Maureen Haverty
Contributor
Maureen Haverty is principal investor at Seraphim House Supervisor LLP. She joined the enterprise following a profitable profession within the area trade, working as COO at Apollo Fusion, an area startup offered for $145 million.
Wait, is that this even bodily potential?”
Fundraising is tough for each startup, however solely deep tech startups face questions like this from VCs. Innovation usually doesn’t come with out points, and there are issues no matter how good your idea is, or how superior your know-how is.
Your pitch could be the primary time a VC has even heard of an idea, so how can they probably work out the way to spend money on your thought when it appears like sci-fi?
Nobody needs to spend money on the subsequent Theranos
A VC’s job is to search out the subsequent greatest firm. To do that, they should perceive what the corporate does and the way it makes cash. VCs hear massive claims daily and don’t wish to be taken for fools.
In consequence, they normally deal with new concepts with skepticism and have a tendency to keep away from investing once they don’t perceive one thing. This disadvantages deep tech and people engaged on one thing that’s actually cutting-edge.
As with all different fundraising problem, the secret is to place your self within the investor’s sneakers and construct your pitch round that.
Earlier than you begin fundraising, it’s value asking your self: How seemingly is it {that a} VC will actually perceive my tech and even have heard of it earlier than? How a lot does the general public learn about this space? Is it being reported within the basic media, or is it nonetheless solely being mentioned in specialist journals?
Would a VC must be very accustomed to the newest analysis in your space or have attended a specialist convention? Take into consideration how your claims will sound in case your pitch is the primary time somebody has heard of this concept.
The factor is, even when an investor doesn’t assume your claims are fraudulent — as was the case for years with Theranos — you in all probability received’t appear credible should you’re the primary individual making this declare. How are you going to cope with this skepticism and assist VCs go from considering, “That is sci-fi,” to “That is the subsequent massive factor”?