Should I be freaking out?
You might be asking yourself, and you wouldn’t be wrong.
The answer: maybe? Lots of tech layoffs in the news, and the dust hasn’t yet settled. Some startups announcing big rounds but for others, not a nibble. Make no mistake. It’s as hard as it’s ever been for early-stage startups to secure funding.
A couple of our clients are raising and it’s been a slog, so if you’re out there, I feel for you! So what can you do? Since there’s no magic formula for startup success and no exact rules to closing a round, I thought I’d share a few pro tips for the crazy days ahead. The best thing you can do is be prepared. So, here goes!
Plan: Do your best to think through scenarios. Write stuff down and cross it out. Come up with 3; start with the best and build it out. Model other scenarios from there.
Focus on Cash: Reduce unnecessary costs. I know it’s hard when you’re running hard and scaling fast, but be conservative and in the long run, you might be able to make it to your next round closes, or your sales start to ramp.
Track your Financials: Use that Plan, track your performance against that Plan… and adjust when needed to make sure you don’t run out of Cash.
We use these three tools with our clients to help them with their fund-raising goals, cash management and financial reporting: Financial Model, Cash Flow Forecast and Quickbooks Online.
And we’re there with them, walking through the models and the forecast and the financials to tell their financial story to investors and make sure they’re prepared for what’s next
.It’s not easy, but you’ve got this! And we’re here to help you prepare for your next funding round when you’re ready.
