Part 2 from my first “CEOs Dinner…”

After the banker spoke, they had a local Venture Capitalist come spend 20-30 minutes giving some tips for anyone looking to raise money through VCs. He gave one tip that I’ve actually heard before as well and that makes a TON of sense.

Anyone who’s getting ready to go raise a “VC round” whether it be round A, B or even later will first develop a list of the firms you are going to prospect. By nature, you probably have a list of VCs that are your “top list” or the ones you really hope you’ll find.

Do yourself a favor - put those ones away for a bit, contrary to what your gutt may say - DON’T pitch them first.

Find the ones on your list that you are “OK” - nothing special and you wouldn’t be too heart-broken if they turned you down. Pitch THEM first.

Basically, it’s batting practice. You’ll need to refine your pitch, you’ll see what the common objections are and you’ll get much better at it.

Save the real goods for the VCs you really want. If you pitch the good ones first, you’ll screw it up (potentially). Also, it can’t hurt you to walk into the good ones with other VCs already interested - just knowing that gives you a TON of credibility.

So, think of pitching VCs in reverse order - save the best for last.

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Part 2 from my first “CEOs Dinner…”

One of the active angel investors there shared MANY stats with us, one of the stats he shared was the following:

“80% of venture capitalists invest within 100 miles of where they are…”

This does not surprise me and it can a major impact on you. If you’re sitting in Wyoming, trying to build a “web savy” business and need to raise money…you’re likely going to find investors in the Silicon Valley area.

So, start thinking - are you willing to MOVE to get the money? Venture capitalists know a certain area, they also feel they can have better hands-on control - convincing them to invest far away is an un-likely task.

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