Finding the right investors

Finding the right investors for your startup - a thread:

Many don’t know, but for first-time founders, finding the right investors can make or kill your startup.

I’ve learned those lessons from founders who have collectively raised $900 million from the world’s best investors. 

Those are their lessons and I’d like to pass them on to you:

#1 Build relationships super early - and get to know them better. 

Most first-time founders think they should start approaching investors when they are ready to hit the road, but that’s a common misconception.

Thinking investors are only willing to talk to you when you are ready is also another misconception.

In fact, many investors would prefer to know their founders months or years earlier than a raise.

Having a longer relationship also allows you to find the right lead investor, and the right investors you know will stick with you during tough times.

#2 Have a network of founders you can talk to. This is harder when you are just starting out in tech - but not impossible.

Join conferences, and networking events, whether they are online or offline - are a great way to meet people.

I also prefer meeting folks in-person whenever possible, as it builds bonds that you usually don’t earn online - but online is a great way to start.

Champions are the best people to go to - including asking them to vet your prospective investors and offer their feedback.

Remember - when there’s a ‘bad’ investor on your cap table, it’s difficult to talk about them publicly (and please don’t do that). 

Before you take in a new investor, make sure to ask at least 2-3 founders privately, ideally via a short call, about what they think about their investors.

If there are any red flags or the founder mentioned the investors in any negative way - don’t do it. It takes a lot to leave a negative impression on an investor to a founder - avoid them at all costs.

On the other hand, if founders talk positively about their investors and recommend you to take their checks, it’s usually a very good signal.

That’s my initial advice on how to find the right investors - I’ll be sure to post more in the coming weeks regarding this topic.

Anything you find interesting, or any other questions? Please comment below and we’ll discuss them together! Cheers.

Focus on the right things

Does it ever feel like we’re being information bombed every day? No doubt social media has made it easier for everyone to chat and communicate, but it also increased the noise signal to an extent our brain just can’t take it anymore.

How about your meetings? Like many I have my weeks booked full of meetings for the past several weeks. But at the end of the week and upon reflecting it, are even half of those meetings essential and contributed to our end goals?

I found that many face the same challenges I do. It's increasingly easy to do 'things' than doing the 'right things'. To make it more difficult, the boundaries are no longer clear. Without some brave enough people who tell us we are lost. It's easy to be - lost.

A recent task I have given myself is to understand start-up seed fundraising. After spending days reading through guides and booking intro calls, I thought I understood the procedures from start to finish. Of course, I couldn't be more wrong. It soon became clear to me talking to 5 people can produce 5 distinctively different answers. I poured so much time into this, but now I'm lost.

Many days after, I've learned the facts. Turns out who to ask the questions are the key. Asking a founder who raised Series-C, even just on a 15-minute call with them, could probably have saved me weeks of efforts. On the other hand, if you are only raising in Canada and ask for your first-hand advice from a US founder, it may not be helpful at all despite the other founder being gracious enough to take some time to guide you.

I concluded the key to care and act on the 'right things' is optimization. It's not the time and effort you've spent on something that matters, it's the process and how well you're able to make it better. You might now know the right answers to a question, but if you know the right path to get to the answer, and optimized it, it's much more possible you're focusing on the right things and not just anything.

At least next time when I want to get something serious done, I’ll pause and ask myself first: am I focusing on the right things? Am I optimizing this process enough? If not, I'll think again. If so, I'll proceed.