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29.03.2021 

The money’s out there for the right companies and for the right founders.

Don’t let the pandemic intimidate you. The money’s out there for the right companies and for the right founders.

We watched Steve Barsh (from DreamIt Ventures) interviewing Jason Calacanis last month about fundraising in these challenging times. Probably one of the best interviews  we have seen about the real state of fundraising over the pandemic. Summarizing the main takeaways: 

  1. Investors KNOW that putting their money in companies during a market downtime is the best they can do. Just look at success stories from companies that got funded right after 9/11, or even after the 2008 financial crisis. Investors KNOW these are the resilient and driven businesses and teams they like.

  2. A crisis like this pandemic has investors very attentive to certain qualities from founders: They want honesty, transparency, and LOTS of data to back those values up. Be authentic with your reality check when presenting your project, and be real about the opportunities. Investors want to know why customers want to use your product more. Getting the numbers right is not a priority for them now, they will help you get them right if they get to invest in you. 

  3. As a founder, your priorities should be cutting costs (even if that implies letting people go), creating a runway, and start generating revenue. After you have those three covered, THEN you can go out and seek funding.

  4. This is comparable to wartime. None of us thought we would be CEOs or founders during a war. Be prepared to make tough decisions and also be flexible to seek those extra consulting jobs or take those loans in order to keep your business afloat. Our survival instinct should be to the roof. The strategy is to focus on sustainable growth, and not on growth at all costs.

  5. Lots of investors, like Calacanis, are what he calls “sector agnostic”. They are looking for founders, not industries. He believes the crisis will accelerate areas such as social distancing or remote work, but other areas such as biotech and even apps continue to have opportunities.

  6. Don’t be afraid to seek for investment if you’re the “outsider” kind of founder. Especially if you’re in tech, if you’re a person who takes action, the industry (and investors) will welcome you. 

Don’t let the pandemic intimidate you. The money’s out there for the right companies and for the right founders.