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.

Find your First Investor – True Story on How I Found one of my Lead Investors - Calamari Story Continued

In my previous article, I discussed how I found my lead investor with an idea and a plate of calamari. 

Was it really that simple? Yes and no.

Today I am going to describe some of the details to help you your find investor. 

Proper environment - I was at a country club. Was I there to do business? No, I was there to play golf and eat my appetizer. it just happened. The more often you can put yourself in the right environment to make connections, the better. How do you pick the right environment? Analyze your target market. For example, if you are selling business insurance, chamber of commerce card exchanges. If you are a pharmaceutical rep, maybe medical society events?

Focus - Abandoning the calamari... One of my clients told me a story about how he was at a trade show and his competitors were busy shoveling chicken fingers down their throats while they were closing deals. My personal rule for networking events is not to eat until I’m done making connections unless it would be socially awkward not to eat. I have hosted several events where I didn’t even taste the food because I was so busy.

Trusted advisors - My attorneys pointed out the flaws in the purchase agreement, where the opposing counsel neglected to include a non-compete. I have saved tens of thousands of dollars in taxes because I hire CPAs that aggressively look for legal, tax saving strategies

Contact us today if you want to raise capital for your business, funding@omegaaccelerator.com.  

Are you interested in helping businesses while enjoying the potential high returns of angel investing? Email info@OmegaAccelerator.com. 

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

Sources and Links
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.

How I Found My First Investor With Calamari – True Story on How I Found a Lead Investor

I really enjoy learning about how successful people become successful; however, I am often frustrated by the lack of early details. Learning about major wins is great, but what about the details about the smaller wins that led to these successes? Today, I am going to do that for you. I going to deep-dive a small win that led to a major success.

Finding a lead investor is one of the hardest things you need to do when raising money for a startup. The less wealthy and connected you are, the harder it is. Click here to learn about the challenge of finding your first investor.

It can be done. In this situation, My lead investor wrote the first check. This was before I had a investor deck, before I had a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), before I had product-market fit, before I formed a legal entity, before I invested a dime.

I barely even had an idea. But I did have an investor. This is more important than everything else. Working capital and third party validation.

How I Found My First Investor With Calamari

I was sitting at a bar at my club one Friday evening after a late round of golf. The rest of my group had plans so I was there by myself eating calamari and watching golf on TV. Life was good.

Two guys came in and sat next to me. Lumpy, the chubby one one of the pair, was staring at my appetizer.

Me: “Would you like some calamari?”
Lumpy: “Yes!”
Sheldon: “Sure.”

After inhaling what was left on my food, the two of them proceeded to describe the inner-workings of the club. Who was relevant. Who was not.

Both Lumpy and Sheldon were members of the club for a long time and knew almost everyone. Sheldon came from family money. He had a bit of a gambling problem and went through a nasty divorce. Lumpy was more of a grinder. Probably earned most of his money. The grinding took its toll, he had some serious eating and people issues. 

They were both fascinated by the fact that I was an entrepreneur. I told them the story on how I was recently bought-out of a company I previously launched. I also told them that the purchasers neglected to include a non-compete in their purchase agreement. This meant that I could use all of the connections I accumulated and the information I learned to start a new company. A new company that could directly compete with the company I just sold. 

This small interaction launched an extremely intense “friendship” that lasted about a year. Sheldon eventually became my lead investor. He introduced me to 85% of the outside investors. He wrote a check before I did. Lumpy eventually wrote a check as well.

No plan, no business, just investors.

Not a bad return on investment for a plate of Calamari. 

I will dissect the details of this transaction in a future post.

Contact us today if you want to raise capital for your business, funding@omegaaccelerator.com.  

Are you interested in helping businesses while enjoying the potential high returns of angel investing? Email info@OmegaAccelerator.com. 

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

Sources and Links
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.

Finding a Lead Investor

What is a Lead Investor

Are you struggling to secure the funding you need to take your business to the next level?  Maybe you should you consider the benefits of finding a lead investor.  A lead investor is the first person to make an outside investment in your company (simplecrowdfunding.co.uk/help/faq/what-is-a-lead-investor).  They also take the lead by introducing your company to more potential investors.  Ideally, this produces a chain of investors that helps you meet your fundraising goals.

There are several reasons why it may be difficult for a start-up company to find investors.  In the article entitled, “25 Reasons Why I Will Not Invest in your Start-up,” Entreprenuer.com provides greater insight into this critical issue (entrepreneur.com/article/236999).  Reasons cited include, you have an inexperienced team, you cold-called me, you are way too early for my money, there aren't any other investors.  These objections can be overcome by finding a lead investor. 

You can click this link for help finding a lead investor for your business start-up, http://omegaaccelerator.com/contact/.

There are many benefits to becoming a lead investor.  Lead investors often enjoy a larger percentage of the profits than later investors.  They also may enjoy a seat on the board and have an active role in management (https://blog.funderbeam.com/faq_item/what-is-a-lead-investor-and-how-do-i-become-one/).  These investors may also negotiate special perks, such as exclusive vendor/customer relationships, networking opportunities, employment, etc.

Click this link to subscribe to our newsletter and learn about lead investor opportunities, http://omegaaccelerator.com/.

Here are some quick tips for finding your lead investor

• Strong MVP
• Compelling 1-page executive summary
• Don't worry about the valuation until later
• Network
• Pitch friends and family first
• Put some of your own money in the company
• Make traction
• Market like crazy
• Be persistent, not annoying
• Enjoy the process