When you are planning your fundraise it is easy to spend weeks crafting the perfect deck.
And then almost nothing on the outreach plan.
A short thread on why this is wrong and some things to consider for a successful outreach strategy >>
1. It is a volume game
Lets say you want to raise 500K in an angel round.
And that the average ticket will be 50K and conversion 10%.
Then you would need to speak to 100 angels to get there.
For lead VC-ticket conversion much lower (on the other hand more $$ at once)
Dec 15, 2022 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
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.
Apr 12, 2022 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Angel investors.
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
Aug 27, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
It is clear that founders are becoming more and more aware of their power in selecting an investor (good!).
Lately I have been asked some great questions in different DD processes from entrepreneurs.
5 questions you should ask an investor (and why):
1) Why did you get into VC?
Ask because:
Some will focus on that the job is rewarding, others that they want to help founders, or that they love working on the frontier of tech.
No right or wrong but hearing the story behind someone's decision says a lot about a person.
Jul 1, 2021 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
Looking for some summer reading with high ROI?
I have collected the latest thoughts on fundraising from some of the sharpest minds in tech & VC.
When pitching your pre-seed/seed investment to a VC the most common mistake I see is speaking too much about the WHAT and too little about the HOW.
A thread on why the HOW is so important and ways you can speak about it convincingly:
1. Make the long-term vision more tangible
In the early stages you have very little proof-points of anything.
So if you can combine a compelling long-term ambition with some clear insights on how you want to start building things will seem a lot more tangible.
Jun 1, 2021 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Why are early stage VCs sometimes asking for financial plan for the coming 12-36 months?
(SPOILER: It is not because we want to know the numbers)
1/9. NOT: We expect it to be correct
No we don't think it is possible to estimate how a newly started company will perform over the coming months.
99% of all VCs understand that plans change.
The only thing we know is that the plan will NOT turn out the way you predicted.
May 28, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Being on top of your unit economics is key to make sure you have enough runway.
The golden rule of an LTV/CAC of 3 is ok but depending on how you measure your LTV it can be misleading.
Instead focus on CAC Payback.
Why you should and how you can think about it:
1) What is CAC Payback?
CAC Payback is the number of months it takes to earn back *all* the money invested to get a new customer.
Why the *all* is important is because you should use your fully loaded CAC.
I.e the CAC that includes sales team salaries, free trial costs, etc
May 21, 2021 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Since Q3 2020 the European VC space has seen both an increasing deal speed as well as valuations and rounds increasing across the board (pre-seed, seed, series A and onwards).
Some thoughts on why this is happening and its implications:
1/7. The attractiveness of venture capital as an asset class
Over the last couple of years Venture Capital has performed well compared to other asset classes.
The IPO bonanza and tech stock growth (despite the red figures recently) in the past 12m has only added to this.
Jan 21, 2021 • 9 tweets • 5 min read
Startup/VC Europe have been going crazy over @joinClubhouse in the past few weeks.
Seven learnings after an intense week of co-hosting, attending, listening in, and raising hands:
1. Self-promotion is a no-go
One of the things that easily got boring after a while is listening to someone going on about themselves for >1 min.
Being to be the point, promoting others, referring back to what someone else said seems to be key for a good CH discussion.
Jan 12, 2021 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
Recently I have read some great 🧵s on raising a seed round.
Instead of gathering dusts in my bookmarks I have compiled them into one guide:
I started writing threads because I loved reading them, I never knew how powerful they could be.
In 3 months I got >360% new amazing followers by just writing 20 threads.
And if I can do it YOU most definitely can.
So here goes.
The MEGA thread on threads.
0) Sections:
1. Why you should write threads 2. Finding inspiration 3. How to structure the work 4. Writing to maximise results 5. The effectiveness of threads 6. Threaders to learn from 7. Reading suggestions
+ Final comment
Nov 10, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Want to look smart when talking to investors AND do your startup a favour at the same time?
Make sure you are on top of your CAC, LTV, and CAC Payback-period game.
5 must-do's below:
1) The only CAC that matters: Fully loaded
Fully loaded CAC =
All Costs to Convert (including costs for prospects that did not convert) / Converted Customer
All Costs = The cost of advertising, marketing, sales, support during the free trial, on-boarding costs, etc.
Sep 29, 2020 • 12 tweets • 10 min read
Last week @LucianaLix, Partner at @sequoia, asked what the up and coming categories in Europe are.
The thread created >90 interesting replies. I took the liberty to analyse them and rank according to prevalence.
The Top 10 Themes in Europe (according to Twitter):
1) Digital health
Example sub categories: Wearables, Preventive Healthcare and Wellness, Longevity, Mental Health, Inefficiencies in Health Care
Fortunately many VCs are moving away from the tradition of "warm intros only", and instead towards a more inclusive and diverse funnel.
Below 10 investors that are open advocates of cold outreaches (+ their email).
1) Paul Murphy (@paulbz) | Northzone | paul[at]northzone[dot]com
Geo: Europe & NYC
Stage: Seed to Series B
Sectors: Consumer, entertainment, and enterprise applications
Sep 18, 2020 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
Taylor Swift as 2020 unicorn IPOs (thread)
Snowflake
Sep 17, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Which slide is both the least and the most important one in your pitch deck?
Answer: The market size slide
Why? Numbers are generally always overestimated but still something investors want to feel comfort around.
5 steps on how to make a great market size slide:
1) Don't google "Market size X" and pick the highest number you can find
Market reports seldom correspond 100% with what you are building, and often show bloated numbers.
Hence these numbers should not let investors question your judgement by being put into your deck.
Sep 15, 2020 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
As someone who is addicted to both creating and consuming threads here are 5 x 2 fantastic "most-follow" thread makers:
1) Everything Venture @fdestin 🔥
Sep 8, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
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.
