002. Chief Pool Party Officer

If you want to throw the coolest pool party in town,your new title is Chief Pool Party Officer.Your job as the Chief Pool Party Officer involves organization and communication.We're the pool party analogy breaks down is that investors can't actually see each other around the pool.So you need to be the proxy for this.By communicating where you are in the fundraising process with everybody at the party.I'm sure you've been asked by investors about the round.How much are you raising?How much has committed?Who else is in?Do you have a lead.All of this is an investor gauging round dynamics.But it's also gauging how much time they have before they need to make a decision.Or,how slow they can move in their process.Your job is to succinctly communicate these points to potential investors.Here's an example."We're just getting our fundraise started.We're in active discussions with over a dozen firms right now."Or,"We're raising$2million with$1million committed,no active lead,but we're in multiple negotiations with lead investors.We have another million of interest.So I think this round will come together quickly.In reality,you'll have both of those discussions during your fundraise.The lesson here is that you need to keep coming back around to the other investors to tell them that the party is heating up.