Backstage Capital Office Hour Resources

This week, the Backstage Crew met with 48 founders through our virtual Office Hours. In group sessions, we had conversations about fundraising, customer journey mapping, how founders can respond to the COVID-19 crisis, hiring, and more

After each session, we shared with attendees some of the resources that were discussed as part of the call, and we thought that it might be helpful to share these resources more widely. Some of them are very timely to today’s environment, while others are fundamental resources for startups at any time.

Investment Resources:

• Investors who are still writing checks during COVID-19
• Fast funding from NFX
• Discover VCs / VC index from NFX
• Tactical Fundraising advice from Elizabeth Yin
• This Airtable of funds that are currently deploying capital and also invest in underestimated founders

Alternatives to Fundraising from Angels / VCs:

• Crowdfunding, including iFundWomen, Republic, WeFunder, StartEngine
• Revenue based funding, including Indie.vc, and Collab Capital
• Alternative working capital options, including Brex and Clearbanc

COVID-19 Specific Resources:

• This open funding call from New Media Ventures
• Gordon Daugherty blog post on fundraising during COVID-19
• Sequoia Capital on cash flow management during COVID-19
• First Round Capital’s Founder Field Guide for Navigating this Crisis
• Red Backpack Fund from Sarah Blakely

Recommended Reading:

• It’s About Damn Time (Arlan’s book! Out May 5!)
• Venture Deals
• The Business of Venture Capital

Startup Fundamentals:

• How to build customer journey mapping
• First Round Capital resources on talent acquisition

Backstage Resources:

• The Backstage Mixtape newsletter
• Our founder Arlan’s book! It’s About Damn Time
• Arlan’s new online course, Raising Capital for Your Company from Scratch (40% off with code OFFICEHOURS)

We are looking forward to more upcoming sessions of Office Hours. If you’re interested in joining the conversation, sign up here.