20 – That insecurity is counterproductive
13:59 – Founders should ask themselves if the strategy they’re using fits into their company culture or their own personality
14:34 – Ask yourself: what is the strategy behind the tactics?
15:11 – Another mistake: making things up
16:41 – Investors often see AI in a pitch deck—it can be a negative thing if it does not fit the business well
17:35 – A lot of founders are pressured to follow trends such as AI
18:40 – You are setting yourself up for a catastrophe if you make things up
19:22 – Go to Getdogo to help you with your pitch decks
19:49 – End of today’s episode
3 Key Points:
When you fundraise, emphasize what is unique about your business.
The best way to meet investors is in person, through an introduction.
Do NOT follow the trend—instead, choose the tactics that fit your business and stick to that.
Steli Efti: Hey everyone this is Steli Efti.
Hiten Shah : And this is Hiten Shah.
Steli Efti: And in today's episode of The Startup Chat we're gonna talk about the top 5 fundraising mistakes. It might turn out to become top 10 fundraising mistakes depending on how many we can uncover, but we'll talk about things that founders ... the mistakes founders make when raising money that we've seen over and over and over again. And hopefully if we can just make one of you people out there avoid some of these mistakes, then this was really, really valuable. So that's going to be the aim for the episode.
Hiten Shah : Awesome, yeah,
View all episodes
By Steli Efti & Hiten Shah: Serial Entrepreneurs, Sales & Marketing Experts, Startup Investors & Advisors, CEOs running multi million dollar SaaS Startups
4.8
202202 ratings
In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the top fundraising mistakes founders make. From copying and pasting templates to just blindly following the trends, Steli and Hiten address each mistake and how it can work against you. They also offer up valuable advice on how to effectively fundraise, so that you can avoid these key errors.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
00:05 – Today’s episode is about the top 5 fundraising mistakes
00:35 – We may exceed 5 mistakes, but the aim for this episode is to talk about the mistakes founders make to better warn and equip listeners from making these mistakes
00:51 – Hiten is currently creating a software product that can help founders fundraise
01:37 – The first mistake is believing that “pitch deck templates won’t get you funding”
02:15 – People are just copying and pasting the templates they see on the internet, so what they end up making looks the same as other businesses
02:45 – Episode 188 talked about how to make a killer pitch deck
03:41 – The pitch deck is the new business plan
04:36 – You need to stand out and find your own voice to make your business compelling
05:18 – The second mistake is sending your pitch deck to investors before it’s ready
05:39 – Your pitch deck has to tell a story
06:36 – First impressions matter more than anything else
07:27 – Investors have the busiest schedules
07:54 – Every founder should get feedback from people that are trusted
08:18 – The next mistake—one’s investor outreach strategy or lack thereof
08:39 – 99% of investors will not take you seriously if you cold email them
09:05 – The best way to meet investors is to be personally introduced to them
09:33 – The email inbox of investors are probably full of pitch decks
10:45 – The fundraising advice you are getting is not helping you
10:58 – There is conflicting advice about fundraising
11:22 – Do what you think is right for you
11:57 – The fundraising climate changes every 6 months
12:11 – There are a lot of different opinions out there because founders only have less than 5 experiences fundraising
12:54 – Next mistake: founders are insecure when it comes to fundraising
13:20 – That insecurity is counterproductive
13:59 – Founders should ask themselves if the strategy they’re using fits into their company culture or their own personality
14:34 – Ask yourself: what is the strategy behind the tactics?
15:11 – Another mistake: making things up
16:41 – Investors often see AI in a pitch deck—it can be a negative thing if it does not fit the business well
17:35 – A lot of founders are pressured to follow trends such as AI
18:40 – You are setting yourself up for a catastrophe if you make things up
19:22 – Go to Getdogo to help you with your pitch decks
19:49 – End of today’s episode
3 Key Points:
When you fundraise, emphasize what is unique about your business.
The best way to meet investors is in person, through an introduction.
Do NOT follow the trend—instead, choose the tactics that fit your business and stick to that.
Steli Efti: Hey everyone this is Steli Efti.
Hiten Shah : And this is Hiten Shah.
Steli Efti: And in today's episode of The Startup Chat we're gonna talk about the top 5 fundraising mistakes. It might turn out to become top 10 fundraising mistakes depending on how many we can uncover, but we'll talk about things that founders ... the mistakes founders make when raising money that we've seen over and over and over again. And hopefully if we can just make one of you people out there avoid some of these mistakes, then this was really, really valuable. So that's going to be the aim for the episode.
Hiten Shah : Awesome, yeah,
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