Founder's Playbook: Investment
How can you use communications to support your fundraising?
Words are powerful tools. Use them wisely to build relationships, evoke excitement and achieve your fundraising goals.
It’s your story, your words, your people that investors see first when they do their homework. If you type your business into Google, or search on LinkedIn, what would you see? Engaging content that positions you as an industry thought leader, frequent updates that demonstrate momentum, or a coverage void?
It all comes down to your communications strategy, and the time and effort you invest to build your brand and personal profile. And here’s why.
The role of founders
Building your founder profile is vital; it’s your chance to bring personality to your business. Yes, your product or service needs to be stellar, but first and foremost, people invest in people.
Tom Cullen, founder of Zoplo believes that “personal branding is essential, and it comes down to three identifiable traits that need to be showcased: industry knowledge, network, and achievements.
“At pre-seed especially, you might not have the ‘achievements’ part of that nailed down just yet, so you need to focus on influencing the perception of your gravitas in the first two areas instead.”
Karan Gupta
Co-founder of Odore
"Investors can deliver so much value beyond capital, whether that’s through introductions they’re able to make, insights they’re able to share or experience they’re able to draw from"
Jacqui Sim, founder and CEO of Growth Path Partners, adds: “Highlighting the commitment and stakes involved from all key players adds depth to the narrative. The essence of the story should evoke emotions and leave a lasting impression, which is crucial for building a compelling personal and company profile.”
Crucially, in the same way that founders need to commit to their role in external communications, they also need to recognise when it’s time to take a step back. As Michael Brennan, angel investor and founder of Welcome to Bob, states: “There’s a crucial point in your startup journey where building your personal brand becomes important. In the early stages, having a notable online presence can help in opening certain doors.”
“However, as the business then grows there comes a point where – as the founder – I step back. I think there can be cases where the business brand gets lost in your personal brand and can lead to concerns around how the business would perform if you were to step back. When the product has built good momentum, that’s my cue to step back.”
Demonstrate credibility to existing and future investors
“Perception is everything.” These words from Matt Bunn, co-founder and co-CEO of Form1 Partners, are bang on the money.
“Fundraising is a sales process. Inevitably, start-ups are risky and unproven, so you must over index for perception by creating a ‘wow factor’ and a level of excitement as you won’t have years’ worth of results to demonstrate. Any chink in the armour won’t go unnoticed by investors and will work against you.”
Tom Cullen
Co-founder at Zoplo
"The power of leveraging your network can’t be understated when it comes to fundraising, at pre-seed stage, perception is everything"
Karan Gupta, co-founder of Odore, reinforces this point. “Evidencing traction is vital – investors need to be confident in your ability to onboard large brands as paying customers. Often that means evidencing your experience in the industry you are entering, but that’s not to say that without a long history in that specific market you won’t be successful.”
Jacqui Sim from Growth Path Partners added: “Positioning oneself and the business as industry leaders helps create a perception of reliability and expertise. This perception often plays a critical role in convincing investors to take a closer look. Every interaction with the brand should evoke the right emotions and leave a lasting impression on potential investors.”
Build hype around the prospect of your business
Matt De La Hey, CEO at inploi, says: “Everything comes down to narrative. You want to build a hype around your brand, and that’s done through the story you tell in getting people to buy in to becoming a part of your journey, the dream of how it might work out and the excitement of being involved. Articulating that well, and as early as possible, means potential investors are already warmed up to you even before you look to raise money.”
Matt de la Hey
CEO at inploi
"Everything comes down to narrative. You want to build a hype around your brand, and that’s done through the story you tell in getting people to buy in to becoming a part of your journey"
A comprehensive communications plan has to take an omnichannel approach. Businesses need to resonate the same message across each of their channels, including press, social media and email marketing.
“Prioritising PR and marketing can significantly influence success in the growth of the business, including attracting investment”, comments Jacqui Sim. “These tools are crucial not only for promoting products but also for crafting a narrative that resonates with investors, boosts visibility, and enhances credibility.”
Matt Bunn continues: “My business partner and I are firm believers in the power of PR, and have invested in campaigns for our own venture, as well as those we source funding for. For Form1 Partners, we had profile coverage in the Financial Times, The Telegraph and The Sun as well as various industry media when we were raising which positioned us in a way that made our jobs so much easier. You’re trying to convince a naturally sceptical base, so every bit of credibility is immensely helpful.”
Michael Brennan
Co-founder and CEO at Welcome to Bob
"Be really clear on what investment is going to get you in the long run, not just the present moment, keep your communication concise and don’t over explain, and do your research"
Tom Cullen, Founder of Zoplo, shares his successes: “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.
“In the early stages, traction might be minimal, your product and service could change, and you’ll come up against unforeseeable challenges. Investors want to know whether the founder and founding team can execute and be successful throughout all of that.”
Give yourself the best chance
Do not underestimate the importance of external communications. Investors will always do their research, and what they find before speaking with you directly could make or break your chance of investment.
So, no matter where you are on your start-up or scale-up journey, take the time to work on your public image across all critical channels.
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