Customer Stories

Jessica is the co-founder and president of Maad, francophone Africa’s fastest-growing B2B e-commerce player. Jessica and her team adopted Visible in December 2021 to start sending out investor updates for the first time after closing a pre-seed round. Since then the team at Maad has continued to leverage Visible’s suite of fundraising tools such as data rooms and pitch decks. Maad successfully closed its seed round led by Ventures Platform in late 2023. Read more about their recent coverage in TechCrunch here. This case study details why Maad chose Visible and the specific solutions they leveraged to support the successful raise of their seed round. Jessica's Founder Journey—From Airbnb to Empowering Retail Owners in Africa Maad was co-founded by Jessica Long in 2021. Jessica has a demonstrated passion for creating software that adds value operationally. She fostered this passion in her previous work as a software engineer at Airbnb, building systems to support novel machine learning and crowdsourcing technology at Idibon in San Francisco, and leading the development of national digital health platforms in West Africa as the Director of Global Services at Dimagi. Jessica started Maad because she believed that better data tools could transform the business landscape of Senegal and other developing West African countries. After spending two years building out a generalizable tech platform to track field operations of all kinds, she and her cofounders zeroed in on the informal retail market. With 100,000s of small shops sourcing the same products from a patchwork supply network, Jessica saw a big opportunity to connect small shops directly to the agribusinesses supplying them. Maad is now Francophone Africa's fastest-growing B2B e-commerce player. Maad supplies food, beverages, and everyday household products to thousands of small shops. The company is dedicated to empowering traditional retailers in Francophone West Africa. Their product offerings provide traditional retailers with a mobile app that’s a one-stop shop for all their supply needs and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brands with a complete picture of the fragmented consumer market. The Need to Professionalize Investor Communications After Raising a Pre-seed Round Maad closed a pre-seed round in 2021 led by Launch Africa, Oui Capital, and Alumni Ventures. This was the first time Jessica and her cofounders had ever sent out monthly investor updates. Their first attempt included a few bullet points in an email to which her investors gave her feedback: “You could be doing this more professionally.” Jessica’s early investors explained that monthly updates are often the first thing that new investors will look at to understand the trajectory of a company. “Writing crisp, effective updates was one of the best ways to showcase our company’s growth and development,” - Jessica Long, Co-Founder and President of Maad The team at Maad took this feedback to heart and evaluated several tools for the job. In response to why Jessica chose Visible she shared, “Visible struck us as the best choice, with its emphasis on high-quality email reports.” Jessica highlighted specific features that made Visible stand out: Filterable contact lists that make it easy to manage the email’s audience The ability to add charts and graphs inline The optional live data integration The ability to add photos and GIFs Recipient engagement tracking Maad’s Growing Need for Visible’s Fundraising Solutions Originally Maad’s primary use case for Visible was sending out monthly updates to investors. When Maad started its second fundraise, Visible became its centralized fundraising solution where they also hosted their pitch decks and data rooms as well. “It truly became a home for sharing information with investors about our company.” - Jessica Long, Co-Founder and President of Maad Since first leveraging Visible in December 2021 to update current investors, Maad utilized Visible’s more advanced fundraising solutions and successfully closed their Seed round of $2.3M (in equity) in late 2023. The round was led by Ventures Platform. Read more about the announcement of Maad’s recent financing in TechCrunch here. Visible Impact on Maad’s Investor Engagements Visible has equipped Maad to send high-quality investor updates every month since December 2021. Visible's update engagement tracking allowed Jessica to see how closely prospective investors were following her company, which helped their team prioritize their timespend during the seed stage fundraise. Increasingly, the team at Maad kept all investor-related information assets on the Visible platform including monthly investor updates, pitch decks, and data rooms. This created a clean and consistent place for sharing information and tracking engagement. “Every month we get compliments on the quality of the investor updates we are able to generate with Visible’s platform.” Maad’s Top Four Visible Solutions Jessica shared the key advantages of using the Visible platform are: The beautiful and polished investor updates Thoughtful collaboration and versioning features Engagement tracking Consolidation of all major sources of investor information onto a single platform Below are some examples of some of Maad’s favorite solutions in Visible. 1) The ability to store investor updates all in one place. This makes it easy to review previous updates, track engagement rates, and resend the updates if needed. 2) Fun features like directly embedded GIFs in newsletters allow us to connect with Maad’s supporters with more immediacy. 3) Uploading different pitch decks to the same link is an incredible feature for us. We love the versioning and collaboration this allows us internally, while presenting a unified experience to external collaborators 4) Beautiful graphs, directly configurable on the platform, are one of the most popular features of our monthly updates:

About Novel Novel is a Los Angeles-based software startup led by Joe DeWulf. Novel helps e-commerce brands easily embed shoppable short-form video content from social platforms like TikTok and Instagram on their websites. The result is an increase in the website visit duration and a 20%+ increase in webpage revenue for their customers. Joe pivoted the company towards the end of 2022 and officially launched Novel in January 2023. The company is demonstrating exciting traction with the number of influenced sales for their customers growing from one million per month in September to over five million influenced sales in November. Novel has been a Visible user since 2022 and during that time Joe has grown his engaged investor network from 100 to 500 investors and keeps them up to date using Visible. Cumbersome investor management in Excel Before finding Visible, Joe was tracking investor contacts in Excel documents which he noted was very cumbersome. He would manually keep investor records up to date and track basic information like ‘interested’ or ‘not interested’. Then Joe would send out one standardized email with his list of investors in BCC. This non-tailored approach wasn’t ideal because all investors received the same content even if their interests and characteristics varied. There was also no way to track open or engagement rates with the email. Joe thought there had to be an easier way to keep his investor contacts more organized in different lists so he could tailor his communications and went searching for a fundraising CRM for startups. Leveraging Visible to send regular updates to investors Joe’s primary use case when he joined Visible was to start sending out regular, professional investor updates to current and potential investors to increase awareness about their company’s growth and fundraising journey. The first update was sent on Feb 15, 2022 to 104 people and had an open rate of 78%. The content of the first update included: Business timeline Company overview & product in development Highlights Lowlights Asks Product By using Visible’s Connect Database, asking for investor introductions, and organically growing his network, Joe has grown his list of engaged current and potential investors to over 500+ people that he keeps up to date with Visible. Managing fundraising pipelines In addition to being able to more easily send out regular communication to investors using Visible, Joe is also able to more strategically manage potential investors using Visible’s fundraising pipeline. Joe commented that he’s now able to more easily keep track of multiple points of contact at an investment firm, typical check size, whether they are a lead or not. These criteria help determine whether the investor is a good fit before reaching out to the investor. Novel has multiple fundraising pipelines in Visible which mirrors the fluid approach required to raising capital in today’s highly competitive fundraising environment. Joe started with a pipeline targeting traditional seed-stage VCs and then widened the approach to also targeting high-net-worth individuals as well as investors who back companies at an even earlier stage. Joe commented that it was important to be able to quickly adjust his pipeline after paying attention to signals he was getting from investors that the prerequisites towards raising a seed round have changed. Joe shared some advice for founders currently looking to fundraise -- “You need to be able to adapt, do research, create new contacts, and new pipelines, and manage them appropriately.” The flexibility built into Visible’s fundraising pipelines lets startups quickly adapt to the feedback they get from the market and adjust their fundraising strategy accordingly. Making an impression with professional deck-sharing solutions Novel also utilizes Visible’s deck-sharing solution to socialize their company with potential investors. Joe said the deck-sharing solution is a major upgrade from his previous method of just sending a PDF because now he gets notified when investors are viewing the deck. He can also tell when the deck has been sent to other contacts and can understand which investors are spending the most time reviewing the deck. Novel hosts multiple versions of their deck on Visible including a short version to pique the interest of investors with the goal of them booking a call and a longer more detailed version after he’s had initial conversations with investors. Joe recently shared a popular LinkedIn post and in response was getting notifications that investors were going back and reviewing a pitch deck he had shared months previously. Novel conclusions Novel replaced disorganized Excel spreadsheets and lackluster investor communications with easy-to-use investor relations solutions designed specifically for founders. Today Novel uses Visible to keep its network of over 500 investors up to date about their company's traction and fundraising journey. Take the next steps with Visible Visible supports thousands of founders track key metrics, update investors, and manage their fundraising process from one platform. Start your 14-day free trial.

About Laurel & Hampr Laurel Hess is the CEO and Founder of hampr. hampr is a peer-to-peer, on-demand laundry app that provides magical wash-and-fold service at the push of a button! As the hampr website states, “The idea for hampr came after a chaotic weekend with kid sports games and 3 birthday parties. On top of that, there was still grocery shopping, cleaning the house, and oh, spending meaningful time with the family. Laurel was over it. So she thought “Hold on, why can’t laundry be as easy as ordering groceries with a tap of your phone?” And just like that, bam! hampr was born in 2020.” Quick facts: Founded Year: 2020 Headquarters: Lafayette, Louisiana Total Funding Amount: $9.7M Notable Investors: Techstars,VILLAGEx Learn more about hampr and give it a try yourself here The Power of Investor Updates for Laurel Investor updates can be a powerful tool for startup founders. Most VCS only hear from 10-50% of their portfolio companies on a regular basis. This is a major arbitrage opportunity for founders. Investor updates can help you stay top of mind with investors and secure help with fundraising, hiring, closing customers, strategy, etc — all in just an hour or less. As Laurel Hess wrote in her LinkedIn Post, “It boggles my mind how many founders don't do regular company updates to stakeholders (and potential investors!). So many people I know treat this as a chore - when it can be the highlight of your month (like it is mine!). Taking the time to review your business with your stakeholders is actually a really great opportunity for growth - if you view it that way, there is a ton of potential to unlock. I have gained the following from my regular updates: Intros to potential investors Additional capital for a round I'm working on Intros to new verticals for expansion Advice on strategy for a problem we are working on Intros to new mentors/advisors to unlock the next phase of growth Allllll this for just 1 hour of my time each month? That is the definition of no-brainer." Laurel’s Investor Update Template Sticking to a template and format can help build regular investor updates into your monthly rhythms. Laurel shared her monthly template that she uses in Visible via a LinkedIn Post, you can check it out below as well: “I have used Visible to manage my updates almost since the beginning. I love this company - they make it SO EFFORTLESS to send really factual, data-driven updates. SO, using Visible, this is how my monthly updates are typically structured: 1. Overview - this is a high-level, personal letter from me about the high notes and low notes of the update. Basically a TL/DR section. 2. Asks - I don't always have these but when I do, I have them right after my summary so it's high on the scroll. 3. Performance - I add charts on GMV growth month-over-month followed by membership KPIs in a chart (growth, churn and renewal). Then I add a summary with my insights/thoughts on each chart. Check out an example of a Visible chart below: 4. What we are excited about: A section on 1 or 2 things that the team is working on that we are really excited about - usually with a photo. 5. What we are Improving/Exploring: This is a realness section of challenges and concerns that we have and what we are doing to actively improve on them. AND THAT'S IT! It gives a super high-level overview of where we are, what our focus is, and how we are unlocking new opportunities. It's skimmable, it's concise and it's easy for everyone. AND because I use Visible.vc, it automatically ports in the numbers I need for my charts each month so all I have to do is replicate the previous month's email and then go to town. I can get a very thoughtful email out in 1 hour or less - and it gives me so much more in return.” Check out Laurel's template and add it to your Visible account below: Send Your Next Investor Update with Visible Join Laurel and the 3,300+ founders that use Visible to update their investors every month. Try Visible free for 14 days. Not sure where to get started? Check out our Update Template Library.

About Trey Trey Closson is the CEO and Founder of Amplio — a platform for proactively identifying the risks of tomorrow’s supply chain. Prior to starting Amplio, Trey spent time at Flexport and Georgia Pacific. Trey joins us to break down his first year as a founder and what he has learned from transitioning from operator to founder. Episode Takeaways A couple of key topics we hit on: The current state of the global supply chain issues How Amplio found their first customers How Amplio is using pilot programs to scale their customer base The importance of relentless focus Why founders should invest in community Why building a startup is a marathon, not a sprint Watch the Episode Give episode 6 a listen below (or give it a listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you normally consume podcasts)

About Josh & Elle Josh Abulafia & Elle Curran are the Co-founders of ChefPrep. ChefPrep is a marketplace for ready-made meals that are prepared by award-winning restaurants, delivered to your door. Josh and Elle join us to break down their journey as startup founders. Episode Takeaways A few key topics we hit on with Elle and Josh: How ChefPrep validated their core thesis Why ChefPrep decided to focus on the supply side Key marketplace metrics they track Building barriers to entry in marketplaces Why tracking the right data is vital to startup success Building their company operating system Watch the Episode Give episode 5 a listen below (or give it a listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you normally consume podcasts):

About Malcolm Malcolm Burenstam Linder is the CEO and Co-founder of Alva Labs. The team at Alva Labs is creating a more fair and data-driven recruitment process. Malcolm joins us to break down his story and journey as a founder. Episode Takeaways A few key topics we hit on: About Alva Labs and Malcolm How Alva found their first customers Using personal networks to find their first customers Why founders need to be extremely diligent about their first hires Why seeing a professional coach has been a gamechanger for him Why everyone should look beyond a resume when hiring Watch the Episode Give episode 4 a listen below (or give it a listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you normally consume podcasts): Related resource: Why the Chief of Staff is Important for a Startup

About Yaw Yaw Aning is the CEO and Founder of Malomo. Malomo is a shipment tracking platform that helps eCommerce brands turn order tracking from a cost center into a profitable marketing channel. Episode Takeaways Yaw joined us for season 3, episode 2 of our Founders Forward Podcast to dive into his career as a founder. He started his career in consulting which eventually led him to founding Malomo. Since founding Malomo, the team has rapidly grown and they’ve raised $8M+. Before ever thinking about funding, Yaw and the team had to determine what problems they were going to solve and did everything in their power to find their first customers. Yaw joins us to break down: How Malomo found their first customers The importance of finding a co-founder How and why you need to solve customer’s problems How Yaw found his co-founder The importance of being able to shut down How to prioritize time Watch the Episode Give episode 2 with Yaw Aning a listen below (or give it a listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you normally consume podcasts) The Founders Forward is Produced by Visible Our platforms helps thousands of founders update investors, track key metrics, and raise capital. Try Visible free for 14 days.

We are back with another season of the Founders Forward Podcast! This season is all about founders in our community. Our goal is to sit down with startup founders and break down 3 things that have transformed their career or company. About Nick We’ll try to keep the episodes to 10 minutes or less so you can get back to what matters most — building your business. For the first episode, we welcomed Nick Loui, CEO and Founder of PeakMetrics. PeakMetrics uses machine learning to spot trends & predict message resonance across news, social, and TV/radio. In this episode, we break down: Episode Takeaways Getting over the cold start problem Creating value through aggregation Narrowing down your target audience Watch the Episode Give episode 1 with Nick Loui a listen below (or give it a listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you normally consume podcasts) The Founders Forward is Produced by Visible Our platforms helps thousands of founders update investors, track key metrics, and raise capital. Try Visible free for 14 days.

On episode 7 of the Founders Forward Podcast, we welcome Kristian Andersen. Kristian is a founder and partner at High Alpha, a venture studio located in Indianapolis. About Kristian Before launching High Alpha, Kristian founded the prolific design agency, Studio Science. During his time at Studio Science, Kristian primarily served software companies which ultimately led to him being a founding partner at High Alpha. Between Kristian’s experience at Studio Science and his time at High Alpha helping launch 30+ companies, it is safe to say he knows a thing or 2 about design and storytelling. Kristian joins us to break down how design can be a competitive advantage, the importance of storytelling in business, the High Alpha Studio model, and much more. Our CEO, Mike Preuss, had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Kristian. You can give the full episode a listen below: What You Can Expect to Learn from Kristian: How the High Alpha Studio models work What kind of co-founders they look for at High Alpha How design can be a competitive advantage Why storytelling is important in business and fundraising Why Coco Chanel, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ralph Lauren are great storytellers What he likes to see in a cold email from a founder Related Resources: Kristian’s Twitter Kristian’s website Apply to become a High Alpha Co-founder High Alpha’s Visible Connect Profile

On episode 4, season 2 of the Founders Forward Podcast, we welcome Tyler Tringas. Tyler is the founder and General Partner at Calm Company Fund (formerly Earnest Capital). The Calm Company Fund invests in exactly what it sounds like — “profitable, sustainable, calm businesses.” About Tyler and Calm Company Fund Tyler offers a unique perspective as someone who invests in companies that may not be the huge companies that a traditional venture capitalist eyes. He joins us to break down what exactly a “calm” business is, the current market dynamics that are creating more need for funders like Calm Company Fund, and much more. Our CEO, Mike Preuss, had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Tyler. You can give the full episode a listen below: What You Can Expect to Learn from Tyler How companies in smaller markets can still be winners What a SEAL is and how Calm Fund uses them The market dynamics creating a need for more funding options like Calm Fund Why and how they raised crowdfunding How Calm Fund and Venture Capital can co-exist for startups How to best cold email investors Related Resources Tyler’s Twitter Calm Capital — What We Invest In Shared Earnings Agreement Our Original Sit Down with Tyler The Calm Fund Visible Connect Profile Bootstrapping 101: Pros & Cons of Bootstrapping Your Startup

On episode 2, season 2 of the Founders Forward Podcast, we welcome Brett Brohl of Bread & Butter Ventures. Brett is the Managing Director of Bread & Butter Ventures as well as the Managing Director of the Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator. About Brett As a past founder and current investor, Brett has a wealth of knowledge on how founders can best create momentum during a fundraise. Give Brett a listen as he walks us through best practices to build out a fundraising process. Our CEO, Mike Preuss, had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Brett. You can give the full episode a listen below (or in any of your favorite podcast apps). What You Can Expect to Learn from Brett How to determine if VC is right for your business How much time you should allocate for a raise How to model financials for a fundraise How to leverage investor Updates to speed up a fundraise Why you should send a 4 slide pitch deck before a meeting How you should think about moving investors through your funnel Related Resources Brett’s Twitter Brett’s Fundraise Faster Video Series Troy Henikoff Financial Modeling Series The Bread & Butter Investor Update Template Bread & Butter’s Profile on Visible Connect, our investor database

On episode 4 of the Founders Forward Podcast we welcome Aishetu Dozie, CEO and Founder of Bossy. Bossy is a cosmetics brand with an intense focus on community and empowering women. Aishetu has years of experience in banking (at just about every major firm) and was looking for a new direction. She enrolled in a Stanford program and the rest is history. About Aishetu As Aishetu continues her founder journey she is learning and growing along the way. From her struggles to raising venture capital to supply chain issues amid COVID Aishetu has tackled every problem thrown at her. The conversation does not stop at bootstrapping Bossy — Aishetu shares all sorts of amazing stories on own personal life and journey as a founder. Plus, she was recently featured on How I Built This so we were particularly thrilled to hear about her experience. Mike Preuss, CEO of Visible, had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Aishetu. You can give the full episode a listen below (or in any of your favorite podcast apps). What You Can Expect to Learn From Aishetu How she transitioned from banking to beauty How Aishetu has faced the struggles of 2020 How Bossy has built a community How Aishetu has bootstrapped Bossy How being a guest on How I Built This impacted her business Related Resources Bossy Beauty Aishetu’s Twitter Aishetu’s How I Built This Episode Bootstrapping 101: Pros & Cons of Bootstrapping Your Startup We created the Founders Forward Podcast to learn from people like Aishetu. For founders looking to learn from a newly minted founder that is figuring it out, Aishetu has you covered. As you scale your business, having the right guides at your side can make all of the difference. Each episode we’ll talk to fellow founders, investors and experts. We’ll dive into their zone of genius as well as hear about their past mistakes to give you a better chance of success.