Anand Nataraj

Fund raising tips…

December 26th, 2008 |

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Know Your Business: Have a very realistic understanding of why your business is going to make money..
Prove the Concept: Really show that you have a business before going out to raise money. Prove the concept..
Find a Champion: It’s really important to hook up with somebody who talks the talk. A champion or sponsor can help you, guide you through the next steps..
Take Advice: Be coach-able and in that coach-ability you’ve got to build realism. Be realistic..
Know When to Raise Your Capital: It’s such a full-time position and it requires so much energy and you have to put so many other things on hold while you are fundraising. It’s critical you do it at the right time..
Know your Investor: Don’t go blindly looking for capital and taking the first dollar that seems interesting… Look at what they’ve invested in, in the past, and look at where those companies are today..
Focus on the Investor: Spend as much time discussing why it’s a good investment as you do explaining why it’s a good product..
Find a Lead Investor: Getting that person to stand forward who has some reputation as an investor or domain knowledge in the field is going to be critical..
Valuation: I would say, don’t get too hung up on valuation because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter as much as you think it does..
Raise Enough Money: Raise enough money to get to a funding milestone, whatever that might be for the company. So you have to be careful not to raise too little money and run out of it. Enough money that it can get you to the point in development of the company that another round of capital would be able to be raised to continue scaling the company..
Patience is a Virtue: You are going to have to realize you are going to have to talk to a lot of people. To raise money..