The subtleties of raising money
So here we are on a new Curious Office project. Coming out of Imagekind, I’m often asked how we pitched our initial vision and how we raised money. Such was the case tonight. As with many things, there is no “right” answer. There is no single approach. The most important thing is to find your own style and do it that way.
I’m usually met with wide eyes when I tell people that I don’t write lengthy business plans. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing to do. I’m just saying that I don’t do it. In the time it takes to finish a 20 page business plan I could finish 20 page designs for the actual application. Yet, for others, going through that process helps solidify the vision. Find your own style. I like to to show detailed screenshots of the application concept. Others like to spend time refining powerpoint decks. Actually, I did a powerpoint deck for Presslayer too but I didn’t do one for Imagekind. For the Presslayer concept, no two pages of the Powerpoint deck are alike. There’s a reason for that. I don’t like to bore people. When you realize that part of a successful pitch is about inspiring and entertaining people, you can start to think of new and innovative ways to engage your audience. My powerpoint decks are certainly graphically rich (and large in file size) but at least the audience is always wondering (subconsciously) what the next slide is going to be like. In the end, nobody was really sure that the presentation was done in Powerpoint at all. In fact, half the people I walk through the presentation think that it was an HTML or Flash presentation.
I digress a little. The important thing to remember when raising money is that people aren’t betting on the plan you’re pitching even if they don’t realize it. They are responding to the energy in the room and they are betting on you. Even for investors with deep pockets and large funds, the process of a successful pitch is largely a process of risk mitigation. The best way to mitigate risk for the investor is not to convince them that the market is huge or that your approach is original. It is to believe in what you are doing with every fiber of your being. It is important that people look you in the eye and see that whether or not they invest, you will move forward and you will succeed. I wish the truth were less mysterious than this. But that isn’t the case. The successful entrepreneur moves down the tracks with such inertia that no rejection stands a chance of impeding progress. You know your plan isn’t flawless and you admit it. You know you aren’t superhuman and you acknowledge it. But you can see the a positive outcome for your vision with such clarity that it is nearly already real even before you start. You do not know exactly how much pressure you will need to apply to get to the end game but it doesn’t particularly matter because there isn’t a finite amount of reserves that you draw on. You apply whatever is necessary.
This determination and confidence isn’t a selling tactic. It simply is what it is. And ultimately you will say more with your eyes than you could ever put in a pitch deck.
Presslayer: there is a new Curious Office project in town
I’m really excited about our newest project that we are incubating internally codenamed “Presslayer”. The concept was developed completely in-house by us and, like Imagekind, I will initially lead the development of the concept and the recruiting of the initial team. Adrian Hanauer and Imagekind CFO Tom Riley are kindly providing support in their own way too. I think we were all reasonably pleased with the Imagekind outcome but in many ways, I’m honestly more excited about this new project than any other I’ve worked on before because:
A) I can’t believe nobody is doing this yet and;
B) We have a great base of investors, co-founders, developers and business partners to draw on right out of the gate
I can’t say a lot about Presslayer just yet. The market is big. The need is obvious. If we could just “snap our fingers” such that the platform just magically appeared in our lap I have no doubt that thousands of designers and marketers would use the system to make their jobs easier.
If you are a developer, product manager or marketing manager anxious to build a leading online community, please don’t hesitate to contact me at kelly@curiousoffice.com
Like last time, Presslayer will be partially funded by Curious Office. Once we finalize on the rest of the development co-founders and the other investors I’ll share more on this blog. This is an exciting time…that moment when you go from concept to a talented team of people all working to bring that idea to fruition. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been through this a few times and we’re sure that you will love what we are up to.
Stay tuned please!!
Kelly
Imagekind sold to CafePress
It was in July 2006 when we launched Imagekind to the world for the first time. Here we are two years later and we are pleased to announce that the leading print-on-demand company has purchased the company. CafePress is a Sequoia backed company that needs no introduction. In our first meeting with co-founder and CEO Fred Durham we immediately understood this team to be smart, rational, hard-working and prudent decision makers. We are very, very lucky to be a part of this family. Congratulations to the whole Imagekind team who worked so hard to get us here. Kevin Saliba (CEO), Emanuel Bettelheim (CTO), Aleks Davidovich (GM, Ops) and all the others I’m not listing here by name…thank you so much.
