Demant Gamified Fundraising Process
I’ve coached dozens of startups to a successful fundraise, helping them raise tens of millions of dollars. When founders start fundraising, they all have the same question, “how do I run a proper process?” They know from Twitter and countless VC blogs that they’re supposed to “run a process”, but what exactly does that mean? How should they tactically do that?
Through my coaching, I’ve developed a gamified fundraising process that is easy to follow, and has led to many successful raises. In this post, I’ll explain how it works.
Keeping Organized
The first step is keeping all investors that you’re talking with organized in a CRM. I recommend keeping this simple and using a spreadsheet.
For the gamified process, you’ll need to keep track of the stages your contacts are in. I created a template: Investor CRM
Feel free to make a copy and use the ‘Blank’ version.
The Stages
In this CRM, you’ll notice there are stages that contacts will move through. Your goal is to move them down or out of your active funnel on a weekly basis.
I’ll explain each stage and the point system associated with it.
Stage 0 — This is your research stage. As you’re finding investors, add them here. Each investor added is worth 0.5 point.
Stage 1 — After deciding that an investor is a good fit, you need to reach out directly or request an intro. Once either of those things have happened, move the investor to Stage 1 and give yourself another 0.5 point. This stage is about what you control — getting the email out.
Stage 2 — After the investor has responded to you, positively or negatively, we move them to Stage 2 and it’s worth 1 point.
If it’s negative, still give yourself the point and then move them to either the “Keep Updated Monthly” or “Passed” section.
If it’s positive, you’re likely coordinating a meeting time.
Stage 3 — Once the initial meeting is set and the invite is on everyone’s calendar, move them to Stage 3. 1 point! Be sure to add a note of when the meeting is.
Note: The easiest way to manage this on the spreadsheet is to drag the entire investor row down on the sheet.
Stage 4 — Congrats, you’ve had the first meeting! 1 point! An investor may sit in this stage for a while depending on the results of that meeting. If you have not passed on them or visa-versa, keep them here and keep them updated on a weekly basis.
If the conversation is not moving forward, still give yourself the point for having the meeting, and move them to the appropriate “Passed” bucket.
Stage 4.5 — As the conversation moves forward and you have the next meeting setup, move the contact here. No points for this.
Stage 5 — Post 2nd meeting! This is worth 2 points. Hopefully, you’re moving towards diligence and a decision now. Again, if the conversation is not moving forward, award the points and move them down the sheet and out of your active funnel.
Stage 6 — $$$! A commit! Exciting! While you will not receive a high-5 or congrats for getting someone here (that’s reserved for money hitting the bank), you will receive 5 points. There’s still work to do of course, but you’re nearly there.
Note: If someone backs out, you should move them backwards and take off 5 points. Unfortunately, this happens.
The Weekly Process
This process is designed to be run on a weekly basis, with incremental progress being made on a daily basis. I’m a big believer in the “drip, drip, drip” philosophy. Do a little bit, everyday which quickly adds up to a big gain.
Your target is 20 points per week.
Pros & Cons Of This Process
This process isn’t perfect. It is more iterative where you’re learning from each set of intro requests. Then you’re having meetings and learning again, continually improving your pitch.
Ideally, you’ve got 8-weeks to run this. If you’re trying for a shorter time frame you’ll want to set your weekly target to 40 points or higher.
The primary benefit I’ve seen to this process is simply that it’s doable. It’s something founders can stick to. Twenty points per week is reachable when you’re also running sales, writing some code, and doing customer service every day. And if you are hitting 20 points per week, it won’t take long to build up a sizable pipeline. Remember: drip, drip, drip.
Accountability
When you’re in the fundraising process, it’s important to be accountable. Find a friend and once-per-week at a designated time touch base with 3 things:
- How many points did you get in the last 7 days?
- Who did you make the most progress with? What are the next steps?
- What are your goals for next week? Add to the top of the funnel? Send an update to everyone in Stage 2?
If you’d like to use me as your accountability partner, feel free to reach out: jason.demant@gmail.com.
Good luck!
