A group looking to raise just $400,000 does not need the same level of marketing materials that someone raising $40M should be putting into place.
This is because if you are raising only $400k you may get it done with just 1 to 4 investors or maybe up to 10 investors. These investors may be putting in smaller amounts in real terms but also smaller amounts as compared to their total net worth.
Typically smaller allocation decisions can be made faster, with moderate due diligence, and many times these check sizes don't require sign-off from an investment committee, publicly-traded entity, or a board of advisors.
Also, the deal can get done quickly, and if you spend 3-4 months preparing a $400k raise while your competition gets it done in 2 months, you are slow out of the gates to grow with the capital.
At each level from $0-$1 Million from $1M-$10M, $10M-$25M, and $25M+ raises there are different checklists of materials and strategies to put into place. Below is a set of checklists of materials to consider having in place for these various sizes of raises.
$0-$1M
- One-Pager on the deal detailing the team, terms process, location, and offering visually (not a one-page memo of pure text)
- Short 12-page pitch deck if time permits
- Short 2-4 minute video from the founder on the deal for texting and embedding in the one-pager and pitch deck
- One-liner on the investment offering
$1M-$10M
- Everything above +
- Short 12-19 page pitch deck
- Timeline of track record and development of the strategy
- Drone video of the asset or walkthrough video or 3D modeling of the product or device
- A simple website and a logo that doesn't look like high school clip art or a weekend job slanting colored text in PowerPoint to avoid creating something professional
- Professional headshots of team members and assets, nothing amateur/thrown together feeling
- A brand name that makes sense and tells clients or investors why they should work with you, or what your strength is
$10M-$25M
- Everything above +
- Materials that can be mailed to prospects for follow up, an investor newsletter, shock and awe box, folder of educational materials, or a book
- Consider using a whiteboard explainer video
- Consider engaging with an outsized firm to help add institutional polish to your materials and streamline the process of creating everything
- CRM needs to be set up and used - critical software piece
- Consider structuring multiple membership classes or a Co-GP/JV partner to gain an anchor investor or appeal to investors of different sizes. Also, terms could be different so those investing more pay less in fees.
- Strategically secure an industry-recognized name to invest first or invest a large check to add to deal momentum
- Develop 10 FAQs and have answers to those questions if you are going out to many investors broadly
- Book public speaking engagements and record those talks
$25M+
- Everything above +
- Master Due Diligence Questionnaire
- Documentary-style interviews with clients, investors, and founders, 7-15 minutes in length
- If your expertise and the industry is appropriate consider publishing an authoritative whitepaper or writing a book
- Fully built out data room for investors ready at any time
- Strategically map out the investor clubs, meetings, and conferences and network/pay to speak at them
- Third party due diligence reports in place from 2 third party organizations
I hope you found this checklist useful for which size capital raise you are currently in. Please let us know what questions you have regarding this and happy capital hunting.
Matt's info and more about DelMorgan:https://delmorganco.com/professionals/matthew-slonaker
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