undraising 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
Our first section is focused on what you need to do before you start looking for investors.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day” and it takes time to prepare for fundraising and make sure that all your ducks are in the row. You need a compelling pitch deck, a financial model adapted to your stage and business model, and incorporation and other legal documents.
LOOKING FOR INVESTORS
When I meet first-time entrepreneurs, almost every initial conversation eventually turns to “How and where do I look for investors”? It’s the elephant in the room. It’s Everest all founders looking for funding must climb, whether or not they know how to rock climb and whether or not they have experience with extreme temperatures and altitude.
This is why our second section is focused on different approaches of looking for investors as well as how to understand their feedback and effectively address their concerns.
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. It could be the MPV launch, your first customer, and, of course, your first term sheet.
Sadly, not all term sheets are created equal and sometimes, as difficult as it is, sometimes it is better to walk away from a deal than to take it and jeopardize your company’s future.
That is why in the final section we focus on startup finance and situations that you should watch out for in investor negotiations.
GETTING READY
Getting ready for fundraising is like preparing for a marathon. It requires meticulous planning, strategic thinking, and the right tools in your arsenal. In this section, we delve into the essential steps every startup founder must take before embarking on the fundraising journey. From crafting a compelling pitch deck to ensuring legal compliance, we provide actionable insights to help you lay a solid foundation for your fundraising efforts. This part of the guide equips you with the knowledge and resources to navigate the complex terrain of startup finance with confidence and ease.
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Top three fundraising mistakes
If you’re diving into the world of fundraising for the first time, it’s totally normal to feel a mix of excitement and anxiety. However, some of the mistakes are common even for the experienced founders. This video will guide you through the pitfalls and help you navigate the path to funding success and do it fast.
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What do investors look for?
Once you decide to fundraise, it is important to understand the investors’ mindset, what they are looking for, and make sure you meet investment eligibility criteria.
Investors aren’t just interested in flashy products—they’re after businesses with serious growth potential. While some may have noble secondary goals, like backing female-led ventures or green innovations, the bottom line is always about profit and managing risk.
Watch this video to learn which five main criteria early stage investors use when conducting their due diligence.
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How to make your pitch stand out?
It is important to tell your story the right way and to back it up with solid numbers you can justify. Public speaking jitters can strike even the most confident people, but for startup founders, the pressure is on a whole new level. You’re not just presenting for the sake of it— you’re laying your heart and soul on the line, pitching the culmination of months of hard work and passion.
In this video, we’re diving into four game-changing strategies to captivate investors and fast-track your funding journey.
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What do investors look for in your financials?
Finally, the numbers. Watch this video to understand how to create and use your financial projections so that you can explain to investors how you plan to turn your vision into reality. We will go over the most common investor questions, why they ask it and how to best answer them.
PART 2. LOOKING FOR INVESTORS. COMING IN APRIL.
PART 3. NEGOTIATING YOUR TERM SHEET. COMING IN MAY.
Stay tuned.
Still have questions?
We are happy to talk to you. Book a FREE 30-min consultation now by pressing the button below and, as a bonus, we will send you a COMPLIMENTARY financial health checklist.
“Victoria is one of the smartest, and most talented financial analysts out there. She has created the financial models for 2 of my companies, to which we have raised over $20M using her financials and valuation reports. She is very professional and always makes you prove the assumptions:) She will always be a vital part to my businesses.”
“Victoria truly helped “break me in” as a CEO and startup founder. With her guidance, we’ve discovered the best routes to forming a business model according to the specific needs of my company. From monetization avenues to acquisition strategies and everything in between, Victoria patiently guided me and diligently crafted a meticulously laid-out plan and financial model I feel confident, even proud, to present to prospective investors, as it points to the breadth & scope of work we’ve accomplished together. Victoria is also extremely generous with advice, resources, and introductions. I currently work with a marketing team she introduced to me and I am very happy with them, as well.”
“Victoria really distilled down the financial model to the inputs that need to be discovered in order to determine business viability. Her attention to detail and experience show in taking those inputs and filling out the rest of the model. These are the real numbers that you need for investors.”
“Victoria provided me with great knowledge for the financial projection and reviewed my pitch deck where she provided me with great pointers. She definitely is somebody I count as my inner circle of advisors and recommend her as the go to person for any start up.”
“We are a couple of engineers going through lot’s of trials and errors trying to launch our startup so meeting with Victoria was priceless in terms of getting a fresh unbiased perspective on our business model and getting advice on how to move forward.
“I have the greatest appreciation for Victoria’s contribution in analyzing financial trends and developing the monetization strategies for my business. She is not only an experienced financial analyst, but she is also very creative and gave my business many important suggestions. I felt comfortable and willing to reveal information easily, which helped make the valuation process easier. Victoria can see the big picture almost immediately, and at the same time she is a stickler for details. These attributes make her a perfect financial advisor and mentor for entrepreneurs. Further, Victoria, once given a task, is completely dedicated to it. She has a keen ability to process and synthesize information and make the right decisions, and she comes with the highest recommendation.”
“Victoria is an amazing resource that every start-up should have. She is whip smart and diligent. We worked with her on the valuation of our company and she’s been an invaluable resource in refining our assumptions, revenue and expenditure models. If you think you understand the fundamentals of your own business model, talk to Victoria and get ready to learn so much more!”
“I had the pleasure of working with Victoria for building a working financial model for my business. Her expertise and acumen are not only impressive, but her personable nature made her a joy to work with as well. She was able to offer valuable insights and direction as we strategically built out a financial model, utilizing reliable data assumptions that translate to a usable document for my business. The result and end-product proved the value of both the time and monetary investment. I couldn’t recommend her enough as a resource for any entrepreneur looking to build out a financial model, financial roadmap and/or valuation of their enterprise.”
“Victoria Yampolsky came highly recommended by a colleague of mine and I’ve been fortunate to work with her! She completed the valuation and the financial model for our startup, EnergyPoints. Her unique framework for modeling early-stage ventures allowed us to refine our business plan and use strategy and industry standards to credibly formulate assumptions. Victoria is a Columbia Business School grad and CFA, and her company, The Startup Station, has done 100s of valuations and has an impressive track record. She presented her valuation to two national banks with our accountant, and in both scenarios, she was praised by the level of detail that went into her extensive valuation. I can’t recommend her highly enough!”
“Victoria was a key advisor for Predictive People – as an early stage startup we had tons of questions and we needed professional guidance to sort them out. I am really glad we had her by our side to solve them all, ending with a solid business plan and financial projections. I can’t recommend her more, she’s professional, fast, empathetic, and incredibly smart, a true partner for any startup.”
“Victoria is trustworthy, knowledgeable and customer-focused startup strategic CFO. I’ve been impressed since day 1 with the responsiveness, thoroughness and overall professionalism of Victoria. According to the traditional scenario of almost all early stage startups, the founders are involved in all processes of the company formation. So I am no exception without having a financial education, without professional Excel skills – I nevertheless decided to build a financial model on our own. Honestly, it seemed impossible. But in the end, we did it in a total of 3 weeks. I want to express my deepest gratitude for professionalism and incredible talent to motivate all of our team members. Victoria has a unique ability to get into the essence of the business very quickly, to think very flexibly and innovatively – which is very important for our startup.
“I was a student and client of Victoria through The Startup Station and cannot highlight enough how helpful the process was for our company in reaching our first funding milestone and personally for me. Victoria is a fantastic teacher and recommend her financial modelling courses to anyone. We also worked one to one to refine our company model/financial roadmap and Im proud of my newly developed, ninja-level Excel skills. Paraphrasing from someone famous “Clarity trumps confidence any day of the week” and it’s what I feel from working with Victoria.”
“Building a financial model with Victoria and The Start Up Station for a mutual client was an illuminating experience!
“Victoria is a rare find in the startup world. She’s brilliant with startup financial strategies and has this no-nonsense work ethic that proves to deliver results. Victoria worked with a participant of 2020 Startups, a startup founder, and within a couple of months the founder raised capital. Victoria has done several workshops and speaking engagements at 2020 Startups and is always insightful and held in the highest regard by the audience.”
“Victoria and The Startup Station Team were absolute game-changers for Ovaterra. Victoria served as my right-hand CFO through fundraising, M&A, liquidity crises and more — always guiding the ship with calm, detail-oriented and strategic advice. I would recommend her and her team to any Founder or executive who needs a strategic, fractional CFO to guide your business to the next level.”
“Victoria, we raised $1.4M! It’s finally 
“In business, and especially with startups, getting to a place of clarity around the business and financial models can be challenging even for the most experienced professional. Victoria brings the right mix of business and financial know-how and quickly understands the moving pieces. As such, she’s able to provide an excellent product, a deeper sense of understanding about the project based on its’ needs, and a sense of calm and assurance that the challenges faced will be dealt with in a way that drives growth.”
“I had the pleasure of working closely with Victoria as fractional CFO of our startup. Her expertise in business and financial modeling is truly exceptional. Victoria played a pivotal role in helping our company think through every aspect of our business, and her ability to create a comprehensive model was nothing short of impressive. She not only provided a clear plan for our future but also identified areas where we could improve and grow.
“If you’re raising capital and want to shine when pitching to investors, I highly recommend you choose Victoria Yampolsky and the Startup Station as your resource for high performance results. Victoria is extremely well versed in all aspects of raising capital and the startup landscape. She provides clients with outstanding tools, applicable advice and thoughtful insights to support their fundraising efforts.