2019년 최고의 스타트업은 어떻게 투자 유치에 성공했을까?

Whether you are a new startup or a seasoned company ready for expansion, you’re most likely going to need to raise funds to support your business. In general, the further you are in your business journey, the easier it will be to navigate your journey through startup fundraising as a founder.

Fundraising best practices have not changed much since 2018. Your task will be connecting with investors that get excited about your concept, your business model, and, frankly, you.

Asking the Right Questions

Before you begin your startup fundraising, you must assemble and optimize a pitch deck (we have some great pitch deck examples). Before approaching the task of creating your pitch deck, you and your team of co-founders need to clarify several things about yourselves and your business:

1. What value are you bringing to your users, customers, or clients? Get this down in writing. You should ensure every slide in your pitch deck is consistent with your mission and the value prop within it.
2. What are the similar offerings in the space? It’s incredibly important to know how your product or service will be better or different from existing players in the space. You should have a clear and concise answer to this question. There should be airtime built into your pitch to address it. Any seasoned venture capitalist will want to understand your insights in this realm.
3. Who is your target audience, and how do you plan to reach your target market? Additional topics that are good to tackle include the growth trajectory of this market and demographic backgrounds.
4. Who are you, and what’s your backstory? How did you come to have a passion for this business idea and industry? What is the story of the development of your product or service? It’s also important to map out the experience of your team, and the unique ways each team member’s experience complements and caters to your industry and idea.
5. What is your current financial situation? Are you looking for funding to begin? Or have you already launched with initial capital from a seed round, and are now looking for raise to scale? If you have already launched, can you demonstrate that you are on your way to monetization and/or achieving profitability?

If you can get these questions answered and get them in writing, you are officially on your way.

Creating Your Pitch Deck

Now that you’ve asked and answered the right questions, it’s time to get started on that pitch deck. Our analysis of 200 pitch decks that raised founders $360 million shows that, on average, investors spend 3 minutes and 44 seconds with each deck that they receive. That means you’ve got just under 4 minutes to make a good lasting impression.

So, how can you best optimize your fundraising pitch deck? Let’s take a look at some refreshingly quantitative data around pitch deck performance.

The above illustration shows the percentage of successful decks that included each type of slide. All successful decks included Team pages, and most included Product pages. But Financials? “Why Now” slides? Don’t fret if you don’t have anything to present at this juncture.

It’s also revealing to check out where investors spend that 3 minutes and 44 seconds engaging with your deck.

Our data shows that, if you include it, your financials are of supreme interest to investors. Your team and competition pages are also, unsurprisingly, of particular interest. (Perhaps surprisingly, you can see product pages landed at around half the viewing time of sections like Financials and Team!)

Want more where this comes from? You can check out the full fundraising report. You can also get started with DocSend if you’d like to get these and other useful metrics for your specific pitch deck!

Qualifying Funding Prospects

While there are at least 35 sources of funding to potentially evaluate, there are a few paths that are most often suggested. It’s important to note that each source of capital will require different collateral from you and in different formats. This could be formal business plans to informal conversations, either in person or even via video chat.

Startup fundraising typically requires an overwhelming amount of file sharing and document sending. You’ll be sending materials to everyone from advisors to VCs, angels, and other investors to product testers, and more. Using DocSend to securely send important files, like your pitch deck, helps you limit distribution of proprietary or confidential materials. You’ll even get slide-by-slide, lead-by-lead engagement feedback, so you can tell which investors are engaging with your pitch deck and which aren’t. (In fact, for more on that, you can check out our early-stage fundraising guide.)

So let’s assume we’ve got an optimized pitch deck, and we’re ready to securely send it out. Let’s review the most common methods of startup fundraising in 2019. Before we dive in, it’s important to note that these aren’t necessarily the “best” methods of fundraising for you and your business. Deciding where you get funds is up to each individual business owner.

Startup Fundraising Sources in 2019

1. Yourself: All of the above may be rather moot points if you have the personal funds to support your business.  Still, you will want to articulate your answers to the six questions above. This will give you a clear vision of your business and where it is heading (or where it will head).
2. Friends and Family Members: There is a famous Shakespearian quote – “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” While, sure,  your friends and relatives may be more approachable than a VC or an angel, they can still, of course, be reluctant to invest in your new endeavor. The other caveat here is that, if your business should “go south”, you could damage those relationships rather permanently. If you do go this route, make sure that you have the details in writing and that you have clearly informed them of the risks involved.
3. Find a Partner: If you have a great pitch and access to someone who not only has the capital, but shares your passion, this may be for you. Again, be certain that all are laid out and agreed to in writing so that mutual financial obligations and equity positions are clearly in place.
4. Collateralized Loan: This is a traditional method. You will need a formal business plan and assets that you can put up (e.g., real property) as collateral. If you have the collateral, these may be relatively easy to obtain. There are home equity loans, etc., that you can use for any purpose.
5. Non-Collateralized Loans from Creditors: These come from more lenient creditors and carry higher interest rates. Move into this type of funding with caution.
6. Angel Investors: Angels are perfect for small founding teams looking a little capital to get them to the next phase of their business. As mentioned, angels will want to see your plan. They will also want to see compelling evidence suggested your idea can and will drive growth.
7. Crowdfunding: There are a large number of platforms for crowdfunding. They all have different arrangements and requirements. Some of the most popular ones, like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, are inundated with promising proposals, so you may want to pursue exposure on some less well-known crowdfunding platform.
8. Venture Capitalists: Venture Capitalists (VCs) fund most of Silicon Valley’s most successful companies. While VCs can be tough to woo, you can set yourself up for success by researching venture capital leads have expressed interest in your idea and proposal. Again, check out our fundraising best practices and our guide to fundraising for more!
9. Initial Coin Offering: This will require a solid knowledge of cryptocurrencies. But many entrepreneurs are going this route, in order to reach a wider range of investors, especially global ones. If you consider this, you will need an ICO white paper, and you will need it translated into the language of target foreign audiences. Don’t scrimp on this — this isn’t the tactic to try if you’re planning to cut corners.
10. Accelerator Programs: Accelerators are a fantastic option for those that are lucky enough to be admitted. You must optimize your pitch deck and strike the match just right. While accelerators provide mainly short-term support, it may be exactly the thing to get yourself launched or scaled.

These are just 10 of the most common funding sources. Many of today’s most successful founders and CEOs pursued several of them at a time before and during their rise. Again, it’s important to remember the obligations of all parties, and that you get those in writing, so there are no misunderstandings.

Best of luck on your startup fundraising! Be sure to check out DocSend’s fundraising guide, and get started with DocSend for free so you can follow along.

 

Kristin Savage nourishes, sparks and empowers using the magic of a word. She is practicing regularly while reviewing new translation services at Pick Writers and constantly contributing to other educational platforms. Along with pursuing her degree in Creative Writing, Kristin was gaining experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in marketing strategy for publishers and authors. You can find her on Facebook.