Fundraising Insights from Elizabeth Yin & Mac the VC

Twitter = “can’t believe this site is free”

There are often free laughs...

this site is free

— Registered Voter (@SortaBad), Oct 24, 2021

But more importantly... Twitter has given me a platform to share my fundraising advice with founders around the world.

On top of that it’s also been where I’ve learned and honed my own thinking about fundraising + built some great connections. I honestly can’t believe this site is free.

In particular, I’ve met two well-known VCs mostly over Twitter.

Elizabeth Yin from Hustle Fund:

Shoutout to @jayyeh for having a positive discussion on post-money safes (exciting I know!) w me!

We may not see eye to eye but I respect his opinion and also how he conveys / communicates his thoughts on this platform while others are often hostile when they disagree.

— Elizabeth Yin (@dunkhippo33), Mar 19, 2022

And Mac Conwell from Rarebreed:

Elizabeth and Mac regularly share incredible wisdom about startups and fundraising. I’ve learned a lot from them just reading their content on Twitter.

Learn from the best

The content out of these two has been so good. The only challenge if you’re just learning about them is that they’re also super prolific. Where should you start?

Fear not. I’ve aggregated the top tweets from these two brilliant minds.

I’d highly recommend you go deep into their threads and absorb this content. And don't just stop at what they wrote...the replies are fire too! So many smart minds chiming in and adding even more color.

Top tweets from @dunkhippo33 and @macconwell:

Elizabeth Yin

1. This is gold.

Elizabeth goes through common focal points for most investors and gives her firm @hustlefundvc’s unique takes on some of them

When I was a founder I was completely clueless about fundraising and what investors would ask me. And also why they were asking certain questions.

I don't think founders should ever be blindsided by the process.

A thread -- read on >>

— Elizabeth Yin (@dunkhippo33), Sep 10, 2021

2. Momentum and focus during fundraising… such important concepts.

So helpful to have these taught via behind the scenes commentary

Today's thread is a continuation on *how* you generate momentum in fundraising.

Here's a rough conversation I had with a founder (called 'C') over the course of days a few months back.

Read on >>

— Elizabeth Yin (@dunkhippo33), Jan 22, 2021

3. Hearing Elizabeth share what went through her head during a special outreach/pitch will

a. help you learn investor psychology

and

b. give you a directional pattern to follow for how to catch an investor's eye (you don't have to match how intense this team was!)

I've looked at 30k+ pitches, and when ppl have asked me in the past which one stood out the most, I've never had a great answer.

But today I do. A short thread >>

— Elizabeth Yin (@dunkhippo33), Apr 21, 2021

4. You've heard me talk about the "angel army" strategy.

Here's a reminder from Elizabeth that the strategic value of angels far outweigh their monetary value..

Hill that I’ll die on: $1k investments are worth taking for the right investor.

And more often they are *more helpful* than large check investors.

This is why VC is being disrupted. Smaller check writers are proving to be more useful in many cases.

— Elizabeth Yin (@dunkhippo33), Dec 4, 2021

Mac Conwell

1. This speaks to “it takes a village” and the challenge that outsiders have in playing the venture-backed game.

Do your best to build a “tribe” as Mac calls it…. You’ll need that team to problem solve with and to lean on…

Founders and VCs, please find your tribe. You need to have peers you can go to and vent to, party with, and ask confidential questions. That last part is so important. The ability to call a peer and ask "How much carry did you get" or "what was on your term sheet" is needed

— MacTheVC.eth (@MacConwell), Jun 3, 2021

2. I love seeing investors put out warnings for founders.

Here’s one especially relevant to the shifting tides. Something to talk about when it comes to what to expect in the current fundraising market!

🧵1/ Calling all founders and early-stage fund managers. Funding is changing and one thing I'm starting to see more and more are harsher terms in early-stage term sheets that weren't used as often in previous years but I think you might want to be aware of and understand

— MacTheVC.eth (@MacConwell), Jun 24, 2022

3. Mac’s push is a great example of something that you might think is just a “sound better to investors” thing

...but is actually a “run a better business” thing too

Know why you raised the money and what you'll accomplish with it!

Founder. I don't want to hear you are raising $XXXX for XX months of runway. When you raise capital, you're typically raising to get to key metrics to be able to raise more capital. Knowing that, tell me what KPIs you plan to hit with your raise #vc #startups #funding

— MacTheVC.eth (@MacConwell), Apr 26, 2021

4. When you feel like you don't belong, you start sounding like you don't belong...then people think you don't belong.

Mac sums this up well. You to break the cycle with confidence

Founders, especially underestimated founder, please please please don't use passive language. Don't say things like "I think", "About", "We could", "We hope". Just tell me what you are doing. Speak with confidence (even if you aren't 100% confident. It's part of the game).

— MacTheVC.eth (@MacConwell), Jun 28, 2021