[Video Replay] Panel: How to Find Funding For Your Startup
“Be resourceful. You don’t always have to be a leader in everything - just be the most resourceful person in the room.”
Outfront Co-Founder Nicole DeMeo joined Jason Jacobsohn and Adrian Niculescu on VCTV's “How To Find Funding For Your Startup,” a panel hosted by Gary Fowler. The three serial entrepreneurs and VC veterans shared their opinions and experiences working through the nuances of acquiring funding, startup leadership, and team building.
The lightly edited excerpt of their conversation:
Gary Fowler: I know some female entrepreneurs out of Columbus, Ohio, with a really cool startup. What do they do first?
Nicole DeMeo: I always say try not to raise money...investors eat up your equity, and you may not have the traction, proof of concept, or revenue to raise money. First, look at the resources in front of you. There are SMB funds and other grants. One great resource - and, full disclosure, we invested in them as How Women Invest - is Hello Alice - a platform for capital and resources for the underserved market: female entrepreneurs, people of color, veterans. Their website is full of great resources, so go there and watch LAToken's VCTV!
Gary: What do you think about building an online presence to support your visibility?
Jason Jacobsohn: LinkedIn is the first place I go to understand a founder and their background. It’s amazing that people don’t fully fill out their profiles - they may have their company there and nothing else. Posting on a company page is a starting point. I may do a Google search in general, but if they're on LinkedIn, I’ll pull that up first. They get a decent website - it doesn't have to be fully built out, but it should be informational at a minimum. During my due diligence, I look at the website because it provides additional information I may not get in their deck or in a conversation.
Gary: How important is a [startup's] team when you’re looking to do early-stage funding? What should a team look like?
Adrian Niculescu: The team should be between 1 and 5 people - somehow, 3 is the magic number for a startup.
Gary: “Why is 3 the magic number?”
Adrian: Because, usually, it’s related to the psychology of humans: we as humans function in a certain way - we have strengths and weaknesses. The average of those strengths or weaknesses can be found in 3 people. One guy is the operational guy, the other is the financial one, and the third is the one going crazy with marketing. They complement each other and create the necessary system for a startup to function. Three people I see the minimum for something to work.
Gary: What makes a CEO investable?
Nicole: It is super important to do really solid due diligence on founders. Are they subject matter experts? There should be a digital trail that shows they have a market expertise, a technology expertise, a management expertise. It’s super important to look at the whole ecosystem around that founder. Typically, they’ll have written books, articles, thought pieces. Read those, and make sure they’re really solid. The CEO typically needs to be the best salesperson for the company.
Another critical trait is resilience. A founder is somebody who isn’t going to be knocked down by 2 or 5 rejections - 5 rejections may come in one day! Resilience is critical to the life of the business. One of my former clients, Trendyol.com, just became a decacorn. It’s because of the tenacity of their female founder in Turkey, Demet (NAME). I’m so proud of her never-ending efforts as a business leader.
Nicole closed the panel with some final advice:
Find a way to fall in love with your business every day. Be resourceful. You don’t always have to be a leader in everything, but you do need to be the most resourceful person in the room. By being resourceful, you watch LATOKEN’s VCTV shows - it's free! You go out and check out these other resources of incubators, you find these mentors and advisors, and you’re the greatest asset of your business, and get in touch with me!
About Outfront Solutions
Outfront Solutions is a branding and marketing firm that positions organizations for growth, investment and acquisition. From startup to IPO, Outfront Solutions founders have launched companies and products, supported M&As, and put brands, products, and people on the map. We have managed 8-figure budgets for our clients on multiple continents with globally distributed teams, generated thousands of media placements, attracted funding, and invested in new ventures.