How I Raised It - The Podcast Where We Interview Startup Founders Who Raised Capital.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Steve Glenn of Plant Prefab (www.plantprefab.com) which makes custom homes that are built using off-site production in a fast, economical, and eco-friendly way. Plant Prefab raised capital from Twitter co-founder Ev William's Obvious Ventures and the Amazon Alexa Fund, among others. In this (short) episode, Steve talks about where he came up with the idea for Plant Prefab and raising capital from strategic investors.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Hjalmar Nordegren, CEO of Karma.life based in Stockholm, Sweden. Karma makes an online platform that enables grocery stores, restaurants and cafes to minimize their food waste by selling their excess food to customers at a discount. The Company recently raised a $12 million Series A from Kinnevik, Electrolux, e.ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners. In this episode, Hjalmar talks about raising capital in Europe, how founders should never stop fundraising (i.e. nurturing leads in between rounds), the Swedish startup scene, how European founders who want to pitch Silicon Valley can "be more American" :) and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Matthew Klein, CEO of Backbone PLM (www.backboneplm.com). Backbone makes software that helps consumer goods companies manage complex design and product development processes. The Company recently raised raised $8 million of Series A2 venture funding led by Signal Peak Ventures with participation from Grotech Ventures, Spider Capital, Novel TMT Ventures, Beanstalk Ventures, Brainchild Holdings and Peterson Ventures. In this episode, Matthew talks about how to use the "pre-emptive round strategy" to get a deal done quickly, what to focus on in your pitch deck, raising capital from investors who are also customers, the Boulder CO startup scene, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Pat Larsen, CEO of ZenLedger.io. ZenLedger makes tax and accounting software for cryptocurrency investors and CPAs. The Company recently raised $1.5 million from Vestigo Ventures and Castle Island Ventures. In this episode, Pat talks about providing "picks and shovels" to the crypto space, building software for a highly dynamic and changing market, lessons he learned from his time as a helicopter mission pilot, taking time to grow into the founder role, tips for military veterans transitioning into the startup world, and more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Angela Hood, CEO of ThisWay Global, maker of a platform that uses machine learning and matching algorithms for candidate hiring. In this episode, Angela talks about selling her '67 Mustang to fund her startup, how to hustle at TechCrunch Disrupt, raising capital from the Central Texas Angel Network, leveraging advisors, and more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Maria Chatzou, CEO of Lifebit.ai. Lifebit is developing an intelligent genomic platform designed for biodata analysis. The Company went through Techstars then raised GBP 2.25 million of seed funding led by Connect Ventures and Pentech Ventures. Beacon Capital, Tiny VC and London Co-Investment Fund also participated in the round. In this episode, Maria talks about raising venture capital in the UK, the London genomics scene, her "3 phase" approach to fundraising, what it really takes in terms of time commitment and hustle, tips for closing the round and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Rand Fishkin, CEO of SparkToro. SparkToro raised $1,299,500 from 35 individual, accredited investors. Previously, Rand ran Moz, which raised $29.1 million across multiple rounds. In this episode, Rand talks about the binary nature of the venture capital model, his search for alternative funding structures, raising a party round from numerous angels, preserving optionality, why "unsexy" markets are appealing to him, and much more. Please be sure to also check out his blog post which includes open-source investment docs: https://sparktoro.com/blog/raised-a-very-unusual-round-of-funding-were-open-sourcing-our-docs/ ...and his new book called "Lost & Founder": https://sparktoro.com/book

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Jessica Chang, CEO of WeeCare, a developer of a SaaS based platform to start an in-home daycare. The company raised $4.2 million of Seed funding in a deal led by Social Capital. Wavemaker Partners, Fika Ventures, Amplify Partners, and Fuel Ventures also participated in the round. In this episode, Jessica talks about the emerging SoCal startup scene, aka "Silicon Beach"; picking solid pre-seed investors, what to do when a competitor is raising capital at the same time, fundraising tips from her investment banker days, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Sean Byrnes of Outlier.ai. Outlier makes a business intelligence platform designed to monitor business data and notify customers when unexpected changes occur. Previously, Sean founded Flurry, a mobile analytics company acquired by Yahoo for $300 million. Outlier recently raised $6.4 million of Series A venture funding led by Ridge Ventures. First Round Capital, Homebrew, Susa Ventures, 11.2 Capital and SV Angel also participated in the round. In this wide-ranging interview, Sean talks about VC fund lifecycles, how the fundraising "process" has changed since his Flurry days, balancing the distraction of fundraising vs. the need for more capital, how he used the VC process as customer development, deal terms to watch out for, how to get the most out of board meetings and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Phill Rosen of Even Financial, makers of an open API for financial services. The company raised $18.8 million of Series A venture funding led by GreatPoint Ventures. The Goldman Sachs Group, Canaan Partners, F-Prime Capital Partners, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Jacob Gibson, Jason Owen, American Express Ventures, Arab Angels, Plug and Play Ventures and Valuestream Ventures also participated in the round. In this episode, Phill discusses the unique dynamics of raising capital for a B2B financial services company operating in a highly-regulated industry, how to raise from large strategic investors / customers, when to use a convertible note vs. doing a priced round, tips for building a data room, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Yin Wu of DirtProtocol.com. Dirt Protocol is using blockchain technology to create a new approach to verify information. The Company raised $3 million of seed funding from Digital Currency Group, Caffeinated Capital and SV Angel on July 11, 2018. Village Global, ZhenFund, General Catalyst, Greylock Partners, Hustle Fund, INBlockchain, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Avichal Garg, Liquid 2 Ventures, Danhua Capital, Vy Capital, Divergence Digital Currency Fund and Pantera Capital also participated in the round along with 11 angel investors, including Elad Gil and Othman Laraki. In this episode, Yin talks about curating trust in the crypto and ICO space, identifying the top blockchain investors, stacking investor conversations in an optimal way, how to get an investor's "greed to overcome their fear" when pitching a new market, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Ken Nguyen, CEO of Republic.co, a crowdfunding platform spun out of AngelList. in this episode, Ken talks about the market opportunity of serving un-accredited investors, raising a hybrid equity + token pre-sale for Republic, tips for a successful equity crowdfunding campaign, the changing dynamics of raising capital, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Ryan Boyko, CEO of Embark Vet (www.embarkvet.com). Embark Vet makes an animal DNA testing kit designed to improve dog health and wellness. Embark recently raised a seed round co-led by Founder Collective, Freestyle and ThirdKind, with support from Anne Wojcicki, Bill Maris, Slow Ventures, SV Angel and others. In this episode, Ryan talks about how he built a target investor list by researching other companies, how raising capital is like speed dating, how to keep investors interested and "hungry," how he landed strategic angels like Anne Wojcicki (co-founder of 23andMe) and Bill Maris (founder of Google Ventures) and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Igor Lebovic of Kindly Care, based in San Francisco. Kindly Care is a self-service management platform for hiring caregivers for senior citizens. The Company recently raised $5.4 million of Series A venture funding led by Javelin Venture Partners with participation by MHS Capital and Jackson Square Ventures. In this episode, Igor talks about venture capital as a "reputation business", how to prepare in advance for a round (e.g. setting up a data room, soft-signaling, etc.), the difference between raising Seed vs. Series A, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Chetan Rane and Akshay Ramaswamy of Alma Campus. Alma is a college-exclusive social network that enables students to discover and connect with peers on their campus. The Company recently raised from Marissa Mayer, Norwest Venture Partners, Sergio Monsalve, Felicis Ventures, and others. The Company has also raised capital from Lightspeed Ventures, Index Ventures, Pear Startup Garage, Cardinal Ventures. In this episode, Akshay and Chetan talk about building a startup while in college, growth hacks and getting early adopters, choosing investors on an oversubscribed round, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with David Fink and Jonathan Neddenriep of Postie.com. Postie makes a direct mail platform that behaves like a digital channel. The Company recently raised a seed round from Bonfire Ventures, Crosscut Ventures, and Rincon Venture Partners. In this episode, Jonathan and David talk about direct mail as a marketing channel, pitching their KPIs and metrics, understanding the operational background of the investors you're meeting, using fundraising as a learning process, controlling the narrative, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Andrew Farah of Density.io, which makes door sensors designed to measure how busy a location is in real-time. Density recently raised a $12 million Series A, led by Founders Fund. Previously, the Company raised capital from Mark Suster and Upfront Ventures, Jonathon Triest of Ludlow Ventures, Jason Calacanis and others. In this episode, Andrew discusses what he pitched at each round (e.g. "product validation" vs. "progress milestones" vs. "owning the market"), staging investor meetings, running a process, tips for pitching celebrity investors, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Bill Boebel of Pingboard. Pingboard makes org chart and workforce planning software. The Company has raised 3 seed rounds in Austin, Texas from a mix of high profile angel investors and VCs. In this episode, Bill talks about raising capital from other founders, his "touch-zero" operating model (and how that helps him balance the tension between VC expectations and how he wants to run the business), how he uses monthly investor updates to leverage his investors, and much more. PS: for more on the "touch zero" concept, see: https://austinstartups.com/anatomy-of-our-5-million-seed-round-7965d177535b

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Bobby Tinsley of Priatek. Priatek makes prize based advertising technology. The Company recently returned from a fundraising roadshow that took the team to Moscow, London, Geneva, Zurich, Lugano, and Monte Carlo (see https://youtu.be/qAdYIA6dCQI). In this episode, Bobby talks about how they put together the roadshow, the role that advisors played in setting up meetings, key things when pitching family offices, the importance of "compliance first" when fundraising, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Amanda Johnson and KJ Miller of Mented Cosmetics. Mented is an online cosmetic store that features a range of nude lipsticks for women with deeper skin tones. The Company recently raised $4.2M from CircleUp and others. In this episode, Amanda and KJ talk about the grind of raising their first pre-seed round, tapping networks such as NY Angels and HBS, how to time-box + divide & conquer when raising, the importance of both a metrics story and a big vision in the pitch, and much more.