This document provides an overview of a meeting for entrepreneurs working through a 6-month startup program. It discusses pitching and fundraising fundamentals. The meeting covered developing executive summaries, pitch decks, and forwardable emails for fundraising. It also reviewed the fundraising process, including identifying target investors, qualifying investors through due diligence, and closing deals. Entrepreneurs provided 5-minute pitches for feedback and were given their month 5 deliverables, which include continuing customer development and updating their lean canvas with revenue streams and channels.

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Dave Parker
@DaveParkerSEA
@6MonthStartup
www.dkparker.com/blog
www.6MonthStartup.com

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Welcome! Month 5

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About Dave
¤ 5X founder, Board Member, former SVP Programs at UP
Global (Startup Weekend + Startup America)
¤ Startup Next creator
¤ Start Week Organizer
¤ Soon to be Author “6 Month Startup – Ideation to
Revenue”
¤ 8 transactions – 6 sell side, 2 buy side
¤ VC @SevenPeaksVC – Mountain West, Seed/A Stage
¤ Why? Looking for future founders to invest in…

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The next 6 Months
¤ Ideation/Research -
¤ Customer Development/Competitive analysis
¤ Value Prop/Product/Features/Expense
¤ Revenue - Monetization, Sales, Marketing and
Business Development
¤ Pitch Prep/Fundraising Fundamentals
¤ Pitches/Scaling up

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Office Hours – June 12, 3-5:30PM

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Standing Agenda
¤ Communications
¤ SLACK Channel
¤ Blog Posts and Comments
¤ Mentor Feedback on Month 3 Deliverables
¤ Month 4 Agenda
¤ Marketing Funnel
¤ Sales Methods
¤ Revenue Models
¤ Month 4 Deliverables

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Monthly Mechanics
¤ Table group review work
¤ Mentor Feedback – during dinner
¤ Monthly Content
¤ Meetups are stand alone events – come for
what you need, Mentors are based on
deliverables, not “drop ins”

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Introductions

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Rules of the Road
¤ #GiveFirst
¤ Mentor access is based on your work
¤ Don’t Ramble – I’ll interrupt
¤ Network – you need to build you network for
the future starting tonight
¤ No I won’t do the work for you!
¤ Am I checking your homework?

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Mentor Feedback
Deliverables:
¤ Marketing Hypothesis
¤ Test actual cash $100 on
spend, landing page A/B test
¤ Sign up for Unbounce
¤ Sales Model choice
¤ Revenue Model Choice
¤ Lean Canvas
¤ Update Customer Segment,
Problem, Unique Value Prop.
¤ Add Revenue Stream,
Channels
¤ Customer Development –
never stop interviewing
customers
Hi, I’m <your name here>, and I’m the
problem I’m solving is <insert problem here>.
Our product <insert product info here> is
designed for our target customer of <insert
target customer here>. We make money by
<insert method here> and our team is the right
team because <insert why you’re awesome
here>, I need help with <insert top ask>

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Break

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Pitch Prep

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Tools for Pitching
¤Forwardable Email
¤Executive Summary
¤Presentation
¤ ~11 Slides

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Forwardable Intro Email
¤ Great blog post from Alex Iskold, Techstars NYC
¤ The associate needs to be able to repeat your
message
¤ Make it easy to get the introduction
¤ Avoid buzzword bingo

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Not

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Executive Summary
¤Two pages
¤ ”Don’t Bury your Lead”
¤ Your headlines and opening paragraph tell the
story (see slide 10)
¤ It’s designed to get the next meeting, not to get
a check
¤ Stay at 10k feet and out of the weeds
¤ Numbers should sync with deck and forecast!
You’ll be tempted to get out of sync – be careful!

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Deck
¤Generally lead with problem/solution format
¤However:
¤ If you have traction lead with traction
¤ If you’re in a complex market, you may want to
lead with your team
¤ Have one customer story arch
¤Include contact info

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Slides
1. Welcome slide – will be on the screen the longest, include your
tag line
2. Intro – one slide summary, expanding on “Hi, my name is ___”
3. Idea: Problem/Solution
4. Market – how big is it?
5. Product
6. Traction
7. Team
8. Timing
9. How will you make money
10. IP/Moat
11. Clear Ask

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Wait! Month 1 Reference

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Score Yourself 1-4
Team: Why you, balanced team (talents, diversity), domain experts,
serially successful founders, great company experience
Idea: Are you solving a problem? New or existing problem, big category
(vs tool), early/late continuum, technical achievable, pain pill or vitamin
Product: do you have a product, how mature, customer first, solid design,
clear roadmap to scale
Market/Customer: big market (TAM/SOM), cash available, new or nascent
market?
Competition: How many incumbents, funding status, are you incremental
better or 10X better?
Traction: Customer validation, revenue, improving unit economics?
Timing: Why now? Are you late, early, too early?
Revenue Model/Finance: How will you monetize your idea? Do you have
a basic budget on spending, big or small economics
IP/Moat: Is your idea defensible? Can you build a moat over time?
Clear Ask: What do you need help with? Advice, funding, introduction,
help finding staff?
Total out of 40

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Pitching
¤ Check your score Again
¤ what do you need to shore up?
¤ Investor meeting is a conversation – the deck guides
you through the check list
¤ Pitch events are a contrived mechanic – more
shock & awe required, what makes you memorable
¤ What question do you want them asking when you
are done?
¤ How can I write a check? or
¤ What do they do again?

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Fundraising Fundamentals

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Fundraising 101
● Stage appropriate capital = what’s the right
money at the right time?
○ Early – Angels, early stage VCs,
○ Later – Large venture funds
● Control shifts – Board roles, deal terms
● Dilution: every round of funding you will sell 20-
35% of new shares
● Bad boards = bad enterprise value

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Angels
● Invest in you and your passion
● Like the market or idea
● Have made money in the sector before
● Something to talk about at a cocktail party!
● Deal type
○ Convertible note with a cap
○ Pro-rata participation (keep my % going
forward)
○ Highest risk – least educated (F&F) should
be best deal

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Notes on Angel Groups
● Founder’s make money going against the crowd –
groups create a format for people to meet and learn
● Don’t pay to play!
● Beware “Series B” Due Diligence for Angel Checks
● If you have a lead and 50% raised you can talk to an
angel group

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Early Stage = Risk Capital
● Know your numbers, if you don’t have your numbers
know your hypothesis (have a position)
● Seed stage VC’s are investing other people's money
○ Charter and Thesis
○ Stage, vertical market, size, geography
○ 10% (+/-) stakes plus syndicates
● VC perspective - Elusive deals need to be found
○ Revenue but Pre-product market fit
● ”Return the Fund” deals that can produce >10X

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Later Stage = Growth Capital
● Post product market fit
● $10K in marketing spend = Internal rate of return (IRR) of
how many days?
● MBA’s calculate returns – cash on cash
● Strategics aren’t valuation sensitive, but will be slow
● Bigger checks – 20% stakes

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Fundraising Process
● Enterprise Sales Process – landing multiple planes at the
same time
● Top of the Funnel
○ Research
■ Crunchbase (cheap)
■ Pitchbook (expensive)
■ Angelist
■ Competitive deals (w/ Exits)
○ Create a forwardable email
■ Ask for approval
■ Follow with Intro

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Who/What is a good Target
Investor?
● Targets – build a list of targets, look for LinkedIn
and/or email introductions
● They have invested in your market/stage in the
past
● They have Board experience for your stage
● They can help with strategic introductions
○ Investors
○ Customers

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First Impressions Matter
● Targets – build a list of targets, look for LinkedIn
and/or email introductions
● They have invested in your market/stage in the
past
● They have Board experience for your stage
● They can help with strategic introductions
○ Investors
○ Customers

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Fundraising Process
● Asking for advice vs cash
○ Who do you know that would like out type
of deal
○ What other things would you like to see us
complete before we talk again
● Deals that get closed are pulled by the
investor, not pushed by you
● Find your lead investors – keep the others
warm

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Fundraising Process – cont
● Process management
○ Free HubSpot
○ Configure “Contact Type”
■ VC Target
■ VC Contacted
■ VC Qualified
○ Track opens
○ Attachment or Link – both work, one is easy
for you to track, one is easy to pass along

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Tools
● Free Hubspot
● https://freebusy.io/ allows you to show your calendar
(including multiple Google Calendars) – save the back
and forth ($6/month)
○ Accept or rearrange
● Email tracker pro (chrome extension)
● Zoom Meeting – you control the variables (not free, 45
minute limit) ($15/month)
● Use tools that show professionalism, drive the meeting
schedule – don’t wait on their assistant

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What’s happening with the VC?
● Most filter – sector, size, stage, growth, referral source
● Then Screen at Partner Meeting – looking for consensus
● Then invite in for presentation
● So! You need to make the presentation that the most
Junior team member has confidence repeating! Have a
lead within the firm
● No one’s writing a check from an Exec Summary or PPT!
Get the next meeting

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Due Diligence Process
• Deal Memo – internal memo used to validate
why they are leading the round – it will likely be
shared with other investors or future investors
• Document review post
• Data room
• Corporate Hygiene
• Customer calls – you likely have a few
customers, don’t over burden them with
random call.
• Meet with other investor

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Your Due Diligence
● Ask to talk to their portfolio company CEOs – ask for a
couple of companies they passed on investing as well
● Have a structured list of questions
○ Have they been a good investor
○ Give me an example of a time when they were
helpful
○ Give me an example of a time they weren’t helpful
○ Have they done the things they said they would do
when they invested
● Not all money is good money

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Tactics for dealing with VCs
● You want to create momentum or a sense of
momentum
● Create a reason to close – not a reason to wait!
○ Good news next month is a reason to wait
○ New features shipping next month is a reason to way
○ Booked revenue is a reason to close = increased
valuation
● Not all VCs are arrogant assholes (but many are)
○ Pattern matching – break the mold!

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Final Do’s and Don’ts
Do
● Keep your eye on the ball
– don’t miss your numbers
● Manage the process
● Qualify your investor
● Create optionality
Don’t’
● Get < 6 Month of capital
● Hide the ball on any bad
news
● Be too transparent
● Let the investor miss a
deadline – escrow
example

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Conclusions
● Broad funnel gives you the most choices
● They will be talking to other investors
● How you interact in the process will indicate
the future
● What do you need in addition to capital?
○ Go to market help
○ Product help
○ Know your blind spots
● Time kills ALL deals

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Next Session – Pitches and
Scaling

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Month 5 Resources
¤ Books
¤ Burn the business plan – Carl Schramm
¤ Blogs
¤ Executive Summary
¤ 9 Best Startup Pitch Decks of all time
¤ 30 Legendary Pitch Decks
¤ Financial Model
¤ VentureReadyModels.com – promo code in slack/email
tomorrow

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Month 5 Deliverables
¤ Month 6 Deliverables here https://wp.me/P3bssR-j23 (6
Month Startup Deliverables & Resources) page
¤ Tools
¤ Deck, Exec Summary, forwardable email
¤ Fundraising
¤ Lifestyle or scalable business?
¤ Sources of Capital – Capital requirements
¤ Start to build out your investor list
¤ Lean Canvas –
¤ Update Customer Segment, Problem, Unique Value Prop.
¤ Add Revenue Stream, Channels

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June 12 – Perkins Coie
5 Minute pitches – 5 Minutes Q&A
Group scoring