The Most Common Mistake Founders Make When Raising Money - Friction-Less Fundraising - Ren Carlton

If you have been following me for a while, you may remember my story about the guy in the desert,

As you probably already know, raising money can be tough. Investment dollars are are limited and less than 1% of small businesses successfully raise capital.

Let's talk about how you can beat the odds and find funding

Frictionless Fundraising

One of my main priorities when raising money is to make it as simple as possible. We call it Frictionless Fundraising. How can I make it very easy for someone to invest in my business?

The Most Common Mistake Founders Make When Raising Money

Around 20% of founders ask me to sign an NDA when I am evaluating their business for investment. A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA) or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to. 

Founders frequently ask potential investors to sign an NDA before sharing some or all of the information that is available about their business. I think this is often a bad idea.

Reasons Why We Will Not Sign Your NDA

-We have thousands of other investment options.
-We don't have time to read your NDA.
-How can we promote you to other investors if we cannot talk about your idea?
-What if we are already working on a similar idea with another group?
-What if we receive a similar idea in the future?
-If secrecy is the only thing special about your business we are not interested anyways. Build your moat...
-You probably don't have the funding to protect your idea.

-You may not be able to legally protect your idea.

Ideas are a dime-a-dozen in the information age. Structure, process, and execution is what creates entrepreneurial success. Adding an additional layer of complexity to your search for investors is not a good idea.

Ways to Make It Easier for Angel Investors to Invest in Your Business

-Have basic information ready to send.
-Answer questions pleasantly.
-Don't answer questions with questions.
-Don't ask too many questions.

Are you looking for investors for your business? Contact us today, funding@omegaaccelerator.com

Are you interested in angel investing and helping us fund early-stage businesses? Email info@OmegaAccelerator.com

Click here if you would like me to personally consider investing in your business. If I do not personally invest, I will give you specific tips for finding funding for your business. 100% satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.  https://rencarlton.blogspot.com/2019/09/funding-session-with-ren-carlton.html

Sources and Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-disclosure_agreementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-disclosure_agreement
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rencarlton
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/RenCarlton
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmxQWgUDlPJo0IHCIa6SzrQ
https://omegalegacyacceleratorx.com/924-2/https://www.facebook.com/TheOmegaAccelerator/
https://www.instagram.com/omega.funding/
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com/2019/09/funding-session-with-ren-carlton.html



Disclaimer: This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties. All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.

New Opportunities for 2020 - Launch Announcement and Omega Accelerator Update

We are excited to announce a number of exciting new opportunities for 2020!

2019 Update - Omega Legacy Accelerator X

In 2019 we launched Omega Legacy Accelerator X. Our 2020 goal is to enroll another 100 companies into this accelerator. You can learn more by visiting https://omegalegacyacceleratorx.com/.

Are you looking for investors for your business? Contact us at funding@omegaaccelerator.com.

New Opportunity - Ecommerce Business Accelerator

Here is your chance to live the entrepreneurial life and get in on the ground floor of our next accelerator. We are looking for founders for our new Ecommerce Business Accelerator. We have remote, part-time positions with flexible working hours available. Email Opportunities@omegaaccelerator.com to learn more.

Are interested in a passive investments? Omega Legacy Accelerator X is preparing for its next round of growth. Email info@omegaaccelerator.com to learn more.

Sponsors interested in reaching our network of over 20,000 entrepreneurs and funding sources can email info@omegaaccelerator.com.

Sources
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/RenCarlton
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmxQWgUDlPJo0IHCIa6SzrQ
https://omegaaccelerator.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheOmegaAccelerator/
https://www.instagram.com/omega.funding/
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com/2019/09/funding-session-with-ren-carlton.html

Disclaimer:  This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service.  We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice.  Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties.  All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.

Is Writing a Business Plan a Waste of Time? - Acquiring Business Funding and Writing a 1-Page Executive Summary for Angel Investors

“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
Mark Twain

Information is everywhere. It is no longer an advantage. Almost anyone can learn anything with a few minutes and a decent Wifi connection. This makes entrepreneurship and funding your business very different than it was 10 years ago. Information used to be a competitive advantage, now it is just a starting point.

These days, entrepreneurship is all about execution.

Is Writing a Business Plan a Waste of Time?

Business plans are mostly obsolete when raising capital from angel investors. We see thousands of deals a year. We are scanning your materials, trying to find something that meets our preferences. It’s not personal, there is just not enough hours in a day to digest all of the details. The time you spend writing a business plan can be spent on creating, testing, pivoting, selling, etc. The best way to succeed in business is to be in business.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail,” has been replaced by “If you aren’t embarrassed by the first version of your business, you launched too late.”

But execution requires resources and funding... 

Raising Capital without a Business Plan

The 1-Page Executive Summary has replaced the business plan in our 140-character-or-less world. It hits all of the major areas of a business. It demonstrates a business' potential, while leaving enough flexibility for possible changes and pivots. Although there are many formats, I find this one to be compelling:

1. The Grab: You should lead with the most compelling statement of why you have a really big idea. This sentence (or two) sets the tone for the rest of the executive summary. Usually, this is a concise statement of the unique solution you have developed to a big problem. It should be direct and specific, not abstract and conceptual. If you can drop some impressive names in the first paragraph you should—world-class advisors, companies you are already working with, a brand name founding investor. Don’t expect an investor to discover that you have two Nobel laureates on your advisory board six paragraphs later. He or she may never get that far.

2. The Problem: You need to make it clear that there is a big, important problem (current or emerging) that you are going to solve. In this context you are establishing your Value Proposition—there is enormous pain out there, and you are going to increase revenues, reduce costs, increase speed, expand reach, eliminate inefficiency, increase effectiveness, whatever. Don’t confuse your statement of the problem with the size of the opportunity (see below).

3. The Solution: What specifically are you offering to whom? Software, hardware, service, a combination? Use commonly used terms to state concretely what you have, or what you do, that solves the problem you’ve identified. Avoid acronyms and don’t try to use this opportunity to create and trademark a bunch of terms that won’t mean anything to most people. You might need to clarify where you fit in the value chain or distribution channels—who do you work with in the ecosystem of your sector, and why will they be eager to work with you. If you have customers and revenues, make it clear. If not, tell the investor when you will.

4. The Opportunity: Spend a few more sentences providing the basic market segmentation, size, growth and dynamics—how many people or companies, how many dollars, how fast the growth, and what is driving the segment. You will be better off targeting a meaningful percentage of a well-defined, growing market than claiming a microscopic percentage of a huge, mature market. Don’t claim you are addressing the $24 billion widget market, when you are really addressing the $85 million market for specialized arc-widgets used in the emerging wocket sector.

5. Your Competitive Advantage: No matter what you might think, you have competition. At a minimum, you compete with the current way of doing business. Most likely, there is a near competitor, or a direct competitor that is about to emerge (are you sufficiently paranoid yet??). So, understand what your real, sustainable competitive advantage is, and state it clearly. Do not try to convince investors that your only competitive asset is your “first mover advantage.” Here is where you can articulate your unique benefits and advantages. Believe it or not, in most cases, you should be able to make this point in one or two sentences.

6. The Model: How specifically are you going to generate revenues, and from whom? Why is your model leverageable and scaleable? Why will it be capital efficient? What are the critical metrics on which you will be evaluated—customers, licenses, units, revenues, margin? Whatever it is, what impressive levels will you reach within three to five years?

7. The Team: Why is your team uniquely qualified to win? Don’t tell us you have 48 combined years of expertise in widget development; tell us your CTO was the lead widget developer for Intel, and she was on the original IEEE standards committee for arc-widgets. Don’t just regurgitate a shortened form of each founder’s resume; explain why the background of each team member fits. If you can, state the names of brand name companies your team has worked for. Don’t drop a name if it’s an unknown name, and don’t drop a name if you aren’t happy to give the contact as a reference at a later date.

8. The Promise ($$): When you are pitching to investors, your fundamental promise is that you are going to make them a boatload of money. The only way you can do that is if you can achieve a level of success that far exceeds the capital. What is your path to profitability and positive cash-flow? When will you get there? When will your investors start enjoying a financial return on their investment?


One more thing. 1-Page Executive Summaries need to be one page!

This is a good starting point for every funding campaign. It helps you clarify your thoughts and communicate your vision. If it cannot be explained in one-page, you should work on it more before you start pitching investors.

Are you looking for investors for your business, contact us today, funding@omegaaccelerator.com.  

Are you interested in angel investing and helping us fund early-stage businesses? Email info@OmegaAccelerator.com. 

Sources
https://guykawasaki.com/the_art_of_the_-3/  
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com 
https://twitter.com/RenCarlton 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmxQWgUDlPJo0IHCIa6SzrQ 
https://omegaaccelerator.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/TheOmegaAccelerator/ 
https://www.instagram.com/omega.funding/ 
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com/2019/09/funding-session-with-ren-carlton.html 

Disclaimer:  This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service.  We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice.  Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties.  All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.

All offers will be contingent upon passing our due diligence process.

How do I Find an Investor? - Creating a 45-Second Pitch Video for Angel Investors - Money for a Startup - Ren Carlton

How do I find an investor? As our workplace becomes more offsite, remote, and virtual, sending a pitch video is becoming one of the standards for talking to investors. The challenge is that your video pitch cannot gauge a response or answer questions. How can you make an effective pitch when sending a video recording is your only way in? After listening to thousands of videos, I have accumulated a number of tips for founders interested in pitching their ideas to investors.

How do I find an investor using a video?  First the basics:

-Decent video and sound quality - this does not need to be perfect, but your video should be easy to see and hear
-If you are going to use slides or text, use illustrations or 10-15 words max per slide
-Practice your pitch until you have it nailed
-Be interesting
-Be concise, clear, and conversational

45-Second Pitch Video for Angel Investors 

-Avoid jargon, complexity, jargon, and platitudes
-Meet the submission requirements (e.g. when we ask for a 45 second pitch video, do not send us a 3 minute pitch video.)
-Upload your video to YouTube, without password protection
-Email your pitch with the YouTube link and the actual video file as an attachment
-We encourage you to send us any supporting information you have about your business with your video pitch, e.g. website, social media links, videos, slide deck, business plan, projections, 1-page executive summary.
-Email address:  Funding@OmegaAccelerator.com
-Email subject:  45 Second Pitch Video - Company Name

Your 45 second pitch video should include the following:

-Your name
-Your company name
-What your business does
-The problem you are solving
-Your solution
-Why we should take you and your solution seriously
-How much progress/traction you have made so far
-How much money you need
-Why you need the money
-Show your product or service, when possible

Send us your pitch today for a chance to find up to $5 Million of Funding for your business, Funding@OmegaAccelerator.com

Do you need help developing your pitch and fundraising strategy? Click here to schedule your one-on-one planning session with me.

Sources

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-do-i-find-investor-creating-45-second-pitch-video-ren-carlton
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rencarlton 
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/RenCarlton

https://youtu.be/KykN9MFlrtw

https://omegaaccelerator.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheOmegaAccelerator/
https://www.instagram.com/omega.funding/
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com/2019/09/funding-session-with-ren-carlton.html



Disclaimer:  This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service.  We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice.  Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties.  All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.