How to Apply The Art of Startup Fundraising
How founders really persuade investors to say yes, from someone who built and sold a fundraising platform himself
About This Book
Alejandro Cremades built Onevest, a startup funding platform, from a New York studio apartment into a business praised by Time and Forbes, and once raised over five million dollars for his own company without leaving his desk. Here he pulls back the curtain on what actually happens between a pitch and a wired check. You will hear why investors walk into meetings quietly hoping to say no, why a polished business plan rarely changes anyone's mind, why a rejection from an investor almost never has to mean never, and why a law nobody talks about used to make it illegal to simply say out loud that you were raising money.About the Author
Alejandro Cremades is a startup founder and lawyer by training who left a career at the law firm King & Spalding to build Onevest, a platform connecting entrepreneurs with investors that was later named among the world's top crowdfunding platforms by Time and Forbes. He went on to bring CoFoundersLab, the largest matchmaking service for entrepreneurs and cofounders, into the Onevest ecosystem, and launched 1000 Angels, an invitation-only network for angel investors. Cremades has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on small business financing and has personally guided hundreds of businesses through the fundraising process.
Biggest Takeaway
You will stop mistaking a great idea for a fundable one, and start building proof before you ask anyone for a check. You will walk into pitch meetings already answering the fears investors won't say out loud, instead of just listing your product's features. When someone tells you no, you will know how to keep that door open for months instead of writing them off. You will recognize which investors bring more than money, and which clauses in a term sheet deserve a second look before you sign. And you will understand which crowdfunding rules actually apply to your raise, instead of guessing.
Key Insights from This Book
Explore the most important ideas and learn how to apply them in your life.
The fastest fundraiser in this book never left his desk
Smart investors walk into every pitch already leaning toward no
A winning pitch that never once mentioned the product
How one rejected pitch became a yes ninety days later
Saying yes to venture capital too soon can backfire later
The size of an investor's check tells you the least about them
Publicly announcing you were raising money used to be illegal
One date on a term sheet that can quietly sink your startup
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