3 principles of fearless fundraising: How to sell your vision to the right investors

There’s no one right way to fundraise for your business,?but there are a set of core principles that can help you build successful and sustainable relationships with investors. It’s never just about the money; raising funds is about inspiring belief in your vision.?

How do you turn your fundraising dream into reality? You have to be fearless.?

In the Masters of Scale Course “Fearless Fundraising,” you’ll find insights, stories, and daily practices to empower you along your fundraising journey. Here’s a look at the key lessons of the course, from the entrepreneurs who lived them:?

1. Embrace what makes you different.?

While it might be tempting to focus on why you fit into a VC’s portfolio, you’ll get farther by focusing on why you stand out.?

For Jack Conte (founder & CEO, Patreon ), this lesson became abundantly clear early on. Jack’s a musician and artist by trade – which is?miles off course from the “Silicon Valley types” he imagined sat around VC tables. So, in his early pitches, he tried his best to impersonate the persona he thought they wanted to see.?

But it didn’t work. The pitches fell flat, and Jack couldn’t figure out why. Until he tried something new.?

When Jack started his pitch with a story about building an animatronic head, a 3D-printed robot, and a replica of the Millennium Falcon, suddenly, investors were hooked. The room lit up with interest, and Jack learned one of the most important lessons in fundraising: Having rich experience and niche passions in a specialized field is something VCs appreciate more than you might think.?

By embracing your unique value and honoring your authentic self, you’ll find more success in fundraising than if you pretend to be someone you’re not.?

2. Don’t be afraid to ask for more.?

One of the most common fears entrepreneurs have going into a raise is that asking for too much will backfire?and leave them with nothing at all. But savvy investors will recognize –?and reward –?thoughtful projections.?

Mariam Naficy (founder & CEO, Minted ) first saw this lesson play out when she raised more money than she thought she needed to launch the pioneering cosmetics site Eve.com, back in 1998. The market for online commerce was brand-new, and it heated up fast. Eve.com’s competitors came up behind them quickly,?but Mariam’s team was flush with cash, which gave them the resources to compete as market saturation grew.

No one is immune to market volatility. And as Mariam points out, whenever you’re doing something for the first time, it will be harder, more expensive, and more time-consuming than you think. Create a buffer of cash that will put you in position to overdeliver rather than barely scrape by.?

3. Lead with stories and solutions.?

If your organization is going to scale, your investors need to be bought in with both their checkbooks and their minds. This might seem obvious, but it can be shockingly easy for your sense of mission to fall by the wayside when you’re caught up in balance sheets and logistics.?

Take it from scott harrison (founder & CEO, charity: water ). Not long after charity: water launched, Scott struggled to keep the nonprofit afloat. But before shutting the doors, Scott took one last chance at an emergency round of fundraising. In his pitches, he leaned wholeheartedly into Charity: Water’s mission, telling real, human stories about their goals and impact?— and about the challenges that lay ahead.

Scott’s transparency and passion secured a new life line for charity: water. He didn’t shy away from an ambitious mission, nor did he pretend the problem was easy to solve. Instead, Scott focused on how investors could be part of the solution.?

There’s an important lesson in his approach:?To get investors on your side, galvanize – don’t guilt-trip. Scott knew that people respond more passionately to solutions than problems, so he embraced his sense of optimism and invited investors to join him.

Fundraising is not for the faint of heart – it’s a process filled with setbacks, twists, and rejections. But it doesn’t have to be a headache. In fact, at times,?it might even be fun. So, go forth and fundraise fearlessly.?

To hear more fundraising stories and insights, explore Course 8: Fearless Fundraising in the Masters of Scale Courses app. Click here to download and start your 7-day free trial.