How to Raise $10M By Turning Fundraising into Friend-Raising
The conversation usually begins the same way. The questioner will remark on how impressive my company Kuli Kuli’s growth has been and ask me how old I am. The next question is undoubtedly where I went to college. As they cover up their surprise that it’s not a college they’ve heard of, they’ll ask me if I have a masters in business. When I respond that I don’t have an MBA, but I do hire them, they’ll laugh hesitantly before getting to their real question “how did you learn how to do this?”
The questioner is always well-intentioned and often genuinely believes they are complimenting me. It’s hard for me to determine to what extent it’s my age or gender that leads to this line of questioning on a regular basis. I do know that my similarly-aged male founder friends rarely have their qualifications questioned. More broadly, I know that women founders receive less than 3% of all venture capital . To me, this statistic underlies a broader, societal doubt in the abilities of female founders to execute.
This line of questioning and these types of statistics makes me work even harder to prove that women-led companies are worth believing in. Over the past five years, I’ve raised $10M in investment from many of the best-respected food venture capital firms, and two multi-billion dollar food companies, Kellogg and Griffith Foods, to fuel Kuli Kuli’s growth.
Starting my company as a 22-year old Peace Corps Volunteer left me without a pile of cash to tap into or a network of wealthy friends. I turned building a network into my job. I attended every networking and pitch event I could find, refining my pitch with every piece of feedback I received. I made a point of researching the potential investors in attendance before the event started and setting a goal of striking up a conversation with each investor before the event ended.
By far the most valuable fundraising skill that I’ve acquired has been the art of really good follow-up. Immediately following my conversation with a potential investor I jot down any relevant details, often scribbling on their business card or taking notes on my phone. I write down the usual follow-ups, like sending the pitch deck. But just as importantly, I record personal details like our shared love of marathon running, or the fact that their daughter is about to graduate from high school. This allows me to send a uniquely personalized follow-up.