It’s a jungle out there for startups. If you want to win the game, you need investors. In Episode- 1 of Business BTS with Mukul Rustagi, he discussed with Nikhil Kapoor (Partner, STRIVE) the sine qua non of raising an early-stage startup funding.
- Tell your story: Every venture has a story. Brainstorm, ideate, and curate your story to strike the perfect chord with your potential investors. If you’re not prepared for a conversation and don’t have your story straight, it may be difficult to get the validation of someone who could help you succeed. Anything creative, anything that captures interest on a personal level, is something that would make a good story.
- Pitch Better - Gain Better: Once you have your story straight, get out there and give the pitch of your life to the potential investors. Remember to describe what drives your idea, how it is impactful, and why you are passionate about it. Genuinely presenting your brand or idea by going out of your way and paying attention to details gives VCs an insight into your professionalism, passion, and enthusiasm.
- VCs think about the business: If you can answer all of the below questions about your startup, there is a high chance that more and more investors will be interested. A few basic questions posed by VCs are:
- Get the momentum going: Momentum plays a pivotal role, especially for budding entrepreneurs. You need to show the correlation between — amount of work performed and the time taken to complete it. For instance, if you’ve been working on something all year with no results or growth to show for it, that’s poor momentum. On the other hand, if you pull off a massive project in just a week, then your momentum is through the roof. Thus, momentum is a reflection of speed, which is a highly undervalued factor.
- Gut vs. Data — Some VCs prefer more data before they invest their wealth into the company. However, others might be willing to roll the dice and let everything else come together, like leads and extraneous data that can make or break their businesses from the ground up. For instance, Nikhil confessed that if his gut believes in a company while it may not be backed with numbers, he will still prefer to place his bet on it.
Point in case
Investing in a startup is a roller-coaster of emotions. Excitement, fear, and surprise usually dominate an investor’s day, and you have to become a part of their day.
Now that you know what goes in an investor’s mind before placing a bet on any startup.
Get up. Gear up. It’s YOUR TIME!
You can also listen to the podcast on Spotify.
You can also listen to the podcast on Spotify.
