The question I get most frequently from founders during intro meetings is:
"How does the process look from here?"
Naturally not all companies and VC-processes are the same but below is how we @creandum generally work.
5 steps below:
1. Data gathering -> Hotlist
Purpose is to get a deeper understanding of the business.
Questions will vary but we often ask for a P&L + Financial plan at this stage to understand prioritizations and past performance.
If excitement still is high we will hotlist the company.
2. Team input -> Q&A
The hotlist is a 1 slide preso pitched to the rest of the inv. team. They will provide input + questions.
Simultaneously we share a Q&A with the founders and work our way trough it tgt.
At this stage we have more talks with founders / customers / experts.
3. Getting to conviction -> Investment Reco
Now we usually have a few key questions we spend time understanding in depth.
Sometimes we need to revisit market size, position in the value chain, competition etc.
When we feel comfortable around these we craft an Investment Reco
4. Presenting to the full team -> Vote
The Investment Reco (a 10-15 slide long deck) is shared with the inv. team. In parallell the founders are invited to pitch to to the full team.
After the founders have presented they will leave the call and the Investment team will vote.
5. Term sheet
If the vote is favourable we will present a TS to the founding team and after agreeing on terms, both parties will sign and the journey together has officially begun!
Final remark:
This process can take anywhere between 2-8 weeks, and during that time you as an entrepreneur should also DD the VC.
Ask a lot of questions and make sure you like what you are seeing on the other end!
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If you are a founder lacking a good network chances of you getting funding are lower.
But even if you didn't go to an ivy league school, or worked at a unicorn, you can still acquire one.
Twitter is perfect for that.
Step-by-step guide on building a network via Twitter >>
1. Assuming: A cold-start
The first few followers on any social media platform is always the hardest to acquire. But Twitter might be even harder given it is not necessarily "friend based".
If you do have friends / colleagues these should be the natural first additions.
2. Find like-minded people
But generally this wont take you far, and you need to start looking elsewhere.
Look for people with the same interest as you; be it vertical, stage, etc.
And potentially also with a similar starting point (i.e follower count)
The mythical creatures fundamental to the startup ecosystem.
But like most beings, they don't only come in one shape.
Time for a thread.
The 5 types of Angel Investors 😇:
(and the perfect mix of these for your startup)
1) The Connector
Often a previous investor, or a long-term angel investor. These individuals win bc of their strong network and the intros they can provide.
What you can get:
* Navigating VC funds
* Fundraising process
* Intros to other Angels
2) The Brand Name
Often a founder or an early employee for a tech company with high valuations > 1 BUSD. These people are generally quite busy and will be less hands-on.
What you can get:
* Creating buzz for an announcement
* Customer logo on your site
* Role model