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How to Raise Startup Funding via Phone or Zoom
Modern startup fundraising is designed around the principle of in-person pitches. Whether those are demo days, initial/final meetings or anything in between, a lot of time is spent by entrepreneurs learning how to convey energy and earnestness from the front of a banal board room.
But COVID-19, and potential social distancing measures, will upend how startups raise money. This will undoubtedly require entrepreneurs to learn how to give their pitches on the phone, via Zoom, or even in writing. This is not a skill most are prepared for.
Funnily enough, I am (and not just by virtue of being older). In the previous major tech downturn of 2001, I was a co-founder of a tech startup that was actively trying to raise its series B. We must have pitched over 100 times in 2 years, before we finally found the right partner. During that time, it was exceedingly common to give first pitches by phone, as most VCs would not take in-person meetings until they got excited by the opportunity. Back then, in-person meetings really meant something, but in order to get one you absolutely had to nail the phone pitch.
So now that our society has been knocked down a couple of pegs, and startups must (re)build, how do we prepare founders to sell their stories if they have partial — or no — visible cues to work from? What are the specific…
