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Raise capital, update investors and engage your team from a single platform. Try Visible free for 14 days. Venture capital is relatively new. In the 80s and 90s venture capital was simply capital available to “tech” companies (e.g. silicon chips in the 90s). At the time, capital was enough of a differentiator for a VC fund to stand out. Since then, the market, and funding options available to startups, have exploded. Y Combinator launched in the mid-2000s and began transforming the space. Since then name-brand VC funds have popped up throughout the country and the globe. Now, founders are looking for more from their investors (hiring help, future capital, leadership skills, technological help, etc.). Related Resource: Seed Funding for Startups 101: A Complete Guide One of the popular funding options and resources that has popped up over time is the incubator. As put by the team at Investopedia, “An incubator firm is an organization engaged in the business of fostering early-stage companies through the different developmental phases until the companies have sufficient financial, human, and physical resources to function on their own.” Related resource: Accelerator vs. Incubator: Key Differences and Choosing the Best Fit for Your Startup What Do Incubators Do? While different incubators will likely specialize in different aspects of business building, they generally help in all of the ways below. Provides Feedback & Assistance With Business Basics Incubators are generally suited to extremely early product ideas or businesses. One of the areas they are the best fit to help is by providing feedback and covering business basics. This might include things like establishing your business, brand, distribution strategy, and more. Introductions to Other Startups & Networking Opportunities Generally, incubators have cohorts or classes of startups. This means that they are seeing hundreds of startups throughout their lifecycle. Incubators are a great way to find introductions to other startups, founders, and partners they might have worked with in the past. Includes Necessary Equipment – Including High-Speed Internet Historically, incubators have a physical office space for startups to leverage. This is an opportunity for startups to save on office rent and leverage the equipment and tools they need to succeed — internet, conference rooms, desk space, etc. Access to Investors Once you’ve worked your way through an incubator, chances are you are ready to hit the ground running on your business. One of the common ways to do this is by scaling strategies you worked on during the incubator. To help with this, many incubators have demo days or a network of investors they will be able to introduce you to for a future round of financing. Related Reading: All Encompassing Startup Fundraising Guide Connections to Strategic Partners & Other Service Providers Another benefit of an incubator is the partners and service providers that they work with. Oftentimes, incubators work closely with large organizations or have individuals present with their expertise. For example, an incubator might bring in someone that is an expert in product-led growth and can help you set up your process and make introductions to potential hires. On the flip side, they generally offer discounts to service providers to help you get things started. Types of Business Incubators Incubators tend to be a proving ground for different startup ideas and products. Due to this, different types of businesses and organizations have incentives to launch an incubator. Check out some of the most common types of incubators below: Academic Institutions One of the most common types of institutions that use incubators is academic institutions — generally large universities. This is a great way to allow current undergraduate and graduate students to pursue different ideas and businesses they might have in mind. Universities can tap into their network of experienced professors to help students with all aspects of business building. Additionally, universities also offer a massive network of alumni. Non-Profit Organizations Another business that leverages incubators is non-profit organizations. Non-profits are generally trying to solve large problems that impact people across the globe. Because of this, the space generally requires innovation and new ideas to help tackle these problems. Non-profits turn to incubators to help fuel innovation in the space and uncover the next entrepreneurs suited to help. Related Reading: Impact Investors and Fund Managers to Know For-Profit Corporations Of course, for-profit corporations are very common in the incubator space. Corporations are likely looking for growth and innovation in their market and space. While they likely have teams dedicated to this in-house they also look outside their organization for areas where they can innovate and expand. Corporations will use incubators to search for new ideas and products from entrepreneurs that are in the space and can help their business grow even further. Venture Capital Firms Another common business that uses incubators is venture capital firms. VC firms are dedicated to investing in startups. Because of this, they are incentivized to help the earliest stage startups incubate their idea. This allows them to invest at a later date and get a head start on the diligence process. VC firms also have built out networks and partners that help their VC fund portfolio companies which translates well to helping the companies in their incubator. Related Reading: The 12 Best VC Funds You Should Know About What’s the Difference Between an Incubator and an Accelerator? Incubators and accelerators have both become synonymous with the startup space. While you might think they are similar or the same, they do have a number of differences. An incubator is built to help the earliest stage ideas develop their business expertise and determine if they have a viable business. Related Reading: Why Most Accelerators Fail…and Why Yours Doesn’t Have To An accelerator is best suited to help businesses that are a step further. As put by the team at TechTarget, “A startup accelerator is a business program that supports early-stage, growth-driven companies through education, mentorship and financing. Startups typically enter accelerators for a fixed period of time and as part of a cohort of companies. While accelerator programs can provide beneficial resources to organizations at all stages of development, most focus on those that are pre-revenue.” This means that these companies already have a business model and product in place and are ready to hit the ground running on their revenue growth and product development. Is an Incubator Right for You? Incubators aren’t for everyone. If you’ve got an understanding of your business model and product, you are likely ready to skip over the incubator and hit the ground running on your business. To learn how you can take your business to the next level, subscribe to the Visible Weekly – we search the web for the best tips to attract, engage and close investors, then deliver them to thousands of inboxes every week. Subscribe here.

What is a VC Fund? A venture fund is capital that is ready to be deployed by the venture capital firm (or the management company). It’s a funding option that allows VC funds to buy equity in a startup. In turn, a startup gives up a percentage of their ownership with the hopes of growing their valuation and creating a successful exit for everyone on the cap table. The Structure of a VC Fund Capital for a venture fund comes from limited partners, which are generally much larger funds, and are looking to diversity their investing via venture capital funds. Limited partners tend to be either university endowments, sovereign funds, family offices, pension funds, or insurance companies. Then there’s a management company which is responsible for prospecting investments, collecting fees and expenses, branding, and more. AngelList describes it as, “A management company is a business entity created by a venture firm’s general partners (GPs). It’s responsible for managing a venture firm’s operations across its funds.” A general partner is someone who manages a venture fund and likely the management company. GPs oftentimes invest their own money so they have skin in the game. Read the full article on VC Fund Structure here. Types of Venture Capital Funding: Seed Capital Seed funding, which oftentimes includes “pre-seed” funding, is generally the first round of financing for a startup. There typically tend to be funds that specialize in pre-seed/seed-stage financings. Early Stage Capital (Often Series A or Series B) Early-stage capital is often when a company might have some traction and promise that it can grow into a massive company that is worthy of an exit. Expansion Capital Venture funds at this stage are likely huge funds that make fewer investments with larger check sizes. At the point of investment, most companies will have proven success to in turn will raise at higher valuations. Late Stage Capital This might be a final injection before a company sets to go public or to fund expansion into a totally new market. Rolling Funds While they are not typically dedicated to a specific stage (like the examples above) the way they raise financing and treat the general partner to limited partners relationship differs. Startup Fundraising Checklist: Step 1: Determine if VC is Right for Your Business Step 2: Prepare Your Deck, Docs, and Metrics Step 3: Find Investors (Check out our Connect Investor Database) Step 4: Pitch Investors and Take Meetings Step 5: Due Diligence Step 6: The Term Sheet Related Resource: Miami’s Venture Capital Scene: The 10 Best Firms Tiger Global Management Tiger Global Management is an investment firm that deploys capital globally in both public and private markets and beats out all other VC’s in the world with the highest count of unicorn portfolio companies. They are based in New York with a focus in global Internet, software, consumer, and payments industries Some of their recent investments include: Amogy SleekFlow CloudQuery Number of Unicorns in Portfolio Tiger Global Management has 209 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 440 rounds within the last year. SV Angel SV Angel is a San Francisco-based angel firm that helps startups with business development, financing, M&A, and other strategic advice. Some of their recent investments include: Graft Bubblehouse Gilde Number of Unicorns in Portfolio SV Angel has 23 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 57 rounds within the last year. Related Resource: The 11 Best Venture Capitals in San Francisco LocalGlobe LocalGlobe is a venture capital firm that focuses on seed and impact investments. They are located in London, England and their investment geography is usually within Europe. Some of their recent investments include: Cloudwall Capital &Open Shellworks Related Resource: 15 Venture Capital Firms in London Fueling Startup Growth Number of Unicorns in Portfolio LocalGlobe has 18 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 52 rounds within the last year. Greycroft Greycroft is a venture capital firm located in New York that focuses on technology start-ups and investments in the internet and mobile markets. Some of their recent investments include: Narmi Boulder Care Branch Number of Unicorns in Portfolio Greycroft has 9 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 80 rounds within the last year. Bain Capital Venutre Bain Capital Ventures is a global private equity firm located in Boston, with over $17 billion of assets under management. Since 1984, the firm has invested in over 200 companies, with such notable successes as Aspect Development, DoubleClick, Gartner Group, and Netfish Technologies. Bain Capital Ventures manages a $250 million fund. Bain Capital Ventures partners with exceptional management teams to help early stage companies become long-term leaders in their markets. Some of their recent investments include: Auxilius Magical JupiterOne Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months Bain Capital Venutre have participated in 66 rounds within the last year. Andersson Horowitz Andreessen Horowitz was established in June 2009 in Menlo Park, California by entrepreneurs and engineers Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, based on their vision for a new, modern VC firm designed to support today’s entrepreneurs. Andreessen and Horowitz have a track record of investing in, building and scaling highly successful businesses. Some of their recent investments include: Entropy SCiFi Foods Adim Number of Unicorns in Portfolio Andersson Horowitz has 98 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 241 rounds within the last year. Canaan Partners Canaan Partners invests more than money in a company—they invest their time, experience, knowledge, connections and team-oriented approach. They place tremendous value on creating working partnerships with entrepreneurs and management teams who have the character and the drive to succeed. Prominent among Canaan’s resources is the breadth of operating, managerial and financial experience. Some of their recent investments include: WorkMotion Appsmith Marvin Number of Unicorns in Portfolio Canaan Partners has 6 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 43 rounds within the last year. Anthemis Anthemis Group is a global platform that cultivates change in the financial system by investing in, growing, and sustaining businesses. They are located in New York and London and thein investment thesis is to focus on startups that leverage technology to significantly impact the financial system. Some of their recent investments include: Hokodo Kasheesh Kinly Number of Unicorns in Portfolio Anthemis has 5 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 51 rounds within the last year. General Catalyst General Catalyst is a venture capital firm located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that makes early-stage and growth equity investments with a focus in Consumer, Enterprise, Mobile, and Applications. Some of their recent investments include: Guild Vibrant Planet Sanas Number of Unicorns in Portfolio General Catalyst has 72 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 115 rounds within the last year. Related Resource: 11 Top Venture Capital Firms in Boston TCV TCV is a leading provider of capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry. They are located in Menlo Park, California but invest globally. Some of their recent investments include: Trulioo FlixMobility FarEye Number of Unicorns in Portfolio TCV has 32 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 23 rounds within the last year. Balderton Capital Balderton Capital is an early-stage venture firm that’s based on the principles of teamwork and an intense dedication to building companies of lasting value. They provide superior service to entrepreneurs through a unique, team-oriented partnership. This team approach not only makes it more fun for them to come to work everyday, but more importantly, it benefits their portfolio companies. Instead of competing for resources, they share ideas, contacts and resources. They are located in London, England and primarily invest in European companies. Some of their recent investments include: TestGorilla Request Finance Avi Medical Number of Unicorns in Portfolio Balderton Capital has 13 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 38 rounds within the last year. Forum Ventures Location: New York City, San Francisco, and Toronto, United States Thesis: B2B SaaS; Future of Work, E-commerce enablement, Supply Chain & Logistics, Marketplace, Fintech, Healthcare Investment Stages: Pre-Seed, Seed Recent Investments: Sandbox Banking Tusk Logistics Vergo Check out Forum Ventures profile on our Connect Investor Database RRE Ventures RRE Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm that offers early-stage funding to software, internet, and communications companies. Some of their recent investments include: Haystacks.ai Domain Money Palm NFT Studio Number of Unicorns in Portfolio RRE Ventures has 13 unicorns in their portfolio Number of Rounds Participated in the last 12 Months They have participated in 17 rounds within the last year. Related Resource: Exploring the Top 10 Venture Capital Firms in New York City Related Resource: Chicago’s Best Venture Capital Firms: A List of the Top 10 Firm Related Resource: Atlanta’s Hottest Venture Capital Firms: Our Top 9 Picks Looking for Funding? Visible Can Help- Start Your Next Round with Visible We believe great outcomes happen when founders forge relationships with investors and potential investors. We created our Connect Investor Database to help you in the first step of this journey. Instead of wasting time trying to figure out investor fit and profile for their given stage and industry, we created filters allowing you to find VC’s and accelerators who are looking to invest in companies like you. Check out all our investors here and filter as needed. After learning more about them with the profile information and resources given you can reach out to them with a tailored email. To help craft that first email check out 5 Strategies for Cold Emailing Potential Investors. After finding the right Investor you can create a personalized investor database with Visible. Combine qualified investors from Visible Connect with your own investor lists to share targeted Updates, decks, and dashboards. Start your free trial here and check out Visibles Fundraising page: https://visible.vc/fundraising

Portfolio support plays an important part in differentiating good investors from great investors. However, it can be hard to be a value-add investor when time and resources are constrained, which is why building scalable support is key. We were joined by Jessica Lowenstein, Head of Platform at K50 Ventures, and Erica Amatori, Head of Platform at Left Lane Capital for a discussion on: How each fund defines its approach to support What systems/processes are needed to scale support Tips for onboarding new companies into your portfolio Navigating information flow between the investment team and ops Advice for new funds thinking about formalizing their approach to support Visible for Investors is a founders-first portfolio monitoring and reporting platform. Schedule time with our team to learn more.

Building a startup is incredibly difficult. Leading an early-stage startup can almost feel impossible. On top of building a product, successfully selling and marketing a product, hiring top talent, and more – a founder is responsible for engaging with stakeholders across the board (team members, investors, board members, mentors, etc.) Related Resource: The Complete Guide to Investor Reporting and Updates Investors might simply seem like a source of capital. However, they can offer so much more. Investors can offer future capital, their own experience, and network to help move your business forward. It is your responsibility as a founder to have a game plan to place to communicate and leverage your investors. Learn more about building an investor relationship management plan below: What is Investor Relationship Management? As we previously mentioned, investors can offer much more than capital. Venture capitalists and startup investors have likely been operators themselves. They will be able to offer future capital, takeaways from their own experiences (and their other investment experiences), and their own network to help with hiring and finding early customers. Related Resource: The Complete Guide to Stakeholder Management for Startup Founders At the end of the day, investors are human and value relationships. It is a founder’s duty to properly communicate with investors and strengthen relationships. While each and every founder <> investor relationship is different, a strong relationship management system looks something like this: Monthly investor updates sent via email Quarterly board meetings (in person or via Zoom) One-off calls and conversations Related Resource: How to Create a Board Deck (with Template) Of course, all of these are business-centric meetings so it is important to make sure to build personal relationships along the way. Learn more about the key components and benefits of strong investor relationship management below: Key Components of Investor Relationship Management Relationships require work. A founder <> investor relationship is no different. The components of building a relationship with investors will vary from person to person but we generally suggest leveraging the following tools as a backbone for your investor relations. Related Resource: How to Build a Strong Investor Relations Strategy 1) Monthly Investor Updates At Visible, we have found that companies that regularly communicate with their investors are 300% more likely to raise follow on funding. A monthly investor update can go a long way when it comes to building relationships with investors. Related Resource: How To Write the Perfect Investor Update (Tips and Templates) Monthly updates should take no more than a few minutes of your time and can pay dividends down the road. You’ll be able to regularly surface challenges you are facing to get your investors to help on the fly. Check out a few popular monthly updates for inspiration below: The Visible “Standard” Investor Update Template Visible Lite Monthly Update Y Combinator Investor Update Related Resource: How to Write the Perfect Investment Memo 2) Quarterly Board Meetings Monthly updates are great for keeping investors in the loop and getting their input on the fly. Quarterly board meetings are a great opportunity to look back at the quarter and shape your future roadmap and decisions with your board. Quarterly board meetings will allow you to sit down with vital stakeholders and spend valuable time digging into future decisions and strategies. However, it is important that you as a founder come to a board meeting well prepared and make the most of the time. We recommend sharing some information beforehand so investors can prepare as well. 3) One-Off Meetings Monthly investors and quarterly board meetings should be the minimum when it comes to building investor relations. Inevitably there will be conversations and questions that arise that will not fit into either. With that said, it is important that you reach out to individual investors for one-off conversations and meetings as needed. On top of being an opportunity to tap into a specific investor’s capital, network, experience, etc. a one-off meeting is an opportunity to strengthen your personal relationship with them. 4) Tools and Management At Visible, we oftentimes compare a fundraise and investor relations to a traditional B2B sales and marketing funnel. At the top of your funnel, you are bringing in new investors (leads), building relationships throughout the middle of the funnel, and closing and delighting them at the bottom of the funnel. Just as a sales and marketing team has dedicated tools we believe the same should for investor relations. With Visible you can find investors, send monthly Updates, share your pitch deck, and manage relationships with our CRM. Give Visible a free try for 14 days here. Related Resource: Investor CRM: Seamlessly Manage Relationships and Finances Related Resource: Why a CRM is Essential for Investor Relations Related Resource: How to Find Investors Best Practices: Investor Relationship Management Edition As we’ve previously mentioned, every founder and investor relationship is different. We find that the stage, geography, focus, etc. might impact how to best communicate and build relationships with investors. However, there are a few best practices that generally stay consistent from relationship to relationship. Check out a few best practices for managing relationships with investors below: Include Wins and Losses First things first, investors need a pulse on how your business is performing so they know where they can best help. We suggest sharing both your wins and losses with investors on a monthly basis. Sharing wins is easy and investors want to help celebrate your accomplishments. Sharing losses is what differentiates okay from great communication. By being able to be transparent and share things you are struggling with investors will be able to build trust with you and your business and help you work through them. Share Key Metrics Investors will also want a quantifiable pulse on your business. Sharing a handful of key metrics is a great way to keep investors in the loop. We always recommend working through the specific metrics with your investors. Once you decide what you are going to share, make sure the metrics you are sharing stay consistent from month to month. Related Resource: 6 Metrics Every Startup Founder Should Track Make Asks Arguably one of the most beneficial parts of sending investor updates is the opportunity to make an asks. Investors likely have been in your shoes before (or are working with other companies in a similar position). Use this as an opportunity to make targeted asks to tap into their capital, experience, and network. We recommend being as specific as possible and making the job as easy as possible for the investor. Stay Consistent Keeping things predictable and consistent from month to month is a great way to strengthen trust with investors. For example, you’ll want to make sure you are calculating metrics the same way from month to month or are sharing your Updates around the same time of the month. Inconsistencies might trigger a red flag and investors will question if something is going south. Respond Promptly to Investors Being responsible can go a long way in any relationship. Be sure to respond to your investors as quickly as possible. Even if you do not have an answer being responsive is a great way to strengthen your relationship. What is an Investor Relations Strategy? At the end of the day, investor relations mirror any relationship. By communicating with investors and having a strategy in place, you’ll be able to set yourself up for future success. Related Resource: 6 Helpful Networking Tips for Connecting With Investors Manage Your Investor Relationships with the Help of Visible With Visible you can find investors, send monthly Updates, share your pitch deck, and manage relationships with our CRM. Give Visible a free try for 14 days here.

Raise capital, update investors and engage your team from a single platform. Try Visible free for 14 days. At Visible, we compare a venture fundraise to a traditional B2B sales and marketing funnel. At the top of your “fundraising funnel” you are bringing in qualified investors (leads), moving them through the middle of your funnel with meetings, pitches, monthly updates, etc., and hopefully closing them at the bottom of the funnel as a new investor. Ideally, once you close a new investor you’ll delight them with regular communication. Related Reading: An Essential Guide on Capital Raising Software Just as a sales and marketing team have dedicated tools, shouldnt a fundraise? By implementing an investor CRM, you will be able to stay on top of your communication and relationships with both current and potential investors. What is an Investor CRM? As put by the originator of the CRM, Salesforce, “Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. The goal is simple: Improve business relationships to grow your business. A CRM system helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability.” However, an investor CRM is slightly different. Whereas a traditional CRM is focused on current and potential customer, an investor CRM stays focused on your current and potential investors. Related Resource: Why a CRM is Essential for Investor Relations This means tools to send updates, share pitch decks, monitor conversations, track status, etc. Learn more about the benefits of using a CRM for your investor relations below: Benefits of a CRM Tool for Startups Fundraising is a difficult. Implementing an investor CRM will not be a silver bullet that will close a round of funding for your business. It will help you build a system and organization into your process to improve your odds of success and allow you to focus on what truly matters, building your business. Learn more about the benefits of using an investor CRM for your investor relations below: 1) CRM Gives Real-Time Insight on Your Pipeline Any sales team wants to know the status of their pipeline. The same is true for a founder and a fundraise. Over the course of a venture fundraise, you will likely talk to anywhere between 50 and 100 investors. To give you an accurate idea of the status of your round, founders should have a CRM in place to give you an idea of your current pipeline. For example, for new “leads” a sales & marketing team might give them a 10% chance to become a customer. You can set up the same idea for a fundraise. A new investor might be a 10% chance, an investor after a successful meeting might be 25%, etc. 2) All Investor Interactions and Conversations are Tracked The sheer number of conversations during a fundraise should not be overlooked. As we mentioned, you will likely be talking to 50-100 investors. An investor CRM, will allow you to stay on top of your conversations. Inevitably during the course of a fundraise, investors will pass for different reasons, request you follow up later, etc. A CRM is a surefire way to stay on top of these conversations and notes that will arise during a raise. 3) CRM Ensures You’ll Never Miss a Follow-Up Follow ups and communication are vital to a successful sales & marketing process. The same can be said for a fundraise. Of course, there are companies that be so intriguing to investors that they’ll be ready to write a check after 1 meeting. However, for the majority of companies they will need to run a process for following up with investors. At the end of the day, your job is to create FOMO with your potential investors so they are motivated to move quickly. 4) Seamlessly Monitors Fundraising As we’ve alluded to throughout the post, an investor CRM is the best way to monitor the overall status of your fundraise. Using different stages and properties, you’ll be able to closely monitor the status of your raise. This is not only beneficial to yourself but also your stakeholders. You can share the status of your fundraise with existing investors and advisors so they can help make introductions to potential investors and move you closer to a successful round. 5) Improves Relationships With Investors One of the best benefits of using an investor CRM is that it strengthens your relationships with current investors. We have found that companies that regularly communicate with your investors are 300% more likely to raise follow on funding. By having a system in place to communicate with your current investors you will not only improve your odds of raising follow on funding but you’ll be able to leverage their network, experience, and resources. As a starting point, we recommend founders send a monthly update to their investors. To get the ball rolling, check out a few of our favorite monthly update templates here. Related Resource: Investor Relationship Management 101: How to Manage Your Startups Interactions with Investors Features to Look for in an Investor CRM Most CRMs are tailored to sales and marketing teams. When seeking out an investor specific CRM, look for some of the following details: Seamless Collaboration and Data Sharing Typically, investor relations relies solely on the founder and maybe a handful of other leaders. However, there are opportunities for collaboration when communicating and working with investors. By having a CRM that allows for collaboration and data sharing, you’ll be able to quickly uncover insights about your fundraise and the state of your fundraise. Ability to Integrate with Other Tools A major benefit of using a CRM is that it helps automate tedious aspects of investor relations. Look for a tool that will allow you to connect with other tools and help create more efficient investor relations. At Visible, our CRM directly integrates with a few tools: Our free investor database, Visible Connect Our investor updates tool Our pitch deck sharing tool Zapier Easily Customizable Every fundraise is different. Stage, geography, check sizes, etc. will all dictate how you wan to set up your investor CRM. Look for a tool that allows you to easily customize your fundraise so it is molded to the specifics of your fundraise. Track Communication A key aspect of building trust with current and potential investors is with regular communication. A CRM should be a place where you can keep an eye on how your investors are engaging with your emails, updates, pitch decks, etc. Manage Your Investor Relationships With Visible Find investors, share your pitch deck, send investors updates, and track your investor conversations all from one place. Try Visible for free for 14 days here.

At Visible, we believe that fundraising oftentimes mirrors a traditional B2B sales and marketing funnel. At the top of your “fundraising funnel” you are adding qualified investors (leads), moving them through the middle of your funnel with meetings, coffee chats, monthly updates, etc. with the goal of closing them as a new investor at the bottom of the ideal. From here, you are ideally delighting them with consistent communication. Related Resource: An Essential Guide on Capital Raising Software Just as a sales and marketing team has dedicated tools shouldn’t a founder have tools to manage their most expensive asset, equity? Learn more about how founders can use a CRM to improve and manage their investor relations below. What is the Definition of a CRM? As put by Salesforce, the original pioneer of CRMs, “Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. The goal is simple: Improve business relationships to grow your business. A CRM system helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability.” However, this definition slightly changes when it comes to investor CRM. Whereas a traditional CRM is used to further your relationship with customers, an investor CRM is used to strengthen relationships with both current and potential investors. Why is Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Important for Investor Relations? As we previously mentioned, equity is the most expensive asset a startup founder has. Having a system in place to communicate and build relationships with the stakeholders on your cap table is a surefire way to improve your odds of raising capital in the future. Investors are typically investing thousands to millions of dollars into businesses and they want to know their relationship is being taken seriously. Founders have the ability to stand out from their peers by having a strong system for communicating and building relationships with investors. At Visible, we have found that companies that regularly communicate with their investors are 300% more likely to raise follow on funding down the road. On top of helping with follow on funding, founders can also leverage their investor’s network, experience, and resources. Related Resource: Investor CRM: Seamlessly Manage Relationships and Finances CRM Helps Startups Learn About Their Investors Fundraising is relationship-based. On top of having a fundable business, investors will turn to founders to see how they communicate and lead their organization. By having a system and CRM in place, investors will be able to strengthen their relationships with portfolio companies. This might not seem important when it comes to fundraising, it pays dividends down the road. At the end of the day, investors are human and will value a relationship and predictable communication. CRM Encourages Organization An investor CRM can also be a forcing function to have a fundraising strategy and game plan in place. A CRM will require you to be diligent about the investors are you adding to the top of your funnel and will help you best allocate your time (e.g. taking meetings with the right investors). Additionally, it will require you to have the right assets in place for when an investor inevitably asks for your pitch deck, metrics, references, etc. Related Resource: All-Encompassing Startup Fundraising Guide CRM Software Is Designed to Optimize Investor Interactions Fundraising oftentimes turns into a full-time job for founders. By leveraging CRM and other tools, founders will be able to organize their process and spend more time on what truly matters, building their business. By having a CRM in place, founders will be able to focus their time on efforts on the right investors are the right time. At Visible, we allow founders to share monthly Updates with different lists of investors. This is not only great for current investors but can also be used to nurture investors that might be at different stages of a fundraise. For example, if an investor says your business is too early, you might want to send them a light monthly Update to keep them in the loop on the status of your business. This way when you are ready to seek future funding they will already be familiar with your business and will be eager to write a check. How to Utilize CRM Software for Investor Relations Raising capital for a business is extremely difficult. CRM software will not be a silver bullet to raising capital. You still need to have a fundable business and game plan in place to pitch and close potential investors. Having a CRM in place is a great way to help you spend more time on what truly matters, building your business. Related Resource: Investor Relationship Management 101: How to Manage Your Startups Interactions with Investors Setting up an investor CRM can be highly tailored to your business and can be customized by your stage, geography, market, etc. Check out an example of a Fundraising CRM in Visible here. Manage Your Investor Relationships With Visible Fundraising is a relationship-based game. By having the tools, game plan, and assets in place you’ll increase your odds of a speedy and successful fundraise. Find investors, share your pitch deck, send investor updates, and track your interactions in our investor CRM all from one platform. Try Visible for free for 14 days here.

Fundraising is difficult. We’ve helped thousands of founders raise capital and engage with their investors. Over time, we’ve learned that a traditional B2B sales & marketing process mirrors a venture capital fundraising process. At the top of your “fundraising funnel” you are adding qualified investors (leads), nurturing them through the middle of your funnel with meetings, updates, coffee chats, etc., and ideally closing them as new investors at the bottom of your funnel. Related Resource: All Encompassing Startup Fundraising Guide Just as sales and marketing processes have dedicated tools, shouldn’t a fundraise? Learn more about fundraising software and how it can help you raise capital below: What is Capital Raising Software? First things first, what is capital-raising software? Capital raising software, or simply fundraising software, is a platform or tool that can help founders navigate a fundraise. This means having the tools to find investors, share assets during their raise, and a place to manage and track their ongoing conversations and relationships. Related Resource: The Understandable Guide to Startup Funding Stages Generally speaking, when a founder seeks funding it turns into their full-time job. By utilizing a software stack dedicated to their fundraise, founders will be able to speed up their fundraising process and spend more time on what truly matters — building their business. Learn more about capital raising software and what features to look for below: Features to Look for in a Capital Raising Tool There are few tools that are truly dedicated to the capital-raising process. In the past, founders might just use a hodgepodge of software and tools dedicated to other use cases. This can create a headache as it gets intermingled with day-to-day tasks (e.g. using your sales & marketing CRM for tracking a fundraise). To help you find the tool that is right for you, we’ve laid out a couple of considerations and features to keep an eye out for below: Easy-to-Use Connect With Potential Investor Portal First things first, when seeking out a capital-raising tool, you will want to make sure that the ability to connect and engage with potential investors is there. At Visible, we find that companies that regularly send investor updates are 300% more likely to raise follow-on funding from their existing investors. One of the core ways to engage with potential and current investors is by sharing monthly Updates. At Visible, we have a tool entirely dedicated to sending Updates to your investors. From here you can see how they are engaging with Updates and add potential investors to your lists along the way. Check out some of our most popular Update templates in our library here. Personalized Investor Database Just like any sales and marketing process starts by finding qualified leads and customers, so should a fundraise. Traditional venture capital funds invest in all sorts of geographies, markets, company sizes, etc. so it is important to make sure you are talking to the right people. By having an investor database, you’ll be able to filter and find the right investors for your business. Related Resource: Building Your Ideal Investor Persona At Visible, we have a free investor database, Visible Connect, that allows you to filter investors by the properties we find most important to find potential investors Related Resource: Debt vs Equity Financing Monitors Investor Interactions Any sales and marketing team will have a place to monitor their interactions with current and potential customers (typically a CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce). Having a place to monitor interactions with current and potential investors is a surefire way to improve your odds of funding success. It will also help in other areas where investors can lend a hand as well (e.g. hiring, strategy, promotion, etc.) At Visible, we allow founders to use our Fundraising CRM to track interactions (Deck views, Update engagements, etc.) so they can properly follow up with the right investors at the right time. Learn more about our Fundraising CRM here. Related Resource: Why a CRM is Essential for Investor Relations Related Resource: Investor CRM: Seamlessly Manage Relationships and Finances Host and Share Pitch Decks to Investors While different investors have different preferences when it comes to how, when, and where to share a pitch deck, they will inevitably want to see some form of a pitch deck throughout the process. Having a tool where you can share your pitch deck via link will help you understand how investors are engaging with your deck. Tie this in with the tools mentioned above and you have a platform that can help with every step of your fundraise. Related Resource: Tips for Creating an Investor Pitch Deck At Visible, we offer a tool to help founders share their pitch deck with your own domain and brand settings so you truly own every step of your funding journey. Learn more about sharing Decks with Visible here. How to Utilize Capital Raising Software to Get Funding for Your Startup Of course, software won’t be a silver bullet that magically makes your business fundable. You need to have a fundable business and a gameplan in place to go out and raise capital. Capital raising software is simply a tool that will make the job easier on you as a founder. By finding a tool to help with your fundraise, you’ll be able to spend more time having meaningful conversations with investors, hiring top talent, and building your business. Related Resource: How to Raise Capital Using RUVs Find Investors and Build Relationships With Visible’s Capital Raising Software At Visible, our mission is to help founders succeed. We’ve helped thousands of founders communicate with their current and potential investors. Find investors, share your pitch deck, update your investors, and track your relationships all from one place. Give Visible a free try for 14 days here.

Startups are in constant competition for 2 resources — capital and talent. One of the most common ways to secure capital for a startup is by raising venture capital. However, raising capital for a startup, especially an early-stage startup, is no easy feat. In order to best improve your odds of raising capital, you need to have a game plan and system in place to kick off your raise. At Visible, we often compare a fundraise to a traditional B2B sales process. You are adding investors (leads) to the top of your funnel, nurturing them with Updates and meetings in the middle, and ideally closing them as a new investors at the bottom of the funnel. Related Resource: All Encompassing Startup Fundraising Guide Just as a sales and marketing team has a process for acquiring customers, so should a founder when setting out to raise capital. Learn more below: 1) Display Growth and Traction First things first, you need to make sure that your company is in a position to raise venture capital. Investors are generally taking a major risk by funding startups so it is important to demonstrate that you have the ability to generate outsized returns. One of the main things investors will look to is your company’s growth and traction. In order to do so, it is important to have a system in place to track and monitor your key metrics. A few of our favorite resources to get started: 6 Metrics Every Startup Founder Should Track Our Ultimate Guide to SaaS Metrics Key Metrics to Track and Measure In the eCommerce World Why This Item Is Important As we previously mentioned, investors are taking on risk so they want to see that your startup has the ability to grow into a large company. The easiest way to do this is by showing consistent and rapid growth from one period to the next. 2) Define Your Startups Milestones and Fundraising Goals If you’ve determined that your business is in a good place to raise venture capital, it is time to put together milestones and goals for your fundraise. A couple of questions you’ll want to ask yourself and think through before raising: How much capital do I want to raise? When do we need new capital by? What valuation should we raise at? What will we do with capital once it is in the bank? Related Resource: The Investor Due Diligence Checklist: How to Treat New VCs Like Business Partners Why This Item Is Important Before setting out to launch a new acquisition campaign, you likely have goals and milestones in place. The same can be said for a fundraise. By having a list of milestones and goals in place, you will be able to field any questions from investors as you’ve done the legwork upfront and will come off as prepared and calculated with your raise. 3) Make Sure You Have a Compelling Pitch Deck At the end of the day, fundraising is storytelling. You will want to hook your investors and help them build conviction for why they should invest. One of the most popular tools for telling your story is a pitch deck. Check out a few of our favorite resources to help you build your next pitch deck below: Tips for Creating an Investor Pitch Deck 18 Pitch Deck Examples for Any Startup Our Teaser Pitch Deck Template How To Build a Pitch Deck, Step by Step Why This Item Is Important Investors generally have little to no context about your business and your market. In order to help them build conviction around your business you need to arm them with the right information and assets to move as quickly as possible to invest in your company. A pitch deck is a great tool to distribute to potential investors and use as a guiding tool in your raise. 4) Prove Your Product/Service Is Scalable As we previously mentioned, investors want to fund companies that have the ability to turn into large businesses and exits. One of the aspects they will focus on most is your ability to build your customer base and revenue at scale. During the course of your raise investors may ask to see a few of the following things: Metric growth as it relates to your acquisition efforts How your current acquisition strategy works Stories from customers that show you have happy customers Why This Item Is Important Without a clear path to scale your revenue, investors will likely have no interest in funding your business. You need to demonstrate that you have had success in the past or have a gameplan to scale revenue in the future. If you have an acquisition strategy that is already working well, investors will feel more inclined to invest as you should be able to demonstrate how their capital will directly grow the business using your existing channels. 5) Build a List of Investors Just how a sales process starts by identifying your ICP and potential customers, the same is a true for a venture fundraise. VC funds invest in all sorts of companies – ranging from early stage to late, new markets to old, small teams and big, etc. We suggest starting by building a list of 50-100 investors that you believe are a strong fit for your company and staying focused on them during your fundraise. A couple of traits that are important to pay attention to (from our post, Building Your Ideal Investor Persona): Location – Where are you located? Do you need local investors? Or maybe you are looking for connections and networks in strategic geographies. Industry Focus – What type of company are you? Where should your future investors/partners be focused? e.g. If you’re a B2B SaaS company don’t waste your time with marketplace focused investors. Mark Suster suggest that it is best to prioritize investors with companies in your space. Stage Focus – What size check/round are you raising? e.g. If you’re raising a $1M seed round avoid a firm with $2B AUM. If you’re raising a $30M round avoid a firm with $75M AUM. Current Portfolio – What type of companies should be a signal to you that they’re a good fit? Is there a high likelihood they’ve invested in one of your competitors? If so, best to avoid as they likely won’t double down their bet with a competitor to a portfolio co. Motivators – What do want to get out of your investors and what do they want to get out of you? Do they need to match your values and culture? Deal Velocity – Are you in need of capital as soon as possible? Or are you taking your time and looking for strategic investors? Varying investor’s have different philosophies for the velocity they’re making deals. Point Nine Capital and Kima ventures are both regarded as top firms in Europe. However, Point Nine makes ~10 investments a year whereas Kima makes 1-2 investments a week. Why This Item Is Important Randomly reaching out to any investor is a poor strategy when it comes to pitching investors. You want to make sure you are spending your time on the most relevant investors for your business. By starting with a list, you’ll be able to customize your outreach and make sure you are spending time on the right investors for your business. Check out our free investor database, Visible Connect, to filter and find the right investors for your business. 6) Tell a Story About Your Company As we mentioned earlier, storytelling is a component of a successful fundraise. While metrics, data, traction, etc. will certainly grab the attention of investors, that will likely not be the sole reason they write a check. As a founder it is your duty to build a compelling narrative around your business that will help investors build an emotional understanding of your business. This could be things like your background, founding story, customer stories, etc. Why This Item Is Important While the duty of a VC is to generate returns for their limited partners, there is still a human element to investing. Investors, especially at the early stage, are generally investing in the founder. In order to help them build conviction in you and your business, you need to present stories that will help them gain a new understanding of your business. 7) Introduce Your Team and Stakeholders Of course, founders are not the only people behind a business. You might have co-founders or early teammates that have helped get your business to where it is today. Be sure to prep your current teammates and inform them on the status of the raise. Investors will want to hear about your teammates and earliest hires to understand why your business is positioned to execute on the problem you are solving. Why This Item Is Important At the early stages, investors are generally placing a bet on the team and the vision of the company. They will look to your early hires and executives to help them decide if your team is right for building the business. They will likely want to see relevant experience, roles, and traits that make your team stand out from your competitors. 8) Include a Cap Table One of the benefits of investing in private companies is the ownership and equity that comes with it. Because of this, investors will want to see the ownership breakdown of your company. This is generally best served via a cap table. There are countless tools (we suggest Pulley) that can help you quickly share your most up-to-date cap table. Why This Item Is Important Cap tables are another tool that help VCs understand the structure of your business. It will help them understand their potential ownership position and the investors they will be working alongside. While you might not need to share a cap table from the start with investors you should make sure it is up-to-date and ready for later stages of your fundraising process. 9) Signup For a Fundraising Relationship Platform Just how a sales and marketing team have dedicated tools, so should your fundraise. By finding a tool to track and manage your fundraise you’ll be able to spend more time on what actual matters, building your business. Find investors, manage your raise, share your pitch deck, and update your investors all from one place. Try Visible for free for 14 days here. Why This Item Is Important Having a dedicated place to keep tabs on your fundraise and investor relations will not only help you speed up your fundraise but will allow you to focus on building your business. Visible Is Here to Help You WIth Your Fundraising Fundraising is difficult. Our mission at Visible is to help more startups succeed. We’ve built a set of tools that will help you with every step of your fundraising journey. Find investors, manage your raise, share your pitch deck, and update your investors all from one place. Try Visible for free for 14 days here. Related resources: Navigating the Valley of Death: Essential Survival Strategies for Startups Top 18 Revolutionary EdTech Startups Redefining Education

Kingsley Advani is a British investor who started investing in 2013 and turned $34k in savings into ~$100m in private investments. Since then he’s co-founded an angel group with 1,000+ investors and founded a private markets platform, Allocations. Kingsley is joining Visible.vc to discuss the benefits of creating a hybrid SPV + fund strategy. Kingsley Advani, Founder and CEO of Allocations joined us to discuss trends in SPV investing and the benefits of raising SPV’s for VC fund managers. In this webinar recording, you can expect to learn: SPV Overview (what are they, how did they become popular) Kingsley’s perspective on the ‘Why Now’ for SPV’s 5 Benefits of Creating a Hybrid SPV + Fund Strategy Demo of Creating an SPV in Allocations Using Visible for SPV + Fund Reporting

The foundation of a great relationship between General Partners and their Limited Partners (LPs) is based on trust and transparency. A great way to foster this dynamic is by sending regular, insightful communications to your LPs. While it can feel intimidating to go outside the box and share details about your fund performance in addition to the standard LP reporting requirements, this is a great way to stand out as a General Partner. With competition for funding being as intense as it is in today's climate, it's a smart move to go above and beyond to impress LPs and establish a trustworthy reputation as a GP. A guide to LP reporting best practices for VCs This guide was created in partnership with Aduro Advisors, a premier Fund Admin led by industry veterans. We partnered with Aduro for a webinar where we discussed the process of reporting to Limited Partners and best practices in-depth. This guide is a summary of that discussion. The contents of this guide include: The importance of the LP reporting LP reporting best practices Sending LP updates as a fundraising strategy What to include in an LP Update A quarterly LP reporting update template LP update templates for VCs If you're not sure where to get started with your communication with LPs try checking out LP update templates for VCs or asking other GPs in your network for examples of what they're sharing with LPs. Some basic LP communication rules to follow include: 1. Send your updates on a regular cadence 2. Go beyond just the basics 3. Be authentic with your communications 4. Don't share sensitive information about your companies For more tips check out: Tips for Writing LP Updates for Emerging Managers (with Templates) For more inspiration check out Visible's LP template library for inspiration. Resources for reporting to LPs for venture capital investors Check out these additional resources to inspire your next LP communication. How to Report to Limited Partners with Gale Wilkinson of Vitalize VC Tips for Writing LP Updates for Emerging Managers (with Templates) 4 Tear Sheet Examples to Give You Inspiration for Your Next LP Report

Equity financing comes in different shapes and sizes for startups. The most common form is a traditional venture capital firm. However, there are other instruments and organizations that will fund startups in exchange for equity. Related Resource: All Encompassing Startup Fundraising Guide One of the more common alternatives to venture capital is a syndicate. Learn more about startup syndicates and how your company can raise funding from a syndicate below: What Is Syndicate in Startup Terms? An investment syndicate is an investment vehicle that allows a group of individual investors to pool their money and make an investment in a single company led by a lead investor. Syndicate investing is used in multiple asset classes including startups, private equity, real estate, and others. Syndicates have risen in popularity due to the ease created by tools like AngelList. As the team at AngelList puts it, “A syndicate allows investors to participate in a lead investor’s deals. In exchange, investors pay the lead carry.” Related Resource: The Understandable Guide to Startup Funding Stages What is a Syndicate Lead? A syndicate lead is generally a well-established investor that has a pulse on the market. They are the individual dedicated to deploying the capital and investing in individual startups. This allows the lead, who may not have enough capital to keep up with their deal flow, to pool money from other individuals and ideally generate returns for the group. How Does Syndicate Funding Work? Syndicates function differently than a traditional venture capital firm. It is important that you understand how they work as a founder to improve your pitch and odds of closing a syndicate plus to make sure they are a fit for your business. Check out a quick overview of how syndicates work below: 1) The Lead Investor Chooses a Startup As we mentioned earlier, a lead investor is generally someone with strong dealflow or a presence in a particular industry. They might be a venture capitalist themselves or closely associated with the market. To kick things off, a lead will find a startup they would like to invest in via their syndicate. 2) An Investment Vehicle is Created Next the lead investor pools money from a series of backers to help fund the company via their syndicate. This can be created in tools like AngelList or StartupXplore. Backers, or individual investors, can serach through and find the syndicates that they are most interested in and invest within the syndicates parameters. The lead investor they will need to help distribute materials and data that show why LPs or backers should join their syndicate and make an investment. This is typically done within one of the tools mentioned above. Once the syndicate is fulfilled they can move on to make the actual investment into a company. 3) Monitor Investments Naturally, everyone invested in a syndicate will want to understand how their investment is performing. Generally, it is on the startup founder to inform the lead investor who will distribute the necessary information with the investors within the syndicate. 4) Liquidation or Exit Of course, syndicate investors are partaking in a round because they believe there is an opportunity for upside from the investment. Eventually the investment will be faced with a successful exit or a liquidation event. For an example from StartupXplore, “If the investment does not go well, the vehicle will disolve. If there are benefits (dividends, buyback or partial or total acquisition of the startup), all the investors will receive the amount they invested and 89% of the capital gains generated. Of the remaining part, the leader will receive 10% and Startupxlore 1%.” Related Resource: Down Round: Understanding Down Round Funding and How to Avoid It On the flipside, AngelList lays out a successful exit that looks something like this: “Here’s an example: Sara, a notable angel investor, decides to lead a syndicate. The syndicate investors agree to invest $200K total in each of her future deals and pay her 15% carry. When Sara makes her next investment, she offers to invest $250K in the company. She personally invests $50K and offers the remaining $200K to her syndicate. If the investment is successful, the syndicate investors first receive their $200K, after which every dollar of the syndicate’s profit is split 80% to the syndicate investors, 15% to Sara and 5% to AngelList Advisors. AngelList Advisors is a venture capital exempt reporting advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a subsidiary of AngelList.” How Can an Investor Become a Part of Syndicate Investing? Syndicates are open to any individuals that are considered accredited investors. As put by the team at Investopedia, “An accredited investor is an individual or a business entity that is allowed to trade securities that may not be registered with financial authorities. They are entitled to this privileged access by satisfying at least one requirement regarding their income, net worth, asset size, governance status, or professional experience. In the U.S., the term accredited investor is used by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Regulation D to refer to investors who are financially sophisticated and have a reduced need for the protection provided by regulatory disclosure filings. Accredited investors include high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), banks, insurance companies, brokers, and trusts.” Related resource: Accredited Investor vs Qualified Purchaser The 3 Types of Syndicate Investors Syndicates offer an opportunity for an array of different individuals to make their way into startup investing. Learn about the most common types of syndicate investors below: Funds Some funds may use syndicates as a way to diversify their portfolio and make their way on to additional cap tables. Full-Time Investors Another common syndicate investor is a full-time investor or angel investor. This is someone that might not be attached to an individual fund but has a portfolio of startup investors. Related Resource: How to Effectively Find + Secure Angel Investors for Your Startup Regular Individual Investors Lastly, there could be any individual who partakes is accredited and is interested in diversifying their investments by investing in startups. Related Resource: How to Fairly Split Startup Equity with Founders Benefits of Syndicate Investing for Startup Founders On top of being an additional funding option for startups, syndicates offer a few benefits that might make them intriguing to a founder. A few benefits below: Large LP base with a single investor. Founders can tap into the individual investors in the syndicate but is only treated as a single investor on their cap table. Speed. Founders can move quickly when raising from syndicates as most of the diligence and effort is done upfront on behalf of the syndicate lead. Benefits of Syndicate Investing for Investors On the flip side, there are plenty of benefits to individuals that back a syndicate as well. A few of the benefits below: Access for smaller investors. Syndicates give individuals that write smaller checks the ability to back larger deals and rounds. Diversification. Syndicates give individuals the ability to make investments in more companies that might not be available to them as an individual investor. For More Fundraising Help Contact Visible Today Raising a syndicate is one of the many funding options available to a startup. As you kick off your raise and pitch different investors along the way, let us help. With Visible you can find investors with Visible Connect, add them directly to your Fundraising Pipeline, share your pitch deck, and track your round’s progress. Give Visible a free try for 14 days here.

If you read newspaper headlines you might think every successful startup jumps from funding round to funding round and celebrates its extreme growth along the way. However, building a startup is incredibly difficult and every founder is faced with ups and downs along the way. If you hear the term “down round” at a VC event, heads will turn. But if your startup is around long enough, chances are the thought of a down round will cross your mind. Learn more about what a down round is and how you can try to avoid one below: What is a Down Round? As put by the team at Investopedia, “A down round refers to a private company offering additional shares for sale at a lower price than had been sold for in the previous financing round. Simply put, more capital is needed and the company discovers that its valuation is lower than it was prior to the previous round of financing. This “discovery” forces them to sell their capital stock at a lower price per share.” While not celebrated by newspaper headlines, down rounds are a natural occurrence during a startup lifecycles. Learn more about down rounds below: Reasons Why a Down Round Occurs There are a number of reasons why a down round occurs. Startups are impacted by everything from internal decisions to macro events. Learn more about a few of the common reasons why a down round mights happen below: The Company Fails to Reach Necessary Earnings Milestones First and foremost, and most simply, a startup might fail to reach milestones they laid out during previous funding. In the early stages, startups generally have little to no traction and are setting milestones and projections based on a small dataset and history. If a startup is raising capital to last them 12-18 months at a seed round and are setting milestones for the next 12-18 months, investors will want to see that progress. If the startup is not at those milestones or showing strong progress, raising at a higher valuation will be difficult. With that said, it is important to be intentional and realistic when setting expectations and milestones during a fundraise. You will want to see your expectations high enough to entice investors but realistic enough to achieve. Of course, there are plenty of instances where you might miss your milestones but are showing strong traction and product development that might warrant a higher valuation. New Competitors are Grabbing Market Share There are also changes to markets that will impact a startup’s funding path. Markets, especially emerging tech markets, will see new competitors pop up often. In the lifecycle of an early-stage startup, navigating competition and standing out among your peers is crucial. Related Resource: How to Model Total Addressable Market (Template Included) Investors want to see that your company is grabbing market share and becoming an authority in the space. If there are hot new startups or large corporations entering your market (e.g. Amazon building a tool in your space), investors will feel less motivated to fund your company at a higher valuation. General Financing Requirements are Becoming More Stringent Another common reason for down-round funding is the macroeconomic environment. Venture capitalists are institutional investors and have a duty to return capital to their investors/LPs (limited partners). When times get tough, VC investment decision-making will likely get more stringent. While it can make a founder feel totally helpless, there are steps you can take during downtimes to see your startup through. One company that excelled through multiple downturns was ExactTarget. We interviewed former ExactTarget CEO, Scott Dorsey, to understand how they navigated both the Dot-Com Bubble and The Great Recession. Learn more below: Related Resource: 4 Takeaways From Our Webinar with Scott Dorsey Three Ways to Potentially Avoid a Down Round Now that we know the reasons why down rounds tend to happen, we can start digging into ways to help you avoid a down round. Of course, there are times when they are inevitable but there are steps that can be taken to help your odds of success: 1) Cut Costs to Make Money Last Longer As we mentioned earlier, we interviewed Scott Dorsey, former CEO of ExactTarget, to understand how to succeed through a downtown. “While cash has always been king, Scott mentions that it is even more important during a downturn. As a founder, you need to have a deep understanding of your cash flow and burn rate. It may be difficult to fundraise during a downturn but you need to be able to show your investors that you can (1) make it through a downturn and (2) thrive on the other side. If you can successfully display that you’re in a good cash position and ready to thrive after, you’ll improve your odds of raising capital.” If you can successfully cut costs and maintain your burn rate, you have the opportunity to stand out among other startups and generate interest from potential investors. Scott also recommends communicating often with your team and building an even closer relationship with your customers. Of course, cutting costs doesn’t only make sense during a downturn. If your company is struggling to hit milestones or find product-market fit, it might make sense to extend your runway so you can continue to develop your product and refine your go-to-market approach. Related Resource: 6 Metrics Every Startup Founder Should Track 2) Raise Bridge Financing As put by the team at Investopedia, “Bridge financing “bridges” the gap between the time when a company’s money is set to run out and when it can expect to receive an infusion of funds later on. This type of financing is most normally used to fulfill a company’s short-term working capital needs. There are multiple ways that bridge financing can be arranged. Which option a firm or entity uses will depend on the options available to them. A company in a relatively solid position that needs a bit of short-term help may have more options than a company facing greater distress. Bridge financing options include debt, equity, and IPO bridge financing.” Related Resource: How to Secure Financing With a Bulletproof Startup Fundraising Strategy 3) Consider Renogiatiating with Investors Of course, you can turn to your current investors and re-negotiate to work your way through a downturn. If you’ve been regularly communicating and updating your investors, chances are they will know the position of your company. If they’re aware of your status and believe in your ability to execute a plan, there is a chance they will be inclined to re-negotiate or help you work through a downturn. Related Reading: Startup Syndicate Funding: Here’s How it Works Steer Clear of a Down Round With Visible’s Help While there is no silver bullet to avoid a down round, there are steps a founder can take to avoid the potential of a down round. By taking your fundraise seriously and approaching it with a sales strategy, you’ll be able to better build momentum and focus on what truly matters, building your business. Learn more about how you can use Visible to help find investors, share your pitch deck, and track the status of your raise. Try Visible for free for 14 days here.

Securing venture capital for a startup is difficult. On top of having a business or product that is fundable, you need to have an approach to how you reach out and engage with investors during the process. At Visible, we oftentimes compare a venture fundraise to a traditional B2B sales process. You are adding investors to the top of your funnel, nurturing them with meetings, emails, and pitches in the middle, and hopefully closing them at the bottom of the funnel. Related Resource: How to Secure Financing With a Bulletproof Startup Fundraising Strategy Learn how you can craft a strategy to reach out and engage with potential investors below: Step-by-Step Guide to Investor Outreach As we mentioned earlier, fundraising can mirror a traditional B2B sales process. Just as you have a step-by-step process for reaching out to potential clients, you should have the same for investors. Check out a few of our recommended steps below: 1) Understand the Market First things first, you need to understand the market to help understand why an investor would want to fund your business. Ultimately, you need to understand the person you are “selling” to. This will be incredibly important when it comes to crafting your investor list as well. To learn more about the venture capital industry check out our post, “A Guide to How Venture Capital Works for Startups and New Investors Guide.” 2) Research Your Target Investors Just as you would build a list of potential customers that fit your ideal customer profile, you can do the same for a fundraise. Fundraising becomes a full-time job for many founders so it is important to make sure you are spending your time on the right investors. A couple of filters/fields we recommend starting with: Location Market focus Stage focus Check size Fund size Portfolio makeup Learn more in our post, “Building Your Ideal Investor Persona.” Use Visible Connect, our free investor database, to filter and find the right investors for your business. 3) Build a List of Potential Investors After you have a thorough understanding of your ideal investor, you’ll want to start building out a list of potential investors. Generally speaking, founders should talk to 60+ investors during the course of a fundraise (of course this number differs from company to company). You can use Visible to upload your list of investors (or add them directly from VIsible Connect) and track conversations. Give it a try for 14 days here. 4) Draft Your Outreach Email or Use a Template Once you’ve got your list of investors together it is time to craft messages to reach out to everyone. Cold email investors comes down to a fine balance between personalization and focus. Check out some tips and a template to get you started in our post, 3 Tips for Cold Emailing Potential Investors + Outreach Email Template. 5) Perform Your Outreach Of course, putting everything in place is only half the battle. You need to start actively reaching out and moving investors further through your funnel. One of the strategies we recommend here is from the team at First Round review. As they wrote in their post, “Group investors in batches to better evaluate and select them, like a surfer scanning sets of waves that move toward the shore… Say you have a dozen partners at firms who might make a good fit. Don’t group all your top choices in the first set of five. Pick two or three of your highly-ranked VCs and round out the set with lower priority firms. Even if you’ve rehearsed your pitch, you’ll continue to refine it, so diversify your schedule to account for that learning curve. It’s going to take some time in market to perfect the actual pitch. That said, don’t leave all your top picks until the end as they’ll be very out of sync with your process if in a later set. It’s a balancing act.” In order to better monitor your raise, you should have a tool or system in place to keep tabs on the status of your round. Check out our Fundraising CRM and give it a free try for 14 days here. 6) Prepare Your Marketing Materials and Create a Pitch Deck Inevitably, investors will ask for different assets, metrics, materials, etc. throughout a raise. We encourage founders to have them prepared in advance so they can respond to an investor quickly and efficiently. If you survey a set of investors, they will likely all offer different feedback on when, how, and where to share a pitch deck. Some investors (like Brett Brohl, check out his interview with us above) recommend sending a “teaser deck” in advance of a meeting. This should give investors the context they need to have a productive conversation and avoid spending time going over the basics of your business. Check out our Teaser Pitch Deck Template here and our other tips for creating a pitch deck here. Related resource: 23 Pitch Deck Examples 7) Follow-up With Potential Investors Any good outreach strategy has a set plan for following up with targets. It typically depends on the conversation and if expectations were set but we recommend following up a week or so after if an investor has not responded. However, if you have had contact with a potential investor you should set expectations with them on how and when you will follow up. For example, if you speak with an investor and your company is too early for them, you can send them your monthly investor updates to show your continued growth and traction. 8) Track and Measure Email and Click-Through Rates Gauging investor interest throughout a raise will be an important skill to hone. You will want to spend your time on the investors that are truly interested. Use email engagement data to uncover who the investors are who are most interested and engaged with your company. Related Resource: How to Build a Strong Investor Relations Strategy 9) Have Productive Conversations and Close Deals If you’ve done your homework and research beforehand having productive conversations should feel natural. If you have researched and targeted the correct investors and sent them the information they need in advance, you should be able to sit down and have a strong conversation. Every investor won’t say “yes”, in fact, most will say “no” so it is important to stay focused and continue to have strong conversations. Related Resource: Unlocking the Power of Thoughtful Relationships with the Founders of Clay What are the Best Platforms For Investor Outreach? Just as you have tools and mediums for reaching out to potential customers, the same can be said for investor outreach. Check out a few popular mediums and they can best be leveraged for investor outreach below: Email Reaching out via email is generally the best method for getting in front of potential investors. It is common practice that founders will reach out via email so investors are awaiting cold emails from founders. To learn more about reaching out to investors, check out our cold email template and best practices here. LinkedIn & Twitter Different investors will tell you different things about reaching out via social media. Some might like it, some might not. There are countless stories of founders who have had success using Twitter for outreach. For founders that are “building in public” and sharing their story over social media, either channel can be a powerful tool for finding new investors. Phone Calls Cold calling is likely not the strongest channel for getting in front of a potential investor but it can certainly find its purchase throughout the process. Phone calls are generally most effective after you’ve had some prior conversation and need to catch up quickly to understand the next steps. Visible Connect As we mentioned earlier, Visible Connect is our free investor database that can be used to help you identify potential investors and build a list to start your outreach. Check it out for free here. Visible Visible helps founders communicate and strengthen relationships with their investors. You can use Visible to find the right investors, track conversations, and share Updates throughout the process. Check out an Update template you can share with potential investors and start a free 14-day trial here. Visible is Here to Help You With Your Investor Outreach Raising venture capital is difficult enough. Having a system in place to help you build momentum will allow you to focus on what truly matters, building your business. Build a cohesive fundraising strategy and create momentum with Visible. Try Visible for free for 14 days here.

The underrepresented founder’s ecosystem has grown over the past several years but there are still systemic barriers in the industry. One of the most common arguments heard is that diversity hampers quality but the stats don’t support that, as Jeff Karoub explains “For example, women-founded startups, on average, have twice the return of male-founded startups. So, without systemic barriers, more money should be invested in women-founded startups.”. Another barrier for underrepresented founders has been accessing resources including, personal wealth, education, and network. The more money someone’s family has the more likely they are to go to a prestigious university, be introduced to a network of people that can help further their career goals, and have financial support from their families as they bootstrap their business to start. If we help support underrepresented founders today we will begin to see a multi-generational wealth impact. This starts with having more diversity within VC’s (black investors make up only 4% of partner-level roles and women are at 5%) as well as creating more networks for underrepresented founders in which they can connect with one another and have access to mentorship and knowledge to help them grow in their journey and gain access to capital. Related resource: The Femtech Frontier: Opportunities in Women's Health Technology + the VCs Investing Underrepresented Founders Stats: “Global VC funding nearly doubled year-over-year to more than $640 billion in 2021, Crunchbase data shows. Black founders received only around 1.3 percent of total venture funding last year—up from 2020, but still a tiny fraction. On a percentage basis, funding to Latino founders has largely stalled, and for sole female founders, it actually fell last year.” source “According to The US Census, the country will be majority/minority by 2045. As demographics change, so does economic influence. Yet fewer than 3% of venture capital partners are Black and in the record-breaking first half of 2021, Black founders received a mere 1.2% of the $147 billion invested in startups.” source According to PitchBook, “only 18% of about $240 billion raised by all venture capital-backed companies fund female founders.” Source “The current system capitalizes women and minority founders at 80% less than businesses overall. But miraculously, about 80% of investors believe that minority and women business owners get the capital they deserve — spotlighting the disconnect.” source “One report found that minority tech startups in the U.S. saw almost no progress in venture capital funding from 2013 to 2020. In a January piece for Crunchbase, Kinsey Wolf, a fractional CMO at Chisos Capital, suggests several potential solutions, including cultivating an ecosystem that supports minority founders and holding traditional funding avenues accountable to diversity, equity and inclusion benchmarks.” source “While funding to black entrepreneurs quadrupled over the first half of this year, it still only represented 1.2% of total US venture dollars – and only 0.34% (!!) to black women. Investment in women-owned startups fell over the last year, to just 2.3% of funding. On the investor side, only 4% of investors are black (compared to 14% of the population), only 5% of investors are women, and Latinx venture representation dropped from 5% to 4% over that period.” source Other Funding Opportunities Revenue-based financing with Founders First Capital Partners TechCrunch Article: First Capital Partners, a San Diego startup investment firm that uses a non-traditional approach to funding called revenue-based investment to invest in historically underrepresented founders AWS launches new $30M accelerator program aimed at minority founders Partner organizations include those that work with Black, Latino, LGBTQIA+ and women founders, including Black Women Talk Tech, Digitalundivided, StartOut, Backstage Capital and Lightship Capital. The Thiel Fellowship gives $100,000 to young people who want to build new things instead of sitting in a classroom. Venture for America: A national nonprofit and two-year Fellowship program that gives recent college graduates firsthand startup experiences that help them become leaders who make meaningful impacts with their careers. According to Forbes, “generalist funds like PayPal announced a $500 million fund, part of which was specifically black-led startups. Prudential committed $200 million to DEI in private equity. Funds were also raised with diversity as a core mandate. Female Founders Fund raised $57 million to invest in female founders. Harlem Capital raised $134 million, Collab Capital raised $50 million, Screendoor formed a $50 million fund, Sixty8 Capital closed $20 million. All in all, 134 venture organizations to-date have made commitments to back underrepresented founders (Harlem capital provides a comprehensive breakdown).” Resources The AllRaise Airtable of investors. All Raise is on a mission to accelerate the success of female founders and funders to build a more prosperous, equitable future. Data from the team at Diversity VC The Fundery’s Essential VC Database for Women Entrepreneurs This public airtable aggregating investors who invest in underrepresented founders Investors and Accelerators in the Space: Precursor Ventures Location: San Francisco, California, United States About: An early stage venture firm focused on classic seed investing. Thesis: We invest in people over product at the earliest stage of the entrepreneurial journey. Investment Stages: Seed Recent Investments: Noula Health AnyRoad Dispatch Goods To learn more about Precursor Ventures check out their Visible Connect Profile. MaC Venture Capital Location: Culver City, California, United States About: MaC Venture Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on finding ideas, technology, and products that can become infectious. Thesis: We invest in technology companies that create infectious products that benefit from shifts in cultural trends and behaviors in an increasingly diverse global marketplace. Investment Stages: Seed Recent Investments: Petra Spora Health Edge Delta To learn more about MaC Venture Capital check out their Visible Connect Profile. Backstage Capital Location: Los Angeles, California, United States About: We invest in companies led by underestimated founders. Thesis: We invests in new companies led by underrepresented founders. Investment Stages: Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A Recent Investments: A Kids Company About Hello Alice BookClub To learn more about Backstage Capital check out their Visible Connect Profile Lightship Foundation Location: Ohio, United States About: Hillman Accelerator focuses on companies led by underrepresented individuals in tech by developing venture backable companies. Thesis: We serve underrepresented tech-driven startups through mentorship, specialized curriculum, partnerships, and capital investments– providing them the resources and guidance they need to scale. Investment Stages: Accelerator, Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A To learn more about Lightship Foundation check out their Visible Connect Profile. SoGal Ventures Location: New York, United States About: As the first female-led millennial venture capital firm, SoGal Ventures represents how far our generation has come, and how deep our impact on the world can be. We believe in the power of diversity, borderless business, and human-centric design. We invest in seed stage diverse founding teams in the U.S. and Asia, and aim to be the first institutional investor for our portfolio companies. Our investments paint the future picture of how we live, work, and stay healthy. Thesis: We invest in the future of how we live, work, and stay healthy. Investment Stages: Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A Recent Investments: Lovevery Everyly Health Function of Beauty To learn more about SoGal Ventures check out their Visible Connect Profile. Women’s VC Fund Location: Oregon, United States About: Women’s Venture Capital Fund invests in early stage companies which have raised angel capital, developed their core technology and are demonstrating bona fide market traction. The Fund capitalizes on the expanding pipeline of women entrepreneurs leading gender diverse teams and creating capital efficient, high growth companies. Thesis: WomensVCFund II makes investments in early stage (A/B), revenue-generating, high-growth companies led by management teams inclusive of women. Investment Stages: Series A, Series B Recent Investments: Newsela HopSkipDrive Nvoicepay To learn more about Women’s VC Fund Fund check out their Visible Connect Profile. True Wealth Ventures Location: Texas, United States About: Investing in Gender Matters. We see value in the impact of women. True Wealth Ventures invests in smart female entrepreneurs, from consumer health innovators to sustainable product pioneers. Women-led companies have proven they deliver higher returns. It’s time to invest in new perspectives. Thesis: We like to be the first institutional investors at an early stage (usually Series Seed) with first checks up to $1M, and we often take a board seat. We generally reserve over half of our investment capital for follow-on investments. We look for companies where the founders see an acquisition exit opportunity within 3-5 years at a valuation of $100 million or more. Investment Stages: Seed, Series A, Series B Recent Investments: UnaliWear BrainCheck Dermala To learn more about True Wealth Ventures check out their Visible Connect Profile. LGBT Capital Location: Harrow, England, United Kingdom About: LGBT Capital is a specialist corporate advisory and asset management business serving the LGBT consumer sector. Thesis: Is principally focussed on the LGBT Consumer segment as a credible investment sector and to demonstrate the business case for advancements in LGBT equality and inclusion globally. To learn more about LGBT Capital check out their Visible Connect Profile. BLCK VC Location: San Francisco, California, United States About: Connecting, engaging, empowering, and advancing Black venture investors by providing a focused community built for and by Black venture investors. To learn more about BLCK VC check out their Visible Connect Profile. Transparent Collective Location: San Francisco, California, United States About: Transparent Collective is a non-profit organization helping underrepresented founders access the growth resources and connections. To learn more about Transparent Collective check out their Visible Connect Profile. Forum Ventures Location: New York City, San Francisco, and Toronto, United States About: B2B SaaS; Future of Work, E-commerce enablement, Supply Chain & Logistics, Marketplace, Fintech, Healthcare To learn more about Forum Ventures check out their Visible Connect Profile. Start Your Next Round with Visible We believe great outcomes happen when founders forge relationships with investors and potential investors. We created our Connect Investor Database to help you in the first step of this journey. Instead of wasting time trying to figure out investor fit and profile for their given stage and industry, we created filters allowing you to find VC’s and accelerators who are looking to invest in companies like you. Check out all our investors here and filter as needed. After learning more about them with the profile information and resources given you can reach out to them with a tailored email. To help craft that first email check out 5 Strategies for Cold Emailing Potential Investors. After finding the right Investor you can create a personalized investor database with Visible. Combine qualified investors from Visible Connect with your own investor lists to share targeted Updates, decks, and dashboards. Start your free trial here. Related Resources: The Rise of Women-Led VC Firms (+ a List to Keep an Eye on) 10 Angel Investors to Know in Los Angeles

Getting regular, high-quality, and actionable data from portfolio companies is important. It allows investors to make better investment decisions, provide better support to companies, and share meaningful insights internally across the firm and with LPs. This practice should also be highly valuable for founders. They should be able to share wins and challenges and seek support from their investors. The reporting process should only take companies 3 minutes to complete (if not, something may be wrong with how the investor is asking for structured data or the reporting company may not be as familiar with their key metrics as they should be). Below are some best practices to make sure you get: High response rates from companies Structured data (comparing apples to apples) Actionable insights Set Reporting Expectations Early On ✔️ Tip: Set expectations during the onboarding process (if not sooner) It’s way easier to set reporting expectations with companies early on (and with fewer companies) rather than changing your reporting requirements a few years into your relationship with portfolio companies. Some investors choose to outline their reporting expectations in a side letter as a part of the investment documents. It's recommended that investors also have a dedicated conversation around reporting expectations during the onboarding process. Related Resource: A Guide to Onboarding New Companies to Your VC Firm When and How Often to Collect Portfolio Data ✔️ Tip: Collect data at a predictable frequency Set the expectation that you will be sending a Request for company data the same time every reporting cycle. Visible has data that shows that Mondays are great due dates and if you’re sending out quarterly Requests for data, we suggest giving your companies 2-4 weeks after quarter close to get their information back to you. Don’t randomly switch between the 10th, the 30th, etc. This makes it difficult for founders to prioritize your reporting requirements and gives the impression that your due dates don’t really matter. Visible makes scheduling data Requests and subsequent reminders a breeze for investors. Investors can select the due date, email notification dates, and customize the messages that will get sent out to portfolio companies. ✔️ Tip: Collect data at an appropriate frequency We recommend the following cadences. This is 100% customizable as every fund is different. Weekly – Companies in an accelerator program Monthly – Pre-seed investments Quarterly – Pre-seed, Seed, Series A, Series B + investments What Data to Collect from Portfolio Companies ✔️ Tip: Less is more Don’t send a Request asking for ‘nice to have’ metrics. Only ask for the information you really need and are going to use. We suggest starting small, getting a rhythm, and expanding the data as needed. Metrics ✔️ Tip: Ask for only 5-15 metrics Depending on how closely you work with companies, ask for 5-15 metrics and no more. If you’re not taking actionable next steps based on a metric (ex: reporting to LP’s, providing more hands-on support, informing investment decisions) then it's likely you don't need to be asking for it. The most common metrics investors ask for include: Revenue Cash Balance Cash Burn Headcount Runway Related resource: Which Metrics Should I Be Collecting from Portfolio Companies View examples of data Requests in Visible. ✔️ Tip: Use a metric description to reduce back-and-forth If you are asking for Burn and don’t provide context, you might get 15 different variations. Should it be negative? Should it be trailing 3 months or the current month? Should it include financing? Be descriptive about what you want. Qualitative Questions to Ask Portfolio Companies ✔️ Tip: Define what type of information you're looking for As an investor, it's a great idea to give companies the opportunity to share support requests on a regular basis. Consider including a description to clarify what type of support your firm can provide companies. Additionally, most investors also ask for companies to report narrative highlights and lowlights from the question. It's important to clarify what type of information you're actually looking for so companies are not wasting time sharing information an investor is not actually going to use. Implementing a Portfolio Monitoring Platform ✔️ Tip: Notify your companies two weeks in advance Introducing Your Companies to Visible As the most founder-friendly solution on the market, we ensure that requesting data is a frictionless process for founders. This means founders don’t need to create an account in order for Investors to get value out of the platform (ie: No log-in required!). Still, it's a great idea to give your companies notice about the adoption of Visible so they can keep an eye out for the first Request that will land in their inbox. Feel free to use our Intro Copy Template to notify your companies about the adoption of Visible two weeks in advance of your first Request deadline. Customize Your Domain Investors can white-label the automatic emails that are sent from Visible so that the emails use their firm's domain. You can also customize the sender address to anyone at your firm. Visible's Customer Support All Visible customers get world-class support and a dedicated Investor Success Manager. We provide an efficient, hands-on onboarding experience, training for new team members, and support on an ongoing basis. Visible is trusted by over 350+ VC funds around the world to help streamline their portfolio monitoring and reporting.