Libby Ashcraft’s Post

Take a walk down memory lane with Patrick Petitti and Rob Biederman, two of Catalant's co-founders. From starting the business and raising money to growing a successful company, this episode is packed full of lessons learned for fellow founders. Give it a listen!

Black Star Fund turns 6 years old today! Thank you to each and everyone of you who believed, supported, invested and encouraged my vision, team and our incredible founders! We didn't see it to believe it, we believed it so we could see it! Please leave a comment below on how Black Star Fund and our portfolio companies have had a positive effect on you and our world! #justgettingstarted #blackstarfund

90 minutes in conversation with Rahul Moodgal about fundraising, relationships, trust-building, and communication feels a bit like an awakening -- "oh, that's how it works!" his wisdom is subtle, intuitive, yet non-obvious. his experience is astonishing, his humility no less so. his fluency in strategy, tactics, philosophy, and common sense made this one of the most intellectually stimulating and practically useful conversations I've ever had. thank you Rahul for joining us at World of Allocators! I would encourage everyone who wants to raise institutional investment to attend the Capital Allocators University IR/BD program... BUT Rahul made it very clear that NOT *everyone* should. DON'T attend if: - you want to raise a quick buck - you want easy answers to hard questions - you want to dominate the faculty's time ONLY attend if you want to: - learn best practices from the best in the industry - commit to a lot of authenticity, empathy, patience, and hard work - build a sustainable investing business there you have it folks - keep reaching for that next level ;-)

🔥 Join me at HERO Capital Raising Summit: The Ultimate Marketing, Capital Raising & Networking Conference. Master The Capital Raising Game with Pros Who, Together, Have Raised Over $1B Dollars, get inspired by the amazing lineup of speakers. Use code MGUTHRIE for a special pricing on your ticket ➡️https://lnkd.in/dEfnSzWz #HEROCapitalRaisingSummit #RESyndicators #FundManagers #CapitalRaisers

My best fundraising advice to founders: Weaponize your cap table. Here's what I mean: Raise from strategic angels who can open doors and become an extension of your sales team. They'll help you break into key networks and audiences. At Haven, we raised our pre-seed round from 40+ elite investors including: -Anthony Pompliano (Pomp Investments) -Charlie Feng (Clearco) -Lauryn Motamedi (Isford) (Notion)  -Eric Bahn (Hustle Fund) Why? We wanted people in our corner who could help us reach every founder and entrepreneur. To build a massive company, you need advocates to help you bang down doors. Fundraising isn't just about the money. It's about assembling a dream team of supporters who believe in your vision. When you have the right people on your cap table, you can tap into their expertise, networks, and resources to fuel your growth.

This week I moderated a panel of amazing female founders that talked about the tough world of raising funds. We ended with a few tips on what can be done to help those looking for funding. 1: Create small groups of female founders looking for funding and share investor contacts what doesn’t work for one may work for another said Jessica. 2: As an everyday person without big pockets you can also make a difference by liking that post, commenting, buying from female run independents. Sonya has 100k followers through this route and uses that as a data point of ref when speaking to investors that shows there is interest in her proposition. Sonya Barlow Jessica Alderson Nima Abu-Wardeh 📣 Julia Elliott Brown David Savage

Talking to some founders yesterday about doing an actual demo in your pitch and they thought that just isn't something people do. I think that is true. A demo is rarely in a pitch deck template. But. If you are early I don't think it hurts to start off focusing on who is the customer and follow it with what you are building. The longer it takes you to get to that point. The less likely people are paying attention.

✨ A underrated strategy used by a few very successful founders is Innovating ahead of the curve! 🚀 Sam Altman's bold move with Loopt, seizing the opportunity when Apple had just launched its maps and most of Loopt's features were very futuristic back then, exemplifies the power of foresight in tech #entrepreneurship. A testament to the prowess of being an early mover in an evolving market landscape. 💡 Sam Altman also, once again proved with OpenAI's success, the importance of visionary thinking and daring execution in shaping the future of technology. #innovation #TechTrailblazers #StartupSuccess #OpenAI

Clay just raised $62M at a $500M valuation 🤯 I bet you're wondering, "How did they do it?" The answer is one word: community. Clay started with a small team, but big dreams for the future. They understood that growth isn't just about numbers; it's about people. So, they focused on creating a platform where users could connect, share ideas, and support each other. This community-driven approach led to rapid growth, with 10x year-over-year success. Thanks to their engaged community, Clay now serves 2500+ customers, including big names like Notion and Intercom. I decided to share this story with you, because there’s a lesson to be learned here. When you invest in building a strong community, the results are incredible. Your users become your biggest advocates, and growth follows naturally. And that’s what my team and I at Networked do. We help you build and nurture vibrant communities so you can achieve your dreams one day too. ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow me for more posts like this.

The bell rang, your hand was raised and the crowd is cheering. You’ve put in the work, won the funds, gathered support and you might be wondering… what is next. The journey has really only started and you’ll be tested at every turn. The execution is critical to the success of you, your team, your organization and… …your idea 💡 But, you’re exhausted and not sure where to begin and that’s ok. Regardless of where you are in your idea stage, my team can help. The sooner the better so we can prepare you for launch day. 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 #taketheskyway