We recently hosted a virtual coffee chat led by Rose Punkunus (Founder & CEO of Sudozi), Mike Wong (Head of Finance @ Deliverr Inc.), Abishek Viswanathan (Finance @ Nuro), and Joseph Stuckel (Head of Finance and Accounting @ G2) along with over 20 industry professionals on the topic of fundraising. We had some great conversations about process, metrics, and communications. Here are some of the key takeaways...
Things to do when you’re not raising
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Annual fundraising dry run: even if you’re not raising, do an annual dry run with all the materials prepped and ready to go
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Financial prep: have visibility on cash and know when you’ll need to raise
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Maintain relationships with investors, particularly ones that could participate or lead your next round
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Metrics: know the KPIs for your business and industry, and keep track of them regularly. Your fundraising metrics should translate to your normal ongoing KPIs
During the raise
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Assign POCs from different departments who are the go-to people if materials are needed related to fundraising.
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Schedule 15 minute check ins twice a week with a fundraising project manager to make sure that deliverables are on track.
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Make sure you know how to use your data room (technically), and only share the relevant information for each investor.
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Some data room tools: PrepDD, Datasite (fka Merrill), Venue by Dfin
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Share your data strategically and know that whatever data you share is likely going to make its way to your competitors
Post raise
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Have a comms plan ready
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Be aware of people monitoring things like when your Delaware docs are filed
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Keep the information within a tight circle until needed
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Inform employees before media, but not too much before
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Be strategic (and conservative) about the capital deployment
