Peter here from Myriad Ventures with our latest blog. This week, we are looking at the path to successful and authentic fundraising. Trying to start a fundraiser for your business and want to ensure it is a success? Then unfortunately there are no guarantees. What you can do, though, is optimise your pitch and your process enough to ensure that you have a greater chance of catching the eye of a fundraiser who can contribute accordingly.

In the rapidly changing and competitive business environments of today, founders are emerging in more places than ever. And with that comes a desire to be funded from company owners and founders who want to take their ambitions and goals to new places. It can also encourage people with a new idea to start-up their own company.

Start-ups can of course be beneficial to society and the ideas can be life changing in some industries. Every year, new innovations take place that take the breath away. We have new inventions in cancer testing, robotics, manufacturing, food production, education, and learning, plus much more. This has been the case for a long time now, but the ease of fundraising and online interaction means that it is easier than ever to make a fundraiser feel worthwhile. 

However, without proper funding some of these fantastic opportunities just never get realised. So, what is it that fails them? Well, one of the most common issues is that the founders, although highly skilled in creating or developing their ideas, sometimes do not understand what it is an investor seeks to clarify in an opportunity. Put simply, they are better at making a product than they are selling one. 

Yes, they may present a compelling story on how life altering or successful the idea could be. But did they present the other key metrics such as the business model? The team involved? The problem and the solution?

Creating a fundraiser that has a chance of success

There are many other areas to consider when pitching a fundraiser, but with the investors spending on average just under 3 mins and 30 seconds on the information presented in the initial pitch, founders need to realise that the window of opportunity is typically a short one. 

To impress an investor, then, founders need to properly present their opportunity. This is done by detailing not enough information to retain the interest of the investor, and for them to understand the short-term, medium-term, and long-term vision easily. You ned to break down the problem, the solution, and the path needed to get there in a few short minutes. This means trying to provide answers to questions like:

• What is the financial layout like? What is needed to get the idea off the ground? 
• Does the investment provide a chance of ROI within a reasonable space of time? 
• Is the marketplace ready or accessible for this kind of investment at the moment?

The key to understanding how to pitch this in your fundraiser is undoubtedly deeply embedded in your research. Therefore, doing your due diligence on the process is crucial to understand your own path to successful fundraising.

By providing these details, the founders get a thorough understanding of their own products, inventions and ideas alongside the path needed to take it to market. This then successfully reflects in the presentation to others. The key to getting your ideas funded is properly thought out and presented research. 

That old saying if you’re going to do it then do it right the first time. Understand your marketplace and understand your competitors. Create a compelling and informative story that gets you seriously considered for the growth and development of your product or service.

Carry this out, and you are far more likely to make a fundraiser that has the fangs needed to really bite into an investors interest. The more you can do to come up with a clear plan of action, the sooner you can develop a fundraising pitch that has the interested parties, well, interested! 

Author 

Peter Lamb (Myriad Ventures)