We receive many investment requests from Technology Startups, Impact investing to even ICO’s. Some have great businesses to share; others underestimate the trap of fundraising for Tech Startups Seed or Series A financing.
We talk with Balz Roth, a professional Business Angel, investor and board member for SMEs and technology startups. Various successful exits of technology startups to companies like Intel (Lemoptix), Monolithic Power Systems (Sensima) and Everyware (Safe Swiss Cloud). Balz is also a Venture Partner at Go Beyond, an international business Angel Network.
This podcast provides hands-on, practical insights and tools towards a successful Fundraising for Tech Startups:
- Do I really need 3rd party money to achieve my goals?
- Which Investors are most likely to be a good fit for my Business and development stage?
- Key steps towards a great first Investor meeting and the first Term Sheet
- Critical ways how to take the relationship further and get through Closing
He draws from his broad investment,Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship experience to provide exciting insights, practical examples and answer live questions.
A good Fundraising for Tech Startups takes following aspects into account:
- Typical company profile for a 3rd party equity investment
- Achievements and track record for Seed vs. Series A
- When is a good time to talk valuation?
- When do convertible loans make sense?
- Product vs. Licensing business model Timing
- Risk & Return expectations
Further key items to bear in mind include:
- How much Bootstrapping is good for business?
- Customer-driven funding
- Non-dilutive sources and grants
- Business Angels vs. VC sweet spots?
- How / when to engage with a Strategic investor? Sources of funding
Customer Cash to Finance Your Start-Up, Harvard Business Review
Airbnb is one of the most celebrated start-ups of the past decade, and its creation story is well-known: In 2007 two design school graduates dusted off some air mattresses and rented out space in their San Francisco apartment to conference attendees who couldn’t find hotel rooms, netting $1,000. A year later they made national headlines by helping people find lodging during the Democratic National Convention in Denver. By 2012 Airbnb had raised $120 million in venture funding and was valued at more than $1 billion. But familiar as this story may be, an often-overlooked fact is essential to understanding the company’s success: The business model is structured so that advance customer cash helps finance growth, making Airbnb less dependent than many other start-ups on early outside funding. Read along here.
Check-out also our detailed posts on Fundraising and Commercial Growth: