LMS #10: The truth of raising money from VCs — the investors’ and the founders’ perspective

You have spoken, we have listened.

You want to know the truth about fundraising — what do investors really look for, how does the process really work, what are best practices to lead a successful raise...So, LMS is bringing you the insider’s perspective to fundraising from both sides of the table, putting together a panel of investors and interviewing two entrepreneurs.

Panel I: Fundraising as seen by VCs

The best and brightest of marketplace investors Sasha Astafyeva from Felix Capital, José del Barrio from Samaipata VC and Tian Tian from Unbound will be interviewed by David Fogel from ADV.

David asked for one condition only: no rules, no filter. We are getting the VC industry to open its kimono and shed light on all things fundraising: the kind of marketplaces dynamics that excite investors, the no-go-areas and redlines, the key metrics they look at and what they look for in numbers, what is a good process from a VC perspective, the timelines and expectations, the implications of getting VC money…you name it, they’ll answer.

Interview: Fundraising as seen by two seasoned entrepreneurs

No-filter David will stay on stage to interview Pete — co-founder & CEO of Elder, tech-enabled 24/7 home-care service with+$9m in funding from the likes of MMC and Hummingbird; and Pip — Founder & CEO of The Dots, a professional network for the ‘no collars’ that has raised GBP5.5m led by Hambro Perks and has fascinating story about funding the company herself in the early days

Pete and Pip definitely know a thing or two about how to successfully raise money from leading VCs and will be sharing with us his key learnings and tips to make the most out of fundraising: how to get that first meeting, tips to pitch to capture VCs attention, how to manage the relationship and the process, make a learning opportunity out of it and stay sane…you name it, he’ll answer.

Calling all marketplace geeks out there! Come, join us for a great evening of startup, marketplace and funding talk:

Date: 30 July 2019, at the Old Street offices of Stripe (map).

Time: 6:30–9pm (fuelled by food & drinks provided by Stripe’s team)

All you have to do is to fill out our registration form to request an invite. Hurry up, places are limited to 80!

Places are limited to 80 and we want to make sure LMS events are the highest in quality of content and networking so we are keeping the event invite-only. Register and if you make the list we will send you an Eventbrite link to claim your ticket.

More on LMS

LMS is a 800-strong community of marketplace founders and leaders. We hold events focusing on topics relevant to building marketplaces (and network-effect products). Meetups are free, invite-only and feature great speakers & panellists. Participation is curated to make sure that each attendee gets maximum value from the evening. Join the community here and make sure you don’t miss any event!

And big thank you!

Ah, and as always, thank you to our sponsors and hosts — Stripe!