Investor ready

What investors need to see before they say yes.

A short guide for founders raising their first serious round. Six things to have in place before the first meeting, one test for each, and a ten point checklist.

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Why most raises stall

Founders pitch the product. Investors buy the structure around it.

A raise rarely stalls because the idea is weak. It stalls because the investor cannot see three things quickly enough: what the business is, whether it is working, and whether this founder can carry it.

Those are questions of clarity, proof and trust. Each one can be prepared before the first meeting.

Inside the guide

Nine pages, in order.

One sentence: what you do, for whom, and why now.
Proof, not promise: what counts as evidence at each stage.
The numbers investors check first, and the assumptions under them.
The founder: why you, why this, what you have built before.
The right investors, and how to ask for a warm introduction.
Materials that hold up: the summary, the deck and the data room.

The checklist

Ten statements. Raise when you have ten.

I can state what we do, for whom and why now in one sentence.
Someone outside my industry can repeat it.
My strongest proof point is on the first page.
Every claim has a document behind it.
I know the amount, the use of funds and the runway.
I have named my three key assumptions.
My bio is consistent everywhere an investor will look.
I have references ready to take a call.
Every investor on my list fits by stage, sector and cheque size.
My summary, deck and data room agree with each other.

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Begin

Fewer than ten? That is the work.

I help founders build the positioning, the materials and the investor deck as one structure. Tell me where the raise stands. You will have a reply within two working days.

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