This video emphasizes the importance of following up with investors to address their concerns and ultimately secure funding. By consistently engaging, startups can convert initial meetings into concrete investments.
What this video covers
When it comes down to the follow-up, when you are meeting with investors, there are always going to be concerns. At the beginning, during your first meeting, it’s going to be getting to know each other. What’s the why of your business, the what, the how? And remember that those investors are also speaking with your competitors. They are also very well-versed in your market, and they are looking at making a potential investment in a company like yours.
Essentially, the reasoning behind those follow-ups is, what you’re doing is getting closer to the money because the more that you follow-up, hopefully, the more meetings that you can get to secure; and the more meetings that you secure, the more concerns you will be able to address; and the more concerns that you address, the closer that you will be to the money.
At the end of the day, remember that what is separating you and the money are the concerns that are in-between. For that reason, following-up is critical. As I always tell entrepreneurs, on every single interaction, on every single email, or whatever follow-up you are doing, make sure that every interaction has a call to action.
Never ever leave that call to action or that follow-up open-ended. Like, “Look forward to hearing from you,” or “Looking forward to your comments.” Always finish it with “Are you available for a call next week or the following to catch-up.” That way, you’re always trying to get the next meeting. Get to the next meeting always, so that you can get those concerns addressed.
In terms of how and when you are going to be following-up with investors at least every two weeks. Remember that this is not just a checking-in note because that’s super annoying. What you want to do is add value, and that means that you need to give an update, something that is exciting that can also get them pumped, so they could make an investment.
That could be, maybe you’ve made new hires; maybe you have a nice press mention on a media outlet. Maybe there’s a nice blog that features your company. Perhaps there’s a nice milestone that you’ve achieved. Maybe there are people that you’ve hired in your business.
It needs to be something that adds value and that essentially what it’s doing in the follow-up is giving them the idea that whatever promises that you made on your first meeting, you’re delivering those promises, and it helps them to connect the dots, and for them to say, “Hey, look. This individual is actually delivering on the promises that initially she or he made on our first meeting.” That’s what you want to do. Again, remember that you want to do this at least every couple of weeks and with something that adds value to the investor and to your story.
In terms of what makes a great update, it needs to be authentic, there are no lies, and it’s also transparent because here’s the thing: investors, as a matter of fact, they have become experts at pattern recognition. They can identify someone that is being superficial, someone who is being unauthentic, and you want to make sure that you’re coming across as what you see is what you get. For that reason, you want to make sure that it’s authentic, that you’re not throwing any lies, and that it’s transparent with whatever update that you’re sharing with the investor.
Again, follow these steps consistently, and eventually, you will get to that point where all the dots have connected. They’re going to be like, “Hey, by the way, are you looking for money?” Then, at that point, you’re going to be like, “Absolutely. Would you like to lead my round, or would you like to participate?” Then, eventually, everything falls into place.
As I always say, “Never go for money because if you ask for money, you’re going to get advice; but if you ask for advice, you’ll get money twice.
