How to fundraise remotely: guide for growth

For many people, the world we’re facing today is much different from the one we faced yesterday. The Coronavirus pandemic has changed the global conversation. If you’re a founder, you might be nervous about the fate of your startup, and understandably so. Your startup might have a precarious toehold on the path to success – maybe you need to raise another round of funding, or maybe you’re in the middle of one right now. You’re probably wondering about all of these things, in the background of all the other unknowns.

We’re here to help, and with the good news that many things can be done remotely. At Global Shares, we’ve had a lot of experience with remote working – we worked remotely during the Beast from the East snowstorm and Storm Ophelia, and we’re based in a rural location with offices across the globe. Not to mention, our Hong Kong and Beijing offices have been working remotely since the outbreak began. So, we’re experts on making remote working work for our business.

We know that many founders might be in the worst-case scenario – they’re in the middle of a round of funding, or they’ll go under without another round. With the pandemic, can they still fundraise?

Yes, they can. They just need to switch to remote fundraising.

VCs are still investing

Many VCs have reassured founders that they are still investing, and are doing so aggressively. So, if you need to fundraise, you will still have plenty of investors to pitch to. You might even have more. Now that all meetings must be done remotely, both founders and investors have saved untold time in travelling, not to mention general meetings and commuting. Investors will have a lot more time to listen to pitches, and you won’t be limited by how far you can travel to them.

Wifi

This might seem like common sense, but it bears mentioning – if you’re going to a remote fundraiser, make sure you have a great wifi connection. Not a good wifi connection – a great one. Investors will understand that things are not precisely business as usual, but if your video stream starts to freeze or delay, it will throw off your rhythm and your confidence.

Hustle remotely

There’s a reason that the world has resisted large-scale remote working for a while now – face-to-face meetings have a big impact. You’re able to project more personality in person. Unfortunately, you’re going to lose that. Which is fine, but you’re going to need to step up your pitch deck. When you’re not in the room together, there’s going to be a lot less small talk, which means your presentation can (and probably should) be a bit longer.

It’s also easier for investors to get distracted from a remote presentation, and it’s harder for you to pick up on their wandering attention. You need to break the presentation down more, into tight, efficient sections, with a small pause to allow for questions or clarifications. The pause also gives you a chance to look up, and change gears if needed.

You might have already been doing this for your face-to-face meetings, but with a remote presentation, things need to be even more perfect. You can’t physically hustle – so put that hustle into your presentation. With that in mind…

Think of this as a test

Right now, every single business is facing uncertainty. While it is, of course, concerning from a health perspective, it can give you an opportunity to show what sort of leader you are. Investors will tell a lot about your strengths (and by extension, the strength of your company) simply by looking at your cap table. But they want to see how you can handle hard times, and the current pandemic is certainly that.

Use the extra time in your presentation to highlight the steps you’re taking to keep your business growing. And be prepared for the questions that the investors are inevitably going to be asking. Are you cutting spending? How will your revenue be affected by the slowdown of sales, and how will you respond? Do your supply lines go through any hard-hit areas?

These are unprecedented times, and these questions might be daunting to think about. But if they’re going to ask the questions – and they are – you need to have the answers.

Cap table

In fundraising, your cap table is your best foot forward. It’s what fundraisers will ask to look at first, as it shows them exactly how your company is structured. It goes without saying that your cap table needs to be neat, clear and accurate. Especially in a remote round, as you won’t be able to walk them through it, or answer questions as easily as you normally would. At Global Shares, our cap tables are fully exportable, dynamic and are visually striking. With a few clicks of the button, your presentation is already off to a great start.

Those are the most important things to keep the ball rolling and fundraise remotely. Other than that, the round will be the same, because whether remote or in-person – your company is still the same, and the investors are still the same. Regardless of what is happening in the world, the world will still need great businesses.

If you’re interested in making the best impression possible over a video fundraiser, contact Global Shares for a free demo of our cap table management software.

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