Always be Fundraising...

An article we liked from Thought Leader Jason Lemkin of SaaStr:

Yes, You Need to Fundraise 52 Weeks a Year. The 1-and-30 Rule.

“I don’t want to meet [That VC]. I don’t need money now and it’s distracting.” — most founders, post Seed round

There’s a superpower some founders have. When they are ready to raise the next round, be in Seed-2, Series A, B, C, or whatever … they just send out a few emails, and in a week or so, have a few offers and even term sheets.

How did they do it? What sort of magic is this? Well, it ain’t magic.

They put in the time, folks.

And as good as times seem to be in SaaS today, in some ways, they aren’t easier for fundraising. They aren’t easier because so much of the VC money out there is going to late-stage rounds and very proven names. And not as much to start-ups no one has quite heard of. More on that here:

But what’s behind the numbers? If you squint, you can see there’s just a funnel.

Like everything.

So the thing is, you have to approach fundraising a lot like a sales funnel with medium-ish long sales cycles. At least, until you are so hot investors are tripping over themselves to meet you. And maybe even then.

And what do we do with a funnel, in sales and marketing? Three things:

We add as many good, new prospects to the top of the funnel as we can, every week, every month, every quarter;
We nurture the leads and prospects we have, thoughtfully, and regularly, over a very extended period of time; and
We invest outsized amounts in “customer success” — in our existing customers to get the best referrals and other customers from them.

Ok, if you’ve been reading SaaStr or otherwise done it, you’re doing 1, 2, and 3 re: selling your product. At least as best you can. You’re getting a grade somewhere between A and C-.

But for selling your company’s stock, for fundraising — you are probably getting between a C+ and F here.

Here’s what you need to do, but probably are doing a pretty poor job of, to Sell Stock over multiple rounds. Same as 1, 2, and 3 above really — just...