SLAM DUNK FUNDRAISING – PART 2
Karl Dakin
Capital Coach | Stakeholder Investor Campaigns | Design, Stage, and Manage or Support | Reduce Time, Money, and Risk of Raising Funding | Increase Probability of Success! | Opportunity Management
QUICK CALENDAR
In addition to this Instant Funding newsletter, I host the Successful Funding show, appear as a guest on various podcasts and television shows, speak at various events, and present my own educational programs. Presented here is a quick listing of upcoming opportunities to share information, learn, or meet in person or via videoconferencing. More info below.
Don Cohen – Monday, March 18, 9 am MDT and Wednesday, March 20, 9 am MDT – LinkedIn Live
Successful Funding – Financial Record Preparations – Tuesday, March 19, 8 am MDT – LinkedIn Live
Successful Funding – Reg CF Crowdfunding – Thursday, March 21, 8 am MDT – LinkedIn Live [SPECIAL THURSDAY SHOW]
NO SUCCESSFUL FUNDING SHOW ON MARCH 26.
Successful Funding – Business Acquisitions – Tuesday, April 2, MDT – LinkedIn Live
SuperCrowd 2024 – Impact Crowdfunding – Wednesday/Thursday – April 17/18 - Online
?Successful Funding – Community Building – Tuesday, April 23, 8 am MDT – LinkedIn Live
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SLAM DUNK FUNDRAISING – PART 2
?One of the highlights of a basketball game is seeing a player leave the floor like a bird soaring into the air and slamming the basketball in a dunk through a basket. As a guy who never had any vertical lift, I admire this accomplishment.
Rarely will I see a startup business with high growth potential. Commonly, these businesses offer a product or service that is a technology innovation. The innovation fills a gap in the market that no one else has filled. The product or service addresses a problem that almost everyone experiences, understands the problem, and thinks to themselves, “I wish someone would fix that!” The product or service does not require approval, authentication, or certification from any government agency or regulation. The product has to stand independently, but it needs to fit into an existing supply chain. In effect, the prospective customer has to see the product, immediately recognize it as the solution to a problem, be able to afford it, and buy it immediately.
?If a business has a product or service that meets all of these criteria, it has the potential to grow exponentially overnight, achieving huge revenues and profits before another business can step in to compete.
?If a business has a product that meets all of these criteria, it may be able to achieve slam dunk funding because the investment opportunity is also obvious to all investors. It will meet the criteria of even those investors, such as venture capitalists, seeking the highest possible rate of return on their money.
?Now, if you are planning to raise funding, you have to ask yourself, “Am I a slam dunk?”
?In reality, the answer is almost certainly “NO!”.
?Yet, investment pitches invariably come across as “Look at me! We are better than sliced bread! Throw money at me!”
?There are some places where a pitch with this tone may get traction. Some investors view their approach to investment as a form of competition where the big winner will be their ego.
?In reality, the investor candidate will look at the business and quickly identify several features that will slow market entry, face earlier market competition or already have serious alternatives, require a third party to approve something who is not in a hurry or may be biased against the new product or service, or any of a dozen other reasons why the investment pitch is grossly overstated. A gross overstatement indicates either naivete by the business or a willingness to engage in misrepresentation.
?A business that is a ‘slam dunk’ is a statistical aberration. This means that all the usual rules may not apply because everyone is willing to make an exception.
?If the small business is not a ‘slam dunk,’ it may find that it has to explain its product or service - to customers, to resellers, to regulators, and to the media. This educational activity takes time and money that a more well-funded business may use to catch up, pass, or leapfrog the small business.
?If the small business is not a ‘slam dunk,’ it may find that a government agency or regulation, influencer, or other person beyond the control of the small business may take an adverse position or not care, resulting in more significant challenges in entering a market.
?The small business that is not a ‘slam dunk’ looks like a commodity to every investor candidate who sees it. Its projected rate of return places it in the same category as any other business offering the same rate of return. The investor candidate will have difficulty seeing the business in the noise of the capital market, let alone discerning why this particular business should be selected over all other choices.
?Suppose a small business is not a ‘slam dunk’ and no exceptions are made. In that case, the small business must deal with the reality of (1) knowing their investor, (2) the investor having money on hand to invest and (3) the investor having a great enough motivation to place their money with that small business instead of anyone else.
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SUCCESSFUL FUNDING
Next Tuesday, on March 19 at 8 a.m. MDT, on my Successful Funding show my guest will be Lucas Marquardt who provides part-time CFO services through Precision Financial LLC. We will be talking about ‘getting ready to receive funding.’
领英推荐
In one week, in a special Thursday show on March 21, 8 a.m. MDT, my guest will be Tom Bassford, CEO of EquityVest – a Regulation CF equity crowdfunding platform. This new platform enables access to capital by “Faith-Driven Entrepreneurs, Businesses, And Causes They Believe In.”
There will be no Successful Funding show on March 26 as I will be engaged in teaching a course on International Transactions for the University of Denver in the country of Belize where students will be immersed in how business is conducted in a different country.
?The Successful Funding show on my LinkedIn profile will repeat weekly at 8 am MST on Tuesdays. You may register to attend by going on LinkedIn, searching for Events, clicking on the Events button, searching for Successful Funding, and then clicking on the Attend button. You should receive an email with a link to save to your calendar. You can also click the Share button and obtain the URL link to the show to put it in your calendar.
You may view all of the Successful Funding shows in my Posts on my LinkedIn profile at: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/karldakin/
??DON COHEN
I was a guest on Don Cohen’s show last week, Thursday and Friday, and I will be on his show next week on Monday and Wednesday.
You can view a recording of last week's show at:
?Other shows where I have been a guest can be viewed on Don Cohen's Linkedin page under Posts.
?SUPERCROWD 2024
?I will co-host SuperCrowd 2024 , "The Impact Crowdfunding Event of the Year,” held online on April 17th and 18th.
I will make a presentation at SuperCrowd 2024 on April 18th at Noon MDT on Customer-Focused Crowdfunding. I will share my thinking and designs of investment crowdfunding offers that include products, discounts, charitable gifts and equity ownership.
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Karl Dakin, the Capital Coach
Dakin Capital LLC
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Capital Coach | Stakeholder Investor Campaigns | Design, Stage, and Manage or Support | Reduce Time, Money, and Risk of Raising Funding | Increase Probability of Success! | Opportunity Management
1 年Is your funding campaign a 'slam dunk'?