How to Find Investors When Raising Money

About this video

Dan Martell explains how to connect — not fight — with investors when fundraising, even without a network. He recalls cold-emailing investors while building Flowtown with co-founder Ethan while ‘Ramen profitable’ and getting no replies, and credits advice from Nivi, described as Naval’s AngelList co-founder, on introductions. His big idea: investors don’t want to meet you, they want to be introduced to you. He claims this process helped him raise two rounds for Flowtown and Clarity — saying he closed the Clarity round in three days — and, by his claim, helped 100-plus coaching clients raise over $200 million. Step 1, research: build a targeted list via AngelList, Crunchbase, and press, finding investors who invest in your space, wrote a check in the last 12 months, and whose check size fits your round — illustrating the risk with a Clarity investor whose minimum was $500,000 when he had expected $100,000 checks. Step 2, track: manage fundraising like a sales pipeline in a spreadsheet or CRM, recording investments, check size, email, phone, and Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn accounts. Step 3, connect: email founders who recently raised from those investors (guessing firstname@company.com), ask for seven minutes of advice with bullets of credibility, treat that call like an investor call, then ask for an introduction and supply a ready-to-send intro email. He warns a round dragging 6 to 16 months signals desperation, says his clients average about 90 days from pre-marketing to money in the bank, and pitches Fundraising Like a Pro, which he says is based on what Uber founder Travis Kalanick taught him.

Key takeaways

• Investors want to be introduced, not cold-met
• Research investors active in your space in last 12 months
• Check check size fits your round before pursuing
• Track fundraising like a sales pipeline in a CRM
• Get intros via founders; supply the intro email

Episode details: published September 23, 2019 · 13:10 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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