In this episode of the Talking to Investors podcast, I’m speaking with Yusuf Bilesanmi, founder and CEO of Eja-Ice.

We discuss:

► How Eja-Ice went from solving one Nigerian woman’s refrigeration problem to designing a path to saving 39.8 million tons of fish from going to waste.

► Yusuf’s advice on how to boost your funding without giving away equity.

► How to attract donors and strategic investors when the traditional ones don’t understand your market.

► How a customer-focused mindset can help founders develop products that are both impactful and  profitable (and make investors notice).

► The best ways to get your foot in the door with investors and secure funding from day one - even when you’re starting from scratch.

► Why rushing to raise funds hurts your long-term success - and how to avoid that trap.

► Yusuf’s secret to balancing long-term client relationships and short-term investor demands.

► How understanding local market needs can unlock global business opportunities for impact startups.

In this episode of the Talking To Investors podcast, I'm speaking with Evan Davies, CEO and co-founder of Scrapp.

We discuss:

► The crazy level of commitment you get from people you can laugh with, and how to make that happen

► The greatest boost you can give your fundraising - without an investor

► Why reaching out to investors via lists hardly ever works and what you should do instead

And … 

► How to stop overcomplicating building rapport with investors

► How triggering the desire to help can get you a lot of warm introductions

► The biggest green flag for VC funds

► The top 3 reasons investors decided to fund Scrapp

► How to get social proof for more warm introductions

► How to assess what kind of investor you should look for and avoid wasting time with a bad fit

► The worst thing you can do that’ll fracture your relationships and kill rapport instantly

► Why you should stop asking investors for money if you want them to fund you

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Want to know more about Evan or get in touch with him?

► Evan's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-gwynne-davies/

► or visit Scrapp here: https://www.scrapprecycling.com/

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Get my free ebook: “Eliminate The Noise: Find The Top 5% Of Investors That’ll Supercharge Your Impact Startup”:

https://perfectmatchinvestor.com/

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In this episode of the Talking To Investors podcast, I'm speaking with Nadia von Oesterreich and Timur Sirman of Magnotherm.

In this episode of the Talking To Investors podcast, I'm speaking with Michael Henriksen, founder and CEO of Wavepiston

In this episode of the Talking To Investors podcast, I'm speaking with Julia Bialetska, founder and CEO of S.lab

We discuss:

► The top 3 reasons why investors were eager to invest in S.Lab

► The biggest waste of time when doing investor outreach (and what you should do instead)

► The secret to quickly assessing whether an investor is right for your business

► How Julia got ~100 warm B2B sales leads for pilot projects without having to go through the daunting process of climbing up the ladder in corporate organizations until you finally talk to a decision-maker

► The best investment type for investors and early-stage startups

► How to foster relationships with investors and make them WANT to support you

► Why you have to stop putting impact first, especially when fundraising

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Want to more about Julia or get in touch with her?

► Julia's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliabialetska/

► If you’re interested in her product, visit her website here: https://www.ilab-s.com/

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Get my free ebook: “Eliminate the Noise: Find the top 5% of investors that’ll supercharge your impact startup”:

https://negotiating-with-goliath.com/

In this episode of the Talking To Investors podcast, I'm speaking with Daphne Postma, former fund manager at Triodos.

In this episode of the Talking To Investors podcast, I'm speaking with Alina Klarner of Impact Shakers.

In this episode of the Talking To Investors podcast, I'm speaking with Geet Kalra, investment associate at Advantage Capital. We discuss: 

► The craziest founder statement Geet ever encountered - NEVER say this to an investor 

► The 3 essential empathy skills that make investors believe you’ll be successful 

► And one simple technique to show them you’ve got those skills 

► The single most important switch you have to flip in your head - doing this gets you 95% of the way to aligning with your investor 

► The one contract clause you cannot fight as an impact startup 

► How to get past confusing investor jargon 

► A little tactic to get investors to finetune your financial strategy for you 

► What to do when an investor holds a gun to your head 

► Why sending an email when negotiating a high-value term sheet is a BAD idea - and what you should do instead 

► What to do when you get a term sheet with a “WTF!?-type” clause 

► Which 3 criteria are make-or-break factors for assembling a great board of directors 

► What to do when you DON’T want to give someone a board seat, but your investor insists 

► How getting too excited about closing the deal can harm your startup in the future 

► The atmosphere great founders create vs. the vibe that’ll kill the deal 

► Which platform makes investors more likely to respond when you’re doing a cold outreach 

► And loads of other insights Geet brings to the table. 

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If you think Geet Kalra would be a great investor for your startup, you can reach out to him here: 

► Geet's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geet-kalra/ 

And as a special bonus, more insights from Geet on coursera: 

► "Strategy and Finance for the lifecycle of a Social Business": https://www.coursera.org/specializations/strategy-and-finance-for-social-business 

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You’ve Got An Important Negotiation Coming Up And Can’t Afford To Lose? 

Visit https://negotiating-with-goliath.com/1-on-1-coaching/ 

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In this interview, I’m talking with Graham Boyd of Evolutesix about:

In this episode of the Talking To Investors podcast, I'm speaking with Philip Haverkamp, partner at impact VC fund kopa (formerly Wi Venture).