3 Things I Wish I Knew Before Raising Capital ??

Looking back on many of the business ventures I have been a part of, there have been a handful of hard lessons. These lessons will always stay with me and have made me a better businessman. Yet, raising capital has hands down been the most challenging aspects of the business at this point in time. Some of the details in this story will be kept anonymous for legal reasons. Here are the 3 things I wish I knew before raising capital.

1. A perfect pitch deck does NOT exist.

This has probably been the most annoying part of my capital raising experience, why? Because EVERYONE has an opinion. The fact is you will probably be critiqued on your deck by everyone and anyone that sees it. This is why you need to VET your investor prior to pitching them (will talk more about that later.) The deck in theory is supposed to explain your story, solution, the problem you are solving, #s, your ask, team, etc...it should also look decently nice, well put together, and should garnish excitement.

The problem arises when you as an entrepreneur start to listen to TOO MUCH unsolicited advice. You end up asking the wrong people or sharing it with people you shouldn't and end up receiving crap feedback. At the end of the day, I don't think the perfect deck exists and I've honestly raised more without the deck by simply sharing what we're building. The present me sees the deck as a marketing tool to get meetings, nothing more than that.

P.S - decks don't close deals, you do.

2. Deals Take Longer Than You Think

When we started raising capital we thought it would be a cakewalk. With years of sales experience and a sweet vision for the company, we came in guns blazing. Not too far down the road give or take 6-8 months we began to realize where we went wrong. Our expectation of "instant funding" slowly came to a grinding halt. It's easy to think money just lands in your lap because you have something cool (which every entrepreneur says and believes) and you see other companies raising fat rounds while you are getting crumbs. It can be debilitating and leave you feeling defeated.

If we can just put away our gratification for a while it will make raising capital much easier. Be prepared for it to take longer and cost more. Remember raising money COSTS money, especially if you plan on doing it legally. You'd be surprised how many people just skip that last part ????♂?. At the end of the day doing deals is a game of relationships, so don't expect it to be like some drive-through fast-food order. You are getting people to trust you with lots of their or OPM's money .

3. Nobody Cares About Your Success More Than You

I remember feeling that when we shared what we were building that others would autonomously care just as much as we did. Unfortunately, that was not the case. What we saw as a grand vision that was sure to succeed at all costs, others saw as a burning dumpster fire. It's naive to expect everyone to get what you're doing. Especially if you're building something that's a breakthrough emerging technology.

Remember this, investors are just like you but in the opposite position. You are looking for money to grow your dream. They are looking to take their money or someone else's in most cases and grow their dream. If your dreams don't align or your dream puts their dream at risk further than they are willing to go, why the heck would invest in you? I hate to say it, but as much as I personally rebel at firms for investing in SaaS models and things that have high multiples, I get it. It provides returns, liquidity, cash flow, etc...all good things. Most likely your startup has few to none of them, so what makes you special?

It's not that what you may have is not special, you have not simply got it to a place where others see it. It's why it's your job to bootstrap the eff out of it or find family and friends to fund it off the rip if you cannot yourself.

These few lessons will be worthwhile to simmer on if you are looking to raise capital. Sometimes raising is not the right thing to do, and sometimes it is. It just depends on your vision and goals, so make sure you have absolute clarity in those sectors.

From a fellow hardware building, capital raising, bootstrapping midwesterner living in Arizona attempting to change the way we power the world. May God be with you!

-Skylar