Nataliya Karatkova

Hello friends! Recently I summarised learnings on closing the $1M round for my startup. I thought it could be useful for other founders who are going into $500k - $1M fundraising. If we haven't met before, I'm running WeLoveNoCode, a marketplace to hire no-code developers for building MVPs & validating hypotheses (https://www.welovenocode.com/). It would be awesome to share more of how we are building WeLoveNoCode with the community. So here are "to-do" items that I used (feel free to copy it into your Notion): Preparation & Planning [ ] Get familiar with the fundraising process, spend some time reading. [ ] Set up fundraising plan: [ ] Wrire down a timeline to pitch investors & close round: starting date, ideal close date. 3 months for fundraising. (I closed in less than a month but 3 months is a more realistic timeline). Consider the time of the year: NY holidays and summer can be slower business seasons. [ ] Define roles: who will help in fundraising. [ ] Define round you need to close, valuation, how much equity are you open to giving on this round, SAFE/equity/loan. [ ] Put all tasks below with responsible in the tasks management system. Make strong pitch deck + financial modeling [ ] Make v1 of the pitch deck [ ] Make 10-15 slides pitch deck. Figma templates for pitch decks: https://www.welovenocode.com/pit... Comment: I made more than 30 versions of the pitch deck before it was good. [ ] Get the sweetest traction you can find. Run market research to show data behind your market potential. [ ] Get designer and copywriter to clean up the deck. [ ] Cover the WHY behind your startup. Treat your deck as a sales pitch: having a good story behind building your startup will make emotional connections. [ ] Get feedback from founders who raised similar rounds ideally from investors you want to get in. [ ] Make business model (BM) ready to be shown, cover: [ ] Have unit economy [ ] Cover MoM user and revenue growth [ ] Cover User acquisition strategy and CAC in BM [ ] Do not BS. Double-check numbers for accuracy. [ ] Get feedback on BM from your mentors & adviser to be sure it's meeting investors' expectations. Angels, VCs have a typical set of expectations and you need to meet them in your presentation and your pitch deck. [ ] Answers on typical questions which you got asked often Pitch investors [ ] Create a list of investors you'd love to pitch [ ] Set up a CRM system. Research relevant investors. [ ] Asked for the intro, look for ways to get into the investors' radar via the network. [ ] Make forwardable emails & intro requests. Get pCalendly link with timeslots. Close the deal! [ ] Start having investors call, moving via your funnel. [ ] Make constant follow-ups + investor updates. Get an assistant to help you update investors weekly. [ ] Ask for introductions from everyone, even if you get rejection. [ ] Create Momentum with growth numbers & traction, PR, PH launches. [ ] CLOSE the first LOI. [ ] Push other interested investors to join the round. Get LOI signed. [ ] Go via Due & Diligence. [ ] Have a lawyer to help you if needed. [ ] Get docs signed. Push to get money on the bank account. [ ] Plan PR of your round: https://www.welovenocode.com/fre...