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10/16/15 | Uncategorized

What It Takes to Raise Capital for Your Startup

LearnĀ from a founder who’s raisedĀ $39.9M.

ByĀ Poornima VijayashankerĀ (Founder, BizeeBee & Femgineer)

This post originally appeared onĀ Femgineer.

Youā€™ve probably noticed the ongoing debate about whether or not weā€™re in a tech bubble. Headlines are always gushing about the latest companies with billion dollar valuations.

Thereā€™s a lot of investment capital out there right now, and if youā€™re a startup founder who hopes to raise money, you might be wondering what it takes to attract some of that capital to you .

You have to figure out what to say to attract investors, but hereā€™s the thing: Depending on whether itā€™s your first fundraise or a follow-on round, you have to take a different approach.

So, what do investors look for in a startup ripe for Series A versus Series B? When should you stop bootstrapping and search for seed funding?

To help us out with these questions, Iā€™ve invited Melody McCloskey, the CEO and co-founder of StyleSeat, who has successfully raised $39.9 million for her company through four separate fundraising rounds, ranging from seed to Series B.

Each round was different, and it wasnā€™t all smooth sailing for Melody. Hear how she succeeded in her four rounds and learn:

  • Why itā€™s important to start bootstrapping before you consider taking capital
  • What investors are looking for at different stages, like seed, Series A and Series B
  • How to pitch investors who know very little about your industry

This is a must-watch whether youā€™re thinking of raising capital for your startup one day or going through the fundraising process right now.

After youā€™ve watched the video, let us know what your favorite part was in the blog comments.

Want to hear the investorā€™s side of things? The next episode of FemgineerTV airs in October, and Iā€™ll be hosting Shruti Gandhi, the Managing Partner of Array VC, to explore the other side of fundraising. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know when itā€™s out!


About the guest blogger: Poornima Vijayashanker is the founder of BizeeBee, a platform that helps membership based business drive growth. Before acquisition she was the founding engineer at Mint.com, has launched Femgineer, a company that helps tech professionals and entrepreneurs level up their careers and has been one of Inc Magazine’s ’10 Women to Watch’ in tech.

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