They raised millions for their startups... but how?

How do entrepreneurs convince people to give them money? We profile founders who've gone through the fundraising gauntlet in order to get their venture off the ground.

They raised millions for their startups... but how?

How do entrepreneurs convince people to give them money? We profile founders who've gone through the fundraising gauntlet in order to get their venture off the ground.

They raised millions for their startups... but how?

How do entrepreneurs convince people to give them money? We profile founders who've gone through the fundraising gauntlet in order to get their venture off the ground.

HOSTED BY JASON YEH

They raised millions for their startups... but how?

How do entrepreneurs convince people to give them money? We profile founders who've gone through the fundraising gauntlet in order to get their venture off the ground.

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Funded
September 26, 2023
63
mins

Down by 20? Down But Not Out... (Curastory)

Let me get something straight: fundraising is tough. You will be challenged. You will be knocked down. But if you have true grit and passion for your company, not even the hardest of blows can keep you down. For Tiffany Kelly, CEO and founder of Curastory - she knows all too well what it's like to take a hit. And less than two months ago, she experienced what I call a founder's worst nightmare. In today's episode, you get to hear an unfiltered version of what it's like being a founder raising multiple rounds of capital in a difficult market. Huge shoutout to Tiffany for keeping the conversation so real and authentic. This is why I love these conversations. I love creating opportunities for founders to see all that went into those million dollar round you see on social media. Granted not all are as difficult as Tiffany's was, but they're definitely no walk in the park either. Give this episode a listen to see how one tiny move by a VC firm almost destroyed Curastory.

Follow Us

Tiffany Kelly
Curastory
Funded
Jason Yeh (host)
Contact Us / Misc
  • Reach out to us on social or email me directly at jason@fundedpod.com if you have any questions or would like to share your story with us!
  • If you're looking for more fundraising content, grab my weekly newsletter packed full of strategies and insights around how to raise money:
  • fundedpod.com/newsletter  
  • Vanta helps maintain SOC2, HIPAA, ISO27001 compliance by integrating directly into your systems and automating a lot of the time intensive process. Get $1000 off at vanta.com/funded
The Backchannel
September 21, 2023
6
mins

TBC: Insights From My Trip to Brazil

Depending on how long you've followed me or stayed in touch with what I'm up to, some of you might not know that I fly down to Brazil at least a few times a year. One reason being I have a good friend who runs a company down there called Colbi. I had no idea that he would connect with me the founder of an organization that I still partner with till this day called Latitud. If I had to sum up what Latitud is, I'd say it's now the YC of LATAM. Since then, I've fallen in love with the startup ecosystem in Brazil that only seems to be speeding up. In this episode, I talk about the different things I noticed around the startup/vc space during my last trip back in July. If you're from LATAM or curious about the opportunity growing there, this episodes for you!

Depending on how long you've followed me or stayed in touch with what I'm up to, some of you might not know that I fly down to Brazil at least a few times a year. One reason being I have a good friend who runs a company down there called Colbi. I had no idea that he would connect with me the founder of an organization that I still partner with till this day called Latitud. If I had to sum up what Latitud is, I'd say it's now the YC of LATAM. Since then, I've fallen in love with the startup ecosystem in Brazil that only seems to be speeding up. In this episode, I talk about the different things I noticed around the startup/vc space during my last trip back in July. If you're from LATAM or curious about the opportunity growing there, this episodes for you!

The Backchannel
September 14, 2023
8
mins

TBC: Work / Life Balance

<p id="">This is a fantastic episode covering one of the most important insights around fundraising</p>

As an entrepreneur, it is all too easy to lose yourself in your work. If you aren't careful, your entire life becomes consumed by it.

This is not to say you shouldn't be obsessed with the your company and the goals that you have for it.

But let it be a reminder that forcing yourself into burnout is not serving you or your company.

As a 3x founder himself, our host Jason Yeh dives into 3 things he does to maintain a sense of work/life balance.

If you are some who struggles to unplug from your work, give this episode a listen.

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If you're looking for more fundraising content, grab our weekly newsletter packed full of strategies and insights around how to raise money: fundedpod.com/newsletter

Funded
September 12, 2023
53
mins

Becoming the Pepsi to Indeed's Coke (Talent.com)

It's becoming more and more common for people to get through college and realize they still have no idea what they want out of life. On top of that, majority of the time we're too scared to do anything about it. Next thing we know time has passed and we feel suffocated in a job we don't even like. We put our dreams on the back burner, sacrificing creativity for stability. For today's guest Lucas Martinez - Co-founder and CEO of Talent.com - he knew right away that the corporate world wasn't for him. Because of this, he knew he had to act on it - fast. This decision let him to start his company with two of his closest friends. It was a messy start, but once they got the ball rolling they were able to land around $1M CAD from angel investors alone. Because of that raise they were able to become pretty profitable. Great, right? But after some time the investors were ready to pull out, and it was time to run a process. In this episode, Lucas talks about what it was like trying to create a business of quality while at the same time scaling it. He talks about mindset, the benefits of working with VC's, the ups and downs of raising, learning to plan, and how passion was the key to Talent.com's success. If you're a founder looking to understand all that goes into scaling and raising for your company, give this episode a listen

Follow Us

Lucas Martinez
Talent.com
Funded
Jason Yeh (host)
Contact Us / Misc
  • Reach out to us on social or email me directly at jason@fundedpod.com if you have any questions or would like to share your story with us!
  • If you're looking for more fundraising content, grab my weekly newsletter packed full of strategies and insights around how to raise money:
  • fundedpod.com/newsletter
  • If you’re fundraising, make sure you send your materials via a document sharing tool. Even if they weren’t our presenting sponsor, we’d still recommend you use DocSend - www.docsend.com/funded    
  • Vanta helps maintain SOC2, HIPAA, ISO27001 compliance by integrating directly into your systems and automating a lot of the time intensive process. Get $1000 off at vanta.com/funded

The Backchannel
September 7, 2023
3
mins

TBC: The Role of Emotions in Pitching

<p id="">This is a fantastic episode covering one of the most important insights around fundraising</p>

What's the most important part of pitching your company to VCs?

Some think it's sharing the right numbers and statistics.

Others think it's about giving the investors a wealth of information about the company.

And then there's those who believe storytelling to be the key.

To be clear, I think all of these are important aspects of a pitch.

But theres something missing - emotion.

If you tell a story but have no emotional connection to it, it's just a story.

If you overload investors with information and numbers but they have nothing to connect it back to, it's just clutter.

In this episode I talk about the importance of connecting all aspects o your pitch through emotion.

If you can get an investor to feel the relief your product or service gives to it's customers AND then back it up with proof, chances are you've got a deal.

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If you're looking for more fundraising content, grab my weekly newsletter packed full of strategies and insights around how to raise money: fundedpod.com/newsletter

The Backchannel
August 31, 2023
9
mins

TBC: What VCs Are Saying About AI Investing

<p id="">This is a fantastic episode covering one of the most important insights around fundraising</p><p id="">‍</p>

Ever since chatGPT was released in November of 2022, there has been a flood of other AI platforms pulling from OpenAI's original technology.

 

That being said I was so curious to know what that means for venture capital firms funding these new AI companies, when it seemed like all the hard work was being done by OpenAI.

 

Why were investors pouring money into these AI startups that didn't seem to have defensible technology?

 

I wanted to hear from experts in the industry who could give me answers - so I made it happen.

 

A couple of months ago I hosted a fireside chat with Yohei Nakajima, GP of Untapped Capital and founder of BabyAGI and Sarah Catanzaro, GP at Amplify Partners.

 

They were able to answer all of my questions and more. In this episode, I sum up their answers and key takeaways for you to hear.

 

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If you're looking for more fundraising content, grab my weekly newsletter packed full of strategies and insights around how to raise money: fundedpod.com/newsletter

Funded
August 29, 2023
62
mins

Thriving With or Without Funding (Acquire.com)

Andrew Gazdecki might have had some successful raises (totaling over $11M for his most recent venture) but paradoxically, he believes 99% of founders shouldn't raise. As the founder of Acquire.com, the best online marketplace to buy and sell startups - Andrew fills us in on the dangers of placing too much importance on fundraising as a founder. Instead he believes in focusing on constant improvement, listening to your customers, and creating an amazing culture. From there, everything else will fall into place. Glorified by the media, fundraising lots of dollars seems to be equated to running a successful company - something Andrew thinks is far from the truth. Look out for our conversation with Andrew where he tells us about growing up with an itch to be an entrepreneur, building a business of value, and utilizing his resources (even when he started with none) to find the perfect investors. If you're a founder getting ready to raise or thinking of raising, you don't want to miss his insights.

Follow Us

Andrew Gazdecki
Acquire.com
Funded
Jason Yeh (host)
Contact Us / Misc
  • Reach out to us on social or email me directly at jason@fundedpod.com if you have any questions or would like to share your story with us!
  • If you're looking for more fundraising content, grab my weekly newsletter packed full of strategies and insights around how to raise money:
  • fundedpod.com/newsletter
  • If you’re fundraising, make sure you send your materials via a document sharing tool. Even if they weren’t our presenting sponsor, we’d still recommend you use DocSend - www.docsend.com/funded    
  • Vanta helps maintain SOC2, HIPAA, ISO27001 compliance by integrating directly into your systems and automating a lot of the time intensive process. Get $1000 off at vanta.com/funded

The Backchannel
August 24, 2023
6
mins

TBC: Intros & Forwardable Emails

<p id="">This is a fantastic episode covering one of the most important insights around fundraising</p>

The art of introductions is something heavily ignored when founders are learning how to start their fundraising process.

Truth is, intros are the lifeblood of a great fundraise.

There are many different components that go into making introductions, but today we'll be focusing specifically on forwardable emails.

While meant to simplify, intros often backfire - especially if you lack a process behind it. This episode will give you all of the basics surrounding forwardable emails like sequences of interactions, double opt-ins, connecting emails, and more.

Head to our website to find some real examples of what a forwardable email should look like: adamantventures.com

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If you're looking for more fundraising content, grab my weekly newsletter packed full of strategies and insights around how to raise money: fundedpod.com/newsletter

The Backchannel
August 17, 2023
5
mins

TBC: Side Letter Warning

<p id="">This is a fantastic episode covering one of the most important insights around fundraising</p><p>‍</p>

Side letters are not only more complicated than they seem but dangerous to your fundraise if not properly managed.

Side letters, often accompanying standard agreements like safes, may seem harmless at first but can include onerous clauses like pro-rata rights.

In this episode Jason emphasizes the importance of early negotiation and proactive communication to safeguard founder interests.

Tune in to protect yourself from this common challenge in the fundraising world.

----------

If you're looking for more fundraising content, grab my weekly newsletter packed full of strategies and insights around how to raise money: fundedpod.com/newsletter

Funded
August 15, 2023
60
mins

The Hustler's Journey (Arkive)

A lot of people say that the hustle of an entrepreneur starts long before their first business. For Thomas McLeod, 5x serial entrepreneur, this couldn't be more true. Growing up, Tom never stayed in the same place for too long. Constantly bouncing around to different schools, it got him used to being uncomfortable and facing challenge. By the time he was in middle school, Tom was already calculating profit margins off of baseball cards that he was selling to his fellow classmates. As we get deeper into the episode, Tom speaks on some of the difficulties and achievements he faced along his path of building five different companies and the lessons that he learned along the way. One of those lessons being to drop the expectation of things always working out as a founder. Instead, he speaks on learning from his mistakes and using them as opportunities to better not only his company but also his character. Now, Thomas is building his 5th company Arkive, a decentralized museum of culture curated by its own members, which was able to raise a $9.7 M seed round back in July of 2022. Whatever Tom's doing, it's working. Regardless if you are a founder or not, this episode is full of mindset gems that can be applied to almost anything in life.

Follow Us

Thomas McLeod
Arkive
Funded
Jason Yeh (host)
Contact Us / Misc
  • Reach out to us on social or email me directly at jason@fundedpod.com if you have any questions or would like to share your story with us!
  • If you're looking for more fundraising content, grab my weekly newsletter packed full of strategies and insights around how to raise money:
  • fundedpod.com/newsletter
  • If you’re fundraising, make sure you send your materials via a document sharing tool. Even if they weren’t our presenting sponsor, we’d still recommend you use DocSend - www.docsend.com/funded    
  • Vanta helps maintain SOC2, HIPAA, ISO27001 compliance by integrating directly into your systems and automating a lot of the time intensive process. Get $1000 off at vanta.com/funded