Raising a round of funding is one of the most time-consuming and stressful processes for a founder. During a recent TechTO event, #paid CEO and co-founder Bryan Gold—whose company raised a $9 million Series A in May led by ScaleUP Ventures—shared his lessons learned from raising a major funding round.
Gold said that he had to make a mindset shift to approaching fundraises; while startups look at fundraising as a process where they’re being evaluated, startups should do due diligence on the right investors. For reference, Gold shared his criteria for investors he wants to work with, which include vision alignment, a good working relationship, and helpfulness.
“Does this person have a playbook they can share and walk you through it? Do they have access to a network of people that you can hire? Do they access to a future VC when you go and raise their next round?” he asked. “What are things that are important to you?”
He also advises startups to understand the basics of what a board is. “I was scared of a board. I didn’t want to lose control of the company, but I realized I was thinking about things the wrong way,” Gold said. “A board is good corporate governance, and if you have people around the table who can add meaningful value to your business, you’re going to be more successful.”
Gold tackled the fair question of whether a fundraise was a win, or a means to an end. From his point of view, it’s the latter. “Rather than throwing a big party, what we did is announce it and now we have the ingredients, but we have to make the meal.”
See the full video below:
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