Photo: Oziel Gómez @ozgomz
You want to become the next tech success story. The issue though is funding. Where will you find your next bit of cash from to build your product or grow your business to the next stage?
Yeah, you sometimes hear funding stories but what you don’t hear is the many failed startups that never get funded. The issue is that investors are becoming more risk-averse.
And to their own right, they want a return on their investment and startups are super risky.
More and more entrepreneurs are looking to raise capital but the investors will be very selective with who they will work with. This can be frustrating, trust me I have been there too and I know the struggle can be real. Very real.
But here is the good news. There is a way to increase the likelihood of getting investment, and that is to prove your revenue growth or at least show some paying customers.
For the last seven years, I have worked in a government-funded tech accelerator called ecentre, which is owned by one of the top universities in the world. We built some amazing tech companies that now sell in 80+ countries around the world. In 2019 alone, our alumni companies raised 11 million dollars. Crazy, right.
What they all have in common is that they bootstrapped their way to where they got to. Meaning that they did the work and showed traction in their business first, before they spend time chasing investors.
The framework for this focuses on a few key aspects of your business. The strategy which includes your vision, roadmap and positioning. The structure to ensure you can scale your business and grow sustainably. Lastly, your cost and conversion effective reach into your market.
Imagine if rather than continually trying to hold pointless meetings to find investors, you’re now being contacted and chased by angel investors yourself.
You see, an angel wants to get a return on investment. If you can show them a mid or lower-risk opportunity with significant upside, the investment becomes an opportunity to consider.
On top of that, you will be generating revenue meaning that funding now becomes an option rather than a must-have. You choose who you want to have on board of your business.
