The conversation with Deepak Ravindran from Oddbox covers the origin story of Oddbox, its current state, early days of fundraising, the seed round and crowdfunding, crowdfunding strategies, and the challenges and emotions in fundraising. Deepak shares insights into the impact of crowdfunding, the challenges faced during fundraising, and the strategies used to navigate the early stage funding rounds.

Takeaways

• Fundraising Challenges
• Impact of Crowdfunding
• Early Stage Funding Rounds

Chapters

• 00:00 Challenges and Emotions in Fundraising

In this episode of the No BS Fundraising Podcast, host Nick interviews Martin Kõiva, co-founder of Klaus, a customer support AI platform. Martin shares his journey from the inception of Klaus, which began in 2018, through various fundraising rounds, culminating in a successful exit to Zendesk in 2024. The conversation delves into the emotional aspects of fundraising, the evolution of Klaus's branding, and the strategic decisions that shaped their growth. Martin emphasizes the importance of storytelling in fundraising, illustrating how the clarity of their messaging evolved through iterations and investor feedback.

Connect with Tom @ Blokhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/tcharman/https://www.joinblok.co/Protagonist led 2.5m Pre-seedhttps://www.protagonist.co/https://www.linkedin.com/company/protagonist-co/https://x.com/protagonistxyzhttps://www.instagram.com/protagonistxyzhttps://www.crunchbase.com/organization/protagonist-27b9https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/495528-31https://www.vcsheet.com/fund/protagonistHarry Hursthttps://www.protagonist.co/team/harry-hurst/https://www.linkedin.com/in/harryhurst/https://www.instagram.com/harryhur5t/https://twitter.com/harryhurstMaC Venture Capital led 5m Seedhttps://macventurecapital.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/mac-venture-capital/https://x.com/macventurecap?lang=en-GBhttps://www.instagram.com/macventurecap/https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/mac-venture-capitalhttps://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/267599-80https://www.vcsheet.com/fund/mac-venture-capitalMarlon Nicholashttps://macventurecapital.com/team/marlon-nichols/https://www.linkedin.com/in/marloncnichols/https://x.com/marloncnicholshttps://www.instagram.com/marloncnichols/Other Notable InvestorsRyan Hoover @ Weekend Fundhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrhoover/https://www.linkedin.com/company/weekend-fund/Charlie Leggate @ Anorak Ventureshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-leggate-63606384/https://www.linkedin.com/company/anorak-ventures/Kevin Novak @ Rackhouse Venture Capitalhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/novakkm/https://www.linkedin.com/company/rackhouse-venture-capital/Other People to Followhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sumeet-vaidya/https://www.linkedin.com/in/ckneumann/