If you are a startup founder and are driven by the idea of raising funds you are also familiar with ‘NO’s. There are different types of ‘NO’s. Ones laid down on you gently and ones delivered like a punch on your face. Either way, it is never easy. Kathryn Minshew, the founder of The Muse – a job and career advice service got rejected 148 times before she went on to raise $30m.
The rejections were in the Seed round. So when she decided to go for her Series A she made two critical changes. This she revealed in an interview to Bobbi Rebell for her podcast – Financial Grownup.
Kathryn made two crucial changes in her Series A pitches.
- Normally founders are so beholden to investors, they will take any appointment given out. So would she. But she decided to change that around – and to good reason. She asked all prospective investors to commit to a meeting within a predefined time frame ( in her case it was a window of 3 weeks ). “I need to get all of our first meetings done by X date. I can push it a few days. Let me know if you’re going to be able to make it work, and if not, totally fine. Maybe there will be another round that you can participate in.” What she found was that most investors who had any interest moved around the dates and did accommodate. Those who didn’t, she reasons, possibly would never have backed the project.
- She focused on customer feedback. She dwells deep on knowing your customers. This according to her helped her be sure that she was indeed building something people wanted. But she did not approach them as a founder as “If you tell someone you’re the founder of a company and ask for their input, they’re more likely to give you positive input because they don’t want to hurt your feelings,”. She decided to pose as a consultant for The Muse, helping them understand what it is doing well and what needed changes – “people are much more likely to give you totally unfiltered feedback”… she figured.
The episode is full of very interesting ideas and useable tips. So if you are planning on a pitch to investors have a listen for these and more nuggets like –
-The advice Kathryn found most helpful from her networks and mentors
-How to tell if the investors are wrong not to invest- or if your idea and pitch is missing the mark
-Strategies and specific things to ask in order to get honest input about your company
and a lot more.
Link to the podcast below.
