The #1 responsibility of a Founder is to make sure their company doesn’t run out of cash, but raising capital in today’s market is TOUGH.

Here’s a quick framework for determining how challenging it will be for a #startup to raise new #VC capital.

Is your #startup ready? 🧵👇
The first truism that should be internalized is that the playbook for raising capital in 2020 and 2021 won’t work today.

The past few years were anomalies and everyone’s expectations should be reset.

Raising multiple rounds of capital based on team and TAM won’t work anymore.
While there are many VCs, most startups will have a tough time raising capital in this market if they don’t show well on 5 major dimensions:

👉Very Few Leaps of Faith
👉Material POSITIVE Progress
👉Insider Support
👉Capital Efficiency
👉Realistic Expectations
VERY FEW LEAPS OF FAITH

In this market, it’s rare to find an Investor who’s receptive to a business that requires multiple leaps of faith or to a pitch that tries to convince them that their understanding of an ecosystem might be flawed.
One example of a tough model to fund: Build a large user base now and crack monetization later.

These “Act II” businesses typically consume loads of capital building “Act I” before “Act II” is even possible.

The de-risking doesn’t start until significant capital is deployed.
In this market, Founders need to find Investors who already believe in their theses and understand the dynamics of their ecosystems.

This isn’t a good time to convince skeptics. This is an environment for inviting those who already believe to go on a journey with you.
MATERIAL POSITIVE PROGRESS

Building a startup starts with an idea backed by some combination of research, intuition, experience and a huge number of assumptions. The goal of a Founder is to learn every day and adjust the business based on these learnings.
Every new learning is either proof that a startup is on the right path (positive proof) or proof that the market reality and the startup’s assumptions aren’t in sync (anti-proof).

Positive proof helps the fundraising story.

Anti-proof hurts the fundraising story.
But fundraising is all about selling the future vision and potential economic outcome of a business to an Investor, and in this context positive proof and anti-proof play critical roles. They anchor the narrative and set the context for diligence.
Positive proof is evidence of de-risking and confirmation that the prize is worth the effort.

Anti-proof is evidence that the business is more difficult to build than anticipated and brings into question whether the projected outcome is even possible.
And to an Investor, positive proof and anti-proof aren’t equals. One piece of anti-proof could kick off a stream of additional questions. Or it could drastically impact deal terms.

And in today’s market it’s a convenient excuse for an Investor to walk away.
The truth is that in today's market, startups need significant amounts of proof and no anti-proof to be fundable by a new Investor.

If anti-proof exists then the company will likely need to pass the hat with existing Investors to fund until the anti-proof is in the distant past.
INSIDER SUPPORT

VCs are doing what they can to protect and support their best companies given today’s fundraising environment.

Most VCs have gone through the exercise of ranking their existing companies and have prioritized follow-ons in their very best companies.
Insider rounds have gone from being an historical signal of weakness to a real signal of strength.

Round extensions have gone from the exception to the rule.

The result is a tangible reduction in quality for in-market deals without significant support from existing Investors!
Existing Investors have an information advantage over new Investors so not having significant insider support can kill a company’s chances of raising capital.

And “not having capital” isn’t an acceptable answer.

It’s signal that new Investors are trading on.
CAPITAL EFFICIENCY

Disciplined Founders who can de-risk and scale a startup EFFICIENTLY are in favor. They know how to maximize learnings, scale costs carefully and stage their ambitions.

Overly zealous Founders are out of favor because they’re really good at burning cash.
The most fundable businesses have paths to profitability at reasonable levels of scale.

The most fundable businesses consume modest amounts of cash to “de-risk” their models and tighten their assumptions.

The most fundable businesses focus on costs as much as they do revenues.
REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

Before raising capital in today’s market, Founders and Investors have be ready to accept terms that reflect today’s market conditions.

Public comps have corrected by 40-90% and this is rippling through the private markets ecosystem.
The truth is that if a startup has 3-4Xed since its last raise it might have grown into its last valuation. In this market a flat valuation is a win for many startups with inflated valuations.

There are exceptions, but it’s best to internalize today’s reality before raising.
And Investors want to make sure startups have the right quantum of capital to achieve their next set of milestones.

It’s not OK to raise enough money to get 80% of the way to Mars so Founders will have to accept more dilution than they did when capital was easier to raise.
The TL;DR: Today’s market for VC capital isn’t the same as yesterday’s. To succeed, Founders need to internalize what new Investors are looking for.

It won’t be easy, but the best startups will survive the gauntlet and raise the capital they’re looking for!

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More from @fintechjunkie

Oct 21
Gigantic businesses can be created when an amazing Founding team focuses its attention on a rock-solid business idea that’s perfectly aligned with an emerging mega trend.

This is what #Founders and #VCs live for.

Curious what this looks like for a 15-month-old company?
The Problem Statement

The pandemic has taught the world that it’s possible to effectively work remotely. One result of this discovery is that many knowledge workers are interested in occasionally working from “destination locations” that allow them to mix work with fun.
But there hasn’t been a great way to find rentals in vacation destinations where being able to work remotely is a requirement.

On sites like Airbnb, what you see and what you get varies wildly. Reliable high-speed internet and dedicated work zones are rarely “as advertised.”
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Oct 10
#VCs and #startups are dealing with the reality that today’s environment is brutal compared to what it’s been like over the past few years.

The reason for the abrupt shift is that Darwin went on vacation for a few years but has finally returned.

This changes EVERYTHING! 🧵👇
It’s undeniable that the VC and startups ecosystems feel different in 2022 than they did in 2020 and 2021.

For years, money was flowing freely from LPs to VCs and from VCs to startups. Many startups went public or were sold and the returned liquidity added fuel to the fire.
But today’s markets aren’t behaving like they did in recent years.

Worsening macro conditions short circuited a long bull run and Investors are shifting from risk-on to risk-off mode. Public stocks adjusted first but the ripple effect is starting to impact the private markets.
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Oct 3
Founders know that building a successful #startup hinges on being able to adapt quickly.

A master plan can focus and guide a team, but when it stops working it’s important to quickly improvise a “Plan B”.

And do you know who does this extraordinarily well? Jazz musicians. 🧵👇
If startups were a style of music, it’s very clear that they most closely represent Jazz.

Founders will tell you that what happens day-to-day has an element of improvisation and spontaneity that’s a reaction to what they’re experiencing in the moment.
Decisions are typically made with incredible speed and adjustments are made equally fast.

A Founder needs to be hyper-alert to signals and feedback coming from all directions and as a result their plans and teams need to be fluid and malleable.
Read 10 tweets
Sep 28
Failing isn’t fun. Failing in public is worse.

Founders do it. Investors do it. Athletes do it. It's incredibly common.

So what happens when you take risks in public and there’s evidence that you're on a path to failure?

Most people handle it poorly. A few thoughts: 🧵👇
Failure is an inexorable part of our lives. Practice is required to learn new skills and failing safely is what practice is all about.

Rarely do we find immediate success so we look to find safe ways to privately learn before showcasing our talents publicly.
But while many people are comfortable failing privately, most people aren’t good at failing in public.

Most startups fail. Investors regularly have to mark-down investments. Half of all marriages end in divorce. Athletes don’t always win.

Losing in public is common.
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Sep 18
The current spike in #inflation has lasted longer and is more challenging to manage than expected.

The Fed is combatting inflation with increases in interest rates and the equity markets aren’t happy.

Why have equities sold off and when does the recovery begin? 🧵👇
Inflation is the gradual increase in prices across an economy. Price increases lower the purchasing power of money.

This might sound like a universally bad thing but it isn’t. It’s widely believed that a moderate amount of inflation is necessary to sustain economic growth.
It’s only when inflation runs too high for too long that problems begin to emerge.

High inflation is a sign that consumer demand is outpacing supply (demand-pull inflation) or supply chain problems are making goods more expensive (cost-push inflation).
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Sep 1
An important decision every business makes is what to do with its cash💵.

Most thinly capitalized companies keep their cash in a business checking account.

But there are better options for businesses that have a year or more of runway. Much better! 🧵👇
Cash is the lifeblood of every business. Healthy businesses have more cash coming in than going out.

The healthiest businesses have cash buffers that enable them to weather adverse changes to their market or the economy.
Many businesses aren’t yet healthy but intend to be down the road.

These “startups” raise capital specifically to build better solutions to profound problems with the promise that the resulting business will be profitable and valuable.
Read 17 tweets

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