All articles by The Startup Station

When it comes to raising funds for your startup, cold outreach may seem like an easy way to start—but it’s not the most effective approach. Instead of relying on unsolicited emails or random pitches, the smartest way to attract the right investors is by building authentic relationships. In this post, we’ll explore four key strategies for getting warm introductions to investors and speeding up your fundraising process.

Entrepreneurship is a journey marked by persistence, mindset, and resilience. Two powerful voices recently shared their insights at our recent Breaking Barriers Event — Tiffany Norwood, a renowned tech entrepreneur who launched 9 startups and raised $670M, and Jeanne Sullivan, an experienced investor and advisor with over 30-year experience, who ran a $400M portfolio and made over 150 investments. Their keynotes offer valuable lessons on what it takes to succeed as entrepreneurs.

Fundraising is often one of the most challenging aspects of building a startup, but it can also be a powerful catalyst for growth. Female founders, in particular, face unique challenges when navigating the fundraising landscape, from biases to limited access to funding networks. During the Entrepreneurs Discussion at our recent Breaking Barriers Event, our speakers shared their experiences and strategies for raising capital. Here are the key takeaways from their journeys and tips for others seeking funding.

Starting a business is never easy, and for founders looking to navigate the complex world of investment, understanding what investors are looking for can make all the difference. That is why we present the key takeaways from our recent conference, “Breaking Barriers: Female Founders and The Emotional Side of Venture Investing. On Day 1 of our conference, we had the privilege of hearing from a dynamic panel of investors who shared invaluable insights on what sets successful founders apart, the common red flags they look for, and how to approach the fundraising process strategically.

In the dynamic world of startups, female founders are making significant strides. However, navigating the landscape of funding and investor relations can still present unique challenges. According to a recent report, women-founded companies received only 2% of venture capital, less if you are a minority. This blog post aims to provide valuable insights and actionable advice for women-led startups, ensuring female entrepreneurs are well-equipped to secure the funding they need to thrive.

Founders frequently seek financial tips for pre-seed/pre-revenue companies. In this blog, we’ll explore four key areas: 1. Developing your initial bootstrapped budget 2. Ensuring that your unit economics are sound 3. Determining the number of customers needed to cover operating costs 4. Calculating the sales and marketing budget necessary to achieve your sales targets

Financials are typically a weak point in most startup pitch decks and a source of fear for most early-stage founders. Yet, they are a critical part of the due diligence process and execution post funding. Creating projections at early stages is challenging for founders for several reasons: 1. There is usually little or no financial data to use as a starting point for projections. 2. Founders fundraising for the first time don’t know exactly what investors are looking for in their financials. 3. Founders with product or technical backgrounds lack the basic knowledge of finance and accounting. With the lack of this knowledge, it is hard to compile and present the data correctly. In this blog we will be discussing five reasons why early-stage startups need a financial model, what financial data pre-seed and seed investors expect to see from founders, and most common mistakes founders make in their financial models.

Being confronted with having to value your venture without any financial data and often without proper finance training is the nightmare and reality of every startup founder. You don’t want to sell yourself short, and at the same time, you don’t want to seem unrealistic and lose a chance to raise capital. There is a lot of confusion in the startup community around how accurate a valuation for a company with no financial history and no revenues can be and what exactly it measures. We are here to help you understand all these topics

Fundraising is a daunting challenge, even for the best finance professionals, and downright scary for startup founders with no finance experience. According to Fundable and Entrepreneur, 565,000 startups are launched every year and just under 3% receive angel and VC investments. That is why we decided to dive into this subject in the next three months in three parts: GETTING READY LOOKING FOR INVESTORS NEGOTIATING YOUR TERM SHEET

For any early-stage startup founder, there are several key moments that mark the trajectory of the company’s growth and serve as a testament to the founding team’s hard work. To name a few, there are the MPV launch, your first customer, and, of course, your first term sheet. Raising money is a daunting and outright scary task for any first-time entrepreneur, and thus getting that first term sheet from a professional investor is an incredible validation of your vision, product quality, and persistence.