Module Overview

Introduction

There are far more companies that bootstrap, who learn how to deliver value to customers by creating revenues and profits, and have no need for outside investors, than those that raise money from angel investors or venture capitalists. Raising capital is far from the only path to building and growing a business.

But it can take time and money to wrestle with the problem you are trying to solve. Founders often make the significant personal risk to get the business off the ground by raising money from friends, family, savings accounts, and credit cards. Capital gives you time to experiment with strategies, learn from failures and eventually bring in revenues and profits. Capital gives you the ability to hire more staff, buy more equipment, and ultimately accelerate your business’s growth.

Raising money from venture capital firms or business angels can often seem like something only possible for those with deep connections. It can appear to be a mysterious and confusing world.

Although the process to raise capital is not always easy to navigate, the good news is that the UK is one of the best places in the world to start and fund a business. There are various financing options available to entrepreneurs in the UK, including bank lending, asset finance, peer-to-peer lending, government loans and grants, crowdfunding, accelerators, angel investment, venture capital and private equity.

Funding your business is a means to an end, but how you support your business will have a material effect on the path you take and will often ultimately decide your business’s fate.

As the Founder, you need to determine what fundraising path most aligns with the interests of your business, your life, your team and your investors.

Overview

This 90-minute interactive workshop will cover the following:

In the first part, we will look into the big questions you should be asking yourself before embarking on a fundraising process:

• What should you consider before taking on investors?
• Who are the different types of investors?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of investors?
• What does a fundraising process look like?
• When should you raise the funds?
• How much should you raise?
• How should you value your business?

In the second part, we will dig into what you can do to best prepare yourself for the Investor Pitch, including tips on presenting and how best to tell a story using the story arc.

In the final part, we will run through the Investor Pitch Canvas and help raise the questions you should be answering to shape your messaging for potential investors.

Throughout these module sessions, we will be sharing our extensive experience of listening to pitches as investors and making pitches as entrepreneurs.

Objectives

The overall objective is to help you figure out how best to go about a fundraising process and how to present and put together an Investor Pitch.

Benefits

This workshop will help you:

• Reflect on the questions you should be asking yourself before you enter into the fundraising process
• Gain insights on the various types of investors and their advantages and disadvantages
• Learn what a fundraising process entails
• Gain an overview on when best to raise funds
• Learn how to think about how much to raise and at what valuation
• Understand what you should do to prepare yourself for the Investor Pitch
• Gain insights on how best to present your Investor Pitch
• Understand how to create an Investor Pitch

Who is it for

This workshop is suitable for Founders and entrepreneurs whether or not you are considering raising capital from external investors in the short- or long-term. Completing the Investor Pitch is an extremely productive exercise as it encourages you to create a more succinct and concise message whoever you are talking to about your business.

“The best entrepreneurs are always raising money, yet never raising money.”

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