Founder's Playbook: Investment
Funds secured: what’s next for your PR and comms strategy?
While many businesses recognise the importance of PR and communications, they often overlook the valuable insights and perspectives that their investors can bring to the table. It’s important to tap into the different areas of expertise held by investors – beyond financial support.
Their industry experience can provide valuable insights into potential growth opportunities, as well as offering strategic guidance to help you refine your business model, make critical decisions and strive for excellence.
Here’s how.
Bring investors on your scaling comms journey
As your business grows, your strategy evolves with it, including communications. Scott Law, Head of Ventures and Quadri Ventures affirms that “the need for PR and marketing increases at each stage of the investment journey. At seed stage, founders are usually selling a dream more than a fully functional product, so the better it looks, feels and sounds then the more chance you’ll have with securing funds. But the truth is that at such an early stage, it’s not always possible.
Scott Law
Head of Ventures, Quadri Ventures
“As you head to pre-series A and beyond, it becomes a necessity to have your brand figured out, especially in a hyper competitive market where you need to cut through the noise and stand out from the crowd.”
Tom Cullen, co-founder at Zoplo, adds: “At pre-seed stage, perception is everything. It’s easy to forget that if you’re doing anything that’s genuinely new as a startup, then there are no exact benchmarks for success. In the early days it is mostly about narrative. That’s a good thing – you want to be doing something disruptive and unique, but it does make it very hard for investors to compare your business to another proposition. That’s why perception is so important. Everything comes down to where people think you are versus where you can go.”
It’s important to show your investors momentum, for which communication strategies can be extremely valuable.
Naomi Timperley, co-founder, Tech North Advocates says: “It’s so important for founders to highlight their impact beyond financial metrics. For example, sharing customer success stories and showcasing social and environmental contributions can really resonate with investors who care about sustainability and ethical practices.
“Another effective strategy is establishing yourself as an industry influencer and thought leader. When founders actively engage in industry discussions and share valuable insights, they not only boost their credibility but also position themselves as go-to experts in their field.”
Naomi Timperley
Co Founder of Tech North Advocates, UK Lead of Global Advocates and We Are GSI Ltd
“When founders actively engage in industry discussions and share valuable insights, they not only boost their credibility but also position themselves as go-to experts in their field.”
The essential ingredients of a successful PR and comms strategy
Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of Olio, believes that “any startup needs to be doing marketing & communications from day zero. Every interaction, whether it be with an end user, a supplier, a prospective investor or a journalist is all about positioning your business, gathering insights, and helping it to grow.
“In the early days though it’s unlikely that you’ll have a marketing & communications strategy that is anything more sophisticated than “experiment as much as you can, as quickly as you can”. If you adopt that mindset, you’ll fast find out what works (and what doesn’t), and you should double down on that – you can worry about ‘diversifying’ your marketing mix when it becomes a problem/constraint.”
For Tom Cullen, “social media is a great tool to craft a favourable perception of you as a founder. I’ve had success in creating this view of myself as someone who has ‘cracked the formula’ for organic growth of our app, which has led to investment.
Tessa Clarke
Co-Founder & CEO of Olio
“Any startup needs to be doing marketing & communications from day zero.”
Building trust and delivering mutual value
“Investors are there to add value, and we can offer help when needed”, says Scott Law. “There’s a balance to strike between what is realistically achievable versus being overly ambitious, and I’d always prefer honesty, transparency and integrity.”
Speaking from a Venture Capital perspective, Scott continues: “Each VC will have their own preferences on how they like to be involved post-investment, but my view is that the support should be provided as and when needed. We’re investing in companies and teams that we believe in, so although we have active board seats, we do also respect the level of service that the people we work with actually want.”
“We’re there to be a trusted advisor, so we want to foster a relationship where there’s open channels of communication and no one worries about picking up the phone to run through any challenges or ask for advice.”
Speaking from his own experience, Kam Punia, founder and CEO of Pixion Games, finds that “Angels are the most value-add type of investors. They’re generally operators who have been in your position and therefore have the relevant experience and expertise, but they also come in at a very early stage so are personally incentivised to help you raise your next round and de-risk their investment. This helps you plug any potential blind spots and move forward with operational expertise from credible individuals with proven backgrounds. All of this helps you to create a very strong narrative for your business.”
Tessa Clarke adds: “Whilst investors can be helpful for a startup’s marketing and business strategy, you should be under no illusion that investors are going to ‘crack’ this for you – the hard work remains with you and the team. In our experience where investors can be helpful is in providing warm introductions to prospective clients, investors and business partners; in providing industry benchmarks so you can understand what good/great looks like; in recommending and interviewing senior talent for your business; and perhaps most importantly, in providing a birds’ eye perspective on your business and challenging your thinking.”
For Ed Reid, an associate director in PwC UK’s corporate finance team: “The key theme here is trust.”
Edward Reid
Associate Director at PwC
"With a trusted relationship, everyone can hold each other accountable and truly pitch in when things get difficult, supporting each other through the tough times to hopefully get through to the good.”
“Nothing is simple in business or investing, and almost always there will be deviations (either positive or negative) to a plan. With a trusted relationship, everyone can hold each other accountable and truly pitch in when things get difficult, supporting each other through the tough times to hopefully get through to the good.”
Naomi Timperley concludes: “Regular and transparent communication is crucial, providing consistent updates tailored to each investor’s level of involvement. It’s important to involve investors in strategic decisions, either as advisors or by seeking their feedback, which makes them feel valued and leverages their expertise. Facilitating networking opportunities is also beneficial; connect investors with each other and encourage them to introduce you to their contacts who might be potential partners, customers, or future investors.“
Give yourself the best chance
Businesses engage investors for financial support, but so many lose out on immeasurable value by treating them solely as a source of funds.
So, if you’re not already doing this, it’s time to bring your investors along on your communications journey.
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