How Developing FounderSuite Led me to Understand the Right Way to Fundraise with FounderSuite’s Nathan Beckford
Scale By Numbers Podcast
💡WHO WAS OUR GUEST:Â
Nathan Beckford | CEO and Founder | FounderSuite
💡ABOUT OUR GUEST:Â
This week’s guest is an exciting addition to the Vanreusel Ventures Startup Stack; We had the pleasure of chatting with Nathan Beckford, the founder and CEO of Foundersuite. Their mission is straightforward but extremely important- “make awesome tools that help founders build awesome companies.”
Raising money is a huge pain point for growing companies, and simplicity and support are what every founder needs when growing a company, and that’s precisely why I decided to do this podcast. Nathan also has a podcast called “How I Raised It,” which offers listeners 190 different ways that founders have raised capital. If you haven’t listened to it, you should!
💡What is FounderSuite:
FounderSuite came to fruition from an idea of a spreadsheet that tracks conversations with Investors. There was a light bulb moment when trying to make the tool better, and magically FounderSuite was born! This software has been specifically for Start-Ups and Founders to help qualify investors, start communication with potential investors, create relationships, manage and track those relationships.
💡Noteworthy Tips for Building Investor Relationships:
- Always, Always, Always do your research first. Qualify potential investors do not just “spray and pray.” You will waste your time.
- Spend time nurturing relationships before raising money.
- Reach out to investors 6-12 months before they planned to raise money.
- Send your company update for a few months, then wow with a buy-in option.
- Once you start the fundraising round, run a tight process, reach out for help when you need it.
💡”How I Raised It’– ” How I Raised It is ” Nathans podcast, that is available to listen on Youtube, SoundCloud, and the FounderSuite website which discusses exactly the title–How founders raised money.  This podcast is fascinating and an excellent tool for anyone getting ready to raise money, raising money now, or raising your 2nd or 3rd round. There are 190 interviews and 190 different ways that companies raise capital. Its a complete CEO course on what to do , and what not to do while raising capital and dealing with investors.
💡Fundraising Tips:
- Fundraising is a full-time job for a CEO, so support is necessary.
- Keep your Due Diligence in order-Do not to be the bottleneck
- Maintain the momentum by moving quickly
- Reduce friction by maintaining clear communication and benchmarks with stakeholders.
🚀HOW CAN FOUNDERSUITE HELP COMPANIES SCALE:Â
FounderSuite was created for founders so they can save time while raising money. This platform can save you hundreds of hours raising money and getting to know and maintaining relationships for investors. Foundersuite is an investor CRM database, and it helps bring structure, speed, and efficiency to fundraising and investor relations. In addition to that, they also offer other product features for financial intermediaries, investors, and accelerators and some additional features like Pitch deck hosting and over 80 start-up doc templates. Resources are essential during the critical stages, and FounderSuite offers hundreds of resources to help support founders as they prepare for fundraising.