Background
In angel funding markets, the angels tend to invest a part and get remaining funds through their common groups, fellow angels. What if you can have such an angel investor with you as a partner and they are fundamentally connected to the very network of investors?
PROBLEM / OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT
Fundraising is a exercise of networking and consistent pitching. Most conversations does not qualify as meaningful ones, for it involved a professional with no relevant industry knowledge, they would not be able to understand or relate with your business and if it is the investor themselves, the amount of time they give you and where you are presenting also contributes. How does one identify the decision makers and make the conversation happen at the most opportune time?
CRITICAL CONSTRAINTS
Good investors tend to take clear decisions in terms of their contributions, terms and return expectations. Not all investors make direct monetary fund transfers, this is key to understanding and developing your business model. Look for strategic alignments to get your investments rolling.
KEY OBSERVATIONS
Investors are often screwed, especially, if its capital that they themselves have created or multiplied from earlier inheritance. The prudence of the investor is in their ability to qualify the proposal as something that will produce returns and they want to do it fast. They are time sensitive, at least most of them are and few conversations results in completion of investment term sheet signing, fund release.
SOLUTION
Getting an new investor to focus on you can happen in number of ways. Either you connect with them through a good reference, the reference can also their fund managers, accountants or you can even meet them in a party or social environment. Most ultra high networth individuals are rarely available under professional settings, so your initial meeting is ideally planned for scenarios where you cannot present your deck or share detailed excel files. Your entire pitch is conversation and logic driven.
APPROACH TO SOLUTION
Being prepared to present your business idea is key to succeeding, the more practical your pitch, the ease of comprehension of your business and relatability to investor a vital towards getting the first investor and thus your strategic fundraising partner in the investor itself.
KEY SOLUTION METRICS
All investment conversations has one basic question "how much do you need and what will be the returns?" this can be a detailed presentation deck or just a conversation with no calculators involved. As long as the answer is practical and acceptable, partnerships and thus the investments go through.
SOLUTION LIMITATIONS
The method is reliant on finding the right place with the right ambience and that is anybody's guess. One must refrain from oversharing and if you can have your potential investor talking about your idea, you likely have succeeded already.
PROCESS APPLIED
A through preparation and an ability to present the entire pitch without any dependency on visual and technical aids, making sense your asks and numbers, projections and being ready with returns are key to succeeding in investor engagement at angel levels.
REVENUE IMPACT
Your business gets funded, focus on growth as projected and continue to build on investor relationships
AD-HOC CONTRIBUTORS
Having a financially sound investor helps refine your financial plans and projection, if they weren't perfect already.
KEY BENEFITS OF SOLUTION
One good angel investor could attract more investors of higher investment capability, working with them on long term basis lays the foundation for ideal growth trajectory.