Hello, everyone. This is Alejandro Cremades, and today we’re going to be talking about
how to put together an investor outreach strategy. Before we get started, make sure that you
hit that Subscribe button, and this way, you will never miss out on any of the videos that
we roll out every week. Getting out there and getting in front of
the right people that are going to invest in your company and be excited about the opportunity
of even potentially investing in your business that have the right type of investment theses
and that they’ve been looking to invest in companies like yours is essential. You
want to optimize your time—the time that it takes from getting out there to getting
the money in the bank. In today’s video, we’re going to be breaking
it down for you and giving you a step-by-step guide so that you can really get that strategy
so that you know who you want to get out there and how you’re going to be closing the money
that your company needs. So without further ado, let’s get into it!
First, you need a strategic roadmap. You need the strategic roadmap that is going to allow
you to understand what that process is going to look like, what is going to happen from
Point A to Point C, meaning from researching the list and putting everyone together to
actually getting the money in the bank. You need to design that. You need to design who
you’re going to go after, what is going to happen, what are going to be all the different
touchpoints, and what you’re going to be using in terms of touchpoints, and all the
way to getting that money in the bank. That is the strategic roadmap. That’s something
that you need to develop and something that you need to keep in mind.
Then, also, keep in mind, as well, where you’re at in terms of the financing cycle because
that strategy is not going to be the same if you are at a Seed Stage, which is the first
round of financing, going after individuals mainly. Or if it’s a Series A Round, where
you’re going, for the first time, after institutional investors like venture capital
firms. So, again, put your strategy together as the first step in this process.
Before you actually put the investor strategy or the outreach together, you want to make
sure that you have the right team in place. Ultimately, especially if you’re in the
early stages of your business, the investors are going to be investing in you. They’re
going to be investing in helping you in building this company, but they’re going to do so
if they see that the right people are seated in the right seats. So keep an eye out and
understand what’s in the next 18 to 24 months in the execution, and make sure and guarantee
to the investor that you have the right people there and that you’re going to be able to
execute. Also, you want to create a budget for this.
It costs money to raise money, whether that is flying, travel, advertising, promotion,
putting together PR so that it goes in line with your fundraising efforts, and it allows
you to create the storm. You need to budget, and you need to budget, too, for the designer
that is going to be putting together the pitch deck template or the pitch deck for you. By
the way, you can use the pitch deck template below that founders are using to raise millions
all over the world. You want to budget and make sure that you have that money in place.
Then, you want to know the market. You want to know: who are the players? Who are your
competitors? Are they directly there against you or the indirect competitors? You want
to know, as well, how big this market is. Who are the potential investors that make
sense? Then, what is getting them excited, and what are some of the potential concerns
that are out there at this moment in time? Then you want to know the target investors.
You want to know who you are going after because you want to optimize as I said earlier, you
want to make sure that you’re going after the right investor at the right time and who
is going to be thrilled about hearing about your opportunity. Some of the things to keep
in mind and consider when you are putting this target together are the following factors:
The check size that these investors are issuing The length of their fund and synergy and timeline
Their investment philosophy and theses Their investment criteria and priorities
References from other startups and entrepreneurs Past successful and failed investments
Preferred methods of communicating their personal interests, likes, passions, and fears
Critiques of past pitches versus approved and recommended pitch deck templates
Then you want to know, what are the best channels to get out there and get in front of these
people? What are those channels going to be? Some of the channels to keep in mind and to
really execute when it comes down to getting out there are the following:
Twitter LinkedIn
Crunchbase Email
Phone Introducers
Crowdfunding platforms In-person networking
The next thing is to craft the message. You want to put together the message, for example,
on your emails, whether that is the opening paragraph, the next paragraph that is going
to be your background, or the last paragraph that is going to be that call to action for
the request of the meeting. Ultimately, you want to put together an email that makes sense.
Also, you want to craft the next messages that you’re going to be using for every
step of the way when you’re engaging with those investors. But for that initial outreach,
the email is critical—a powerful subject line, an email where there is a first paragraph
opening up that is introducing yourself with the background story as the second paragraph,
and then with a call to action to request that meeting or phone call.
Then you want to create your marketing materials because you are creating that incredible storm.
You want to get people pumped. You want to start them feeling and hearing about your
company and about you every single place they go to. Some of the things that you’re going
to be putting in place are the following: Press release syndication
Blogging Article distribution
Twitter and other target social media marketing PPC advertising
Outdoor advertising Then, of course, is the pitch deck. Again,
the pitch deck is critical. Don’t start from scratch. You can use the template below
that founders are using all over the world. It’s for free. Now, the pitch deck is going
to be 15 to 25 slides, period. It’s the storytelling and the future possibility that
you’re painting out there for them to get excited. It’s that flow, that structure,
the way that you’re positioning things. It’s like watching a movie. You want to
leave them in a way that is moving, touching, and inspiring, and that’s what you’re
doing with your pitch deck. Now, remember that the three most important
slides based on data that investors review the most are:
The financial slide—by a mile. The team slide—who is behind the team?
The competition slide: the market. Those are the three most important slides,
so make sure that you’re nailing those. Also, create supporting documentation. For
example, you want to have your due diligence folder already created. You want to have every
single document that they may want to take a look at and to validate the claims that
you’re making, literally, already for them to review. So when they’re ready to dance,
when they’re already interesting and ready to go, don’t become the bottleneck. Have
that already in place; just create like a Dropbox folder with all your due diligence
materials or like a Google Drive folder with all of those materials. Then, when they’re
ready to dance, just give them the link and say, “Let me know if you have any questions.”
That way, you’re not waiting for one-offs, which ultimately is going be a super painful
process and is going to delay you getting the money into the bank account.
Now, it’s time to unleash the investor outreach. Start getting those meetings. Start thinking
about this as a sales process where there are different phases on that cell cycle. Never
approach a first meeting with trying to get the check because, on the first meeting, you’re
just going to be making a promise. You’re going to tell them that you’re here.
Then over the course of time, they’re going to see how you execute and how you’re delivering
on your promise. So your intention is not to get the money on that first meeting. Your
intention is to get to the next meeting because the more meetings that you get, the more concerns
that you’re able to address. And fundraising is all about addressing concerns because when
there are no concerns, that means that the money is in the bank. Again, always think
about this as how or what do I need to do to get to the next meeting with this investor
because that is going to get you closer to the money.
Then you want to track and measure your performance. How many of your emails are being opened?
How many of your emails are being responded to? How many meetings are you able to schedule?
How many follow-up meetings are you getting? Think about this as a funnel and see where
you’re dropping the ball. Where could you optimize? Where could you do better things?
This is all about over-performance, like thinking about how can you do better than what you
were doing and how you can take things to the next level?
Hopefully, you like this video. Hit a Like. Leave a comment below and let me know how
you’re thinking about your investor outreach strategy. Also, Subscribe to the channel so
that you don’t miss out on all the videos that we’re rolling out every week. And if
you’re fundraising, send me an email at alejandro@pantheraadvisors.com. I would love
to help you out with your capital-raising efforts. Thank you so much for watching.