Avik Ashar’s Post

It's time for #fundraising #founderstory that happened with us recently. In January 2023, I connected with a General Partner from a local #vc. He was interested in meeting my Co-founder and me, so we agreed and rearranged our schedules to visit their office. What've we got: ❌ Upon arrival, we learned he had only 15 minutes, not the planned 30 mins-1 hour (Why not just a video call?!) ❌ After 15 minutes, he revealed their Fund was not yet formed, delaying investments for months. Despite my prior mention of our timeline ending in February. ❌ He requested our Sales deck, we sent it the next day, and then... he disappeared💨 Surprisingly, in August 2023, this investor returned after speaking with one of investors. Impressed by Simpleem's progress, he sought a catch-up, and we (unfortunately) agreed. Results: ✅ He invited us to his office (yes, AGAIN). However, we requested a video call this time due to prior issues and conflicting meetings. ✅ Meeting time and date were confirmed by both sides. 👻 Yet again, the investor vanished before the final invitation confirmation. ❌ He never responded to follow-ups or attended the scheduled meeting. Based on this story, here is kind advice to #Founders: 1. Such behavior is called "toxic". If #investors or partners waste your time, reconsider this partnership. Respect to your resources especially in the early stages of business development is crucial for your success. 2. We all make sacrifices, but avoid sacrificing aspects crucial to your business growth like #sales or other essential processes for meetings with such investors. A gentle request to Investors: 1. Most early #startups don't have enough resources and time, they work 10-12 hours/day without weekends. Respect their commitments to optimize productivity. 2. We manage around 20 and more weekly meetings. Mutual respect in scheduling is vital. 3. Prominent VCs understand founders' time's worth. For instance, Andreessen Horowitz fines their people who are late $100/minute in meetings. Punctuality and mutual expectation management both in #virtual and in-person meetings are key to effective communication. It helps both sides to use maximum to objectively assess opportunities of partnerships. Share your experiences of being #ghosted or wasting time in the comments ⬇. Remember, you're not alone in this!

I ran into this extensive guide about fundraising issued by Hustle Fund. I recommend to have a look and see what VCs and business angels are expecting from early stage entrepreneurs. #businessreshape#techstartupsfunding#businessgrowth#

The amount you raise from VCs has no connection to your self worth‼️ None, Zero, Nada I've seen too many founders ruin fundraises by trying to get too much money. When you ask them why they need $Xm there's no good answer. The real reasons: Ego - They saw Company X raise a huge seed Fear - They're scared so they want as much money as possible If your number is too high many funds will say no. They won't even consider how your business is doing. And you can't lower the amount because VCs see it as desperate. The funny thing is, if you have a lot of Investor interest you can actually increase the amount. So the best strategy is to figure out how much you need to get to the next milestone / break even. Start your fundraise aiming for that amount and if VCs start competing raise it. First secure what you need to continue, then be greedy. I write detailed guides on all things fundraising- based on years as a VC. Check them out - link in the comments

💸 Want to get VCs list that don't need warm intro (with their emails) ? This list provides: 🔹230+ active VCs and their contact info 🔹Their preferred investment verticals 🔹Average check size they write 🔹Whether they lead or not 🔹Notes directly from VCs about the best way to reach them/pitch them If you're struggling to get a lead/first-check, this list is where to look Be sure to check the notes that VCs left so that you contact/submit your pitch the preferred way Don't get stuck in the cold for lack of a warm intro. Like this? Comment "Need it" below + Send Connection Request + 🔔 I will DM you the resource ASAP. #vc #fundraising #founders #venturefunding

The bigger the story, the more belief you need in it. Most people won’t believe it and that’s why your belief has to be greater. There is plenty of capital out there for founders to build. It’s the belief that’s lacking. In working with founders who have raised over 600 million dollars in capital I’ve seen it firsthand. Huge stories require an almost insane level of belief. Few founders can maintain that level of belief in the face of all the doubters and naysayers. The ones who can, do special things. Keep believing. Never play small. Pull off the unbelievable. #storytelling #venturecapital #growthcapital #capitalraising

Most founders are making this mistake 👇🏻 Met 15 founders in the last 1 month. 60% of them had raised money without achieving true product market fit. Most of them are struggling. - Struggling with their product. - Struggling with their mental health. - Struggling to keep their team motivated. - Struggling to breakeven. For most early-stage companies, if you’re not bringing in a healthy profit yet, that funding will be the most expensive cash you ever buy. This cycle happens many a times to founders: 1. You raise a big round. 2. Your expenses grow to match your new bank account balance. 3. Your revenue doesn’t grow as quickly as you projected (it almost never does, especially early on). 4. You’re hesitant to cut spending, because that means cutting your productivity, and you feel- "you are almost there" On the contrary, founders who have not raised money or have raised an extremely small round early on and their focus is true product market fit, 90% of them are doing well for themselves. At Beyond Financial Score (BeFiSc), we are on our way to $3mn ARR this year and we are having fun doing it because we don't have any investor pressure to scale or sell. We will be happy doing this for the next 5 years because we are building a healthy, profitable tech company 🚀 Source- Personal Experiences, Alex Turnbull (Groove) #statups #profit #funding #founders

Want to know the best times to approach VCs? Here's the key: ‣ Sweet Spots: Aim to fundraise between early February - early July or mid-September - November. ‣ Avoid: January is slow due to post-holiday recovery. July/August are vacation heavy. ‣ Competition: Early February gets booked fast. September onward means vying for attention before year-end. Timing your approach strategically is critical for maximum VC attention. Watch the full video to learn more. #fundraisingtips #startupfunding #VCfunding

It's always intriguing to witness unconventional tactics in the startup world, like the public Series A raise. This strategy certainly disrupts traditional processes and can potentially democratize investor access. Nonetheless, it's critical for founders to consider the implications such a move might have on future rounds and the importance of maintaining strategic control in the influx of interest. Balance and foresight are key.

The bar to raising a Series A has gone up: ARR expectations = 2x higher compared to 2022. So what does it take? 💸 Previously you could raise Series A with an ARR of $0.5-2.5M. Now you need to be at $1-5M. 📈 Expectations around ARR growth (y/y) still remain the same at 2-3x. 🔢 Check out the benchmarks below! And founders, you need to think about your Series A already at pre-seed! The reason is simple. Investors looking to lead your Seed need to feel you know where that bag of money needs to take you in terms of growth, customers, revenue etc. So that you have a good shot at Series A. Hope this is helpful for any early-stage founder looking to be well-prepared! #fundraising #seriesA

When you do your first fundraise ‘in the wild’, as a #founder you face a lot more complexities than you might expect, explained Tom Barltrop, CEO of SuperFi, to Antler’s recent #fundraising evening. Tom shared his experiences of using Floww for Superfi’s raise, and how our deal team helped navigate the obstacles to get the raise over the line and overfunded in record time.   Tom’s fireside chat at Antler, alongside Floww’s Simon Finch, explained to #entrepreneurs in attendance the value in communicating with investors in ways that instantly resonate; how you negotiate your legal terms such that you’re best positioned for this raise and any future raises you’ll do; and how you create a fundraising strategy that closes quickly on those investors that are ready to commit, creating crucial momentum that pushes investors that might be on the fence into committing.   The evening concluded with a ‘Fundraising with Floww’ demonstration. Nicolas Saidler explained how Floww supports founders at every step of their journey to access capital, ensuring innovative companies like SuperFi can spend more time building and less time raising.   #scaleup #investment #angelinvesting #vc