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.
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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.
Latest Episodes
Check out our latest chats with awesome founders.
TBC: A thought on decks and appendices
One of the most vital processes before facing investors is building the perfect pitch deck.
There is a tough balance to find with decks. You don’t want to be too short and lack the information an investor needs to get excited. You also don’t want to be too long and overwhelm the reader with data.
In this episode, Jason talks about pitch decks - particularly, his favorite part of it, appendices - and why it’s an important part of your pitch deck.
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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
TBC: Don't Be A Science Project
Are you a problem looking for a solution, or a solution looking for a problem?
Pondering this is vital for entrepreneurs, especially for first timers who are just establishing the core of their business. While it’s easy to get lost in the world of entrepreneurship, it’s also worth it to spend time thinking about the real “why” of whatever you’re working on.
In this episode, Jason talks about the difference between these two - a science project and a business.
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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
Fundraising Holiday Blues (Grapevine)
Episode Summary
Fundraising for software that supports charitable giving started off as a challenge for Grapevine CEO Emily Rasmussen. After unlocking the fundraising story that would gain traction, she ran into another challenge. The year-end holidays disrupted her momentum and threatened to sabotage an exciting round. Emily shares how she weathered the storm and the important lessons she learned about the impact of calendar timing when raising.
Resources Mentioned
Follow Us
Emily Rasmussen
Grapvine
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
If at First You Don't Succeed (Humming Homes)
Episode Summary
Adeel Mallick, the co-founder and CEO of Humming Homes, had the perfect background to start a company and lead a fundraise. Experience at startup studios, an MBA, and stints at top venture capital firms had him setup to knock the first fundraise for his startup out of the water. When things didn't go as planned, Adeel had to reflect, regroup, and recommit to the process to get his company the seed funding it needed to scale.
Resources Mentioned
Follow Us
Adeel Mallick
Humming Homes
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 Culture of Preemptive Rounds (Neuro-ID)
Episode Summary
Jack Alton was a startup vet before he was recruited to join Neuro-ID as its CEO in 2016. His requirements to join included headquartering the company in Montana and building a remote first culture. Back then those pursuits were not only rare but considered flaws. 5 years later, they would be come major reasons for Canapi Ventures to preempt Neuro-ID's Series B round.
Resources Mentioned
Follow Us
Jack Alton
SteadyMD
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!
- Subscribe to the Funded newsletter at 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
Catching a Steady Wave🏄
Episode Summary
In 2016, Guy Friedman was a successful startup founder with an exit. Most would think that would make raising money for his next company SteadyMD a breeze. Instead, none of his prior investors decided to back him and he was on a familiar grind to getting funding. Fast forward to 2020 and Guy was steadily growing his core business when a wave hit in the form of acceleration towards telemedicine. All of the sudden he was surfing and fundraising became a very very different experience.
Resources Mentioned
Follow Us
Guy Friedman
SteadyMD
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!
- Subscribe to the Funded newsletter at 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 Foreign Language of Fundraising
Episode Summary
Parker Treacy created his first successful company in the United States without raising venture capital. For his second company, he would need to learn two completely foreign languages to be successful as he set out to launch a company in Brazil and fundraise. Eventually, Parker became fluent in both Portuguese and the language of venture capital as he built his business Cobli and raised over $40MM.
Topics Discussed
- Early struggles with Portuguese
- Learning he would have to raise venture capital
- Lessons he learned about the fundraising process
- Differences between the Series A and Series B
- Landing the Series B
Resources Mentioned
Follow Us
Parker Treacy
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!
- Subscribe to the Funded newsletter at 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
Learning the Fundraising Dance
Episode Summary
Erin Carpenter grew up focused on becoming an entertainer with classical training as a ballerina. Along the way, an embarrassing uniform mishap as a young dancer and continued frustrations throughout her career drove her to embrace an entrepreneurial fire that led to starting Nude Barre. For this professional dancer, learning the fundraising dance was a struggle. After 10 years of bootstrapping and failing to raise money, she finally figured out the steps and eventually raised Seed capital from the likes of Serena Williams, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Jason Calacanis, and Freestyle Capital.
Listen to learn what helped her find the way and launch the next phase of growth in her business.
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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
Topics Discussed
- Early childhood entrepreneurial instincts
- Wanting to be an entertainer
- Her embarrassing moment
- Seeing an opportunity in her personal problem with dance tights
- 10 years of bootstrapping
- Pitching Serena Williams and Whitney Wolfe Herd
- Joining Jason Calacanis' accelerator
- Closing funding from Freestyle
Resources Mentioned
- Check out nudebarre.com for bodywear essentials in all shades
- Adamant Ventures
- Fundraising Fieldnotes Newsletter
Follow Us
Erin Carpenter
Nude Barre
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!
- Subscribe to the Funded newsletter at 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
Investor Psychology 101
Episode Summary
Nicole Emrani Green's journey from the rambunctious daughter of Persian immigrants to venture-backed CEO had twists and turns. Surprisingly, her first career in psychotherapy gave her some of the tools to help advance herself as a leader and successfully close a $4MM Seed round for her company Givingli. Listen to the story as she describes the way she's learned the startup ropes as an outsider and the feeling of a past rejection she's now grown to be proud of.
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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
Topics Discussed
- Nicole's "bossy" childhood
- Discovering her passion for therapy
- A helpful "big brother" advisor
- Being rejected by the Yellow accelerator :(
- Being accepted by the Yellow accelerator :)
Resources Mentioned
- Check out Givingli.com for great digital gifting options
- Adamant Ventures
- Fundraising Fieldnotes Newsletter
Follow Us
Nicole Emrani Green
Givingli
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!
- Subscribe to the Funded newsletter at 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
Stayin' Alive🎶
Episode Summary
Matt Pohlson, co-founder and CEO of Omaze, has had one of the most death defying startup journeys ever. Time and time again, his company has been on the brink of death, only to be saved by Matt’s persistence and never-quit attitude. While most involved nearly running out of funds, one experience involved his own near death experience as he flatlined on an ER bed with his family surrounding him. Persistence brought him back from the brink and eventually back to Omaze where he used an even stronger belief in their mission to lead a Series B fundraise in March of 2020 just as COVID began impacting the world.
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Remember to grab the insights pack on this episode at fundedpod.com/omaze.
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
Topics Discussed
- Brian talks about convincing Brian Cranston to work with them [1:59]
- The importance of storytelling [4:06]
- Raising from Firstmark Capital [6:05]
- Almost dying in the ER [9:14]
- Raising the Series B for Omaze [20:38]
- COVID hits during the raise [22:36]
- Advice from Matt [28:38]
- Debrief with Producer Olivia about persistence
Resources Mentioned
- Check out some of the great experiences on Omaze.com
- Omaze Insights Pack
- Adamant Ventures
- Fundraising Fieldnotes Newsletter
Follow Us
Matt Pohslon
Omaze
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!
- Subscribe to the Funded newsletter at 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