118. Going from Seed to Series A, Money is a Tool feat. Josh Sanchez, CEO @ FloatMe
Money is a tool and you should use it as an accelerant for an opportunity that you've identified.
About FloatMe
FloatMe revolutionizes access to credit and savings through personalization and alternative data. Focused empowering the the lower-middle income achieve financial prosperity, FloatMe members get access to credit-free and interest-free $50 "floats" as well as opportunities to make more money or save money.
About SpringTime Ventures
SpringTime Ventures seeds high-growth startups in healthcare, fintech, logistics, and marketplace businesses. We look for founders with domain expertise, forging a path with a truly transformative technology. We only invest in software-based businesses in the USA. We bring a people-focused approach, work quickly, and reach conviction independently. Our initial check size is $600k. You can learn more about us and our approach.
About Rich Maloy
Rich’s mission is to rebuild the American dream through entrepreneurship. He believes technology gives all people the opportunity to grow, learn and earn. He is a Managing Partner at SpringTime Ventures and the host of the VC Minute podcast. With prior careers in finance and sales, he's been focused on the startup ecosystem for over a dozen years. He's a father of two young children and loves sci-fi, skiing, and video games.
Money is a tool and you should use it as an accelerant for an opportunity that you've identified.That tool,the capital,should be used to grow into the opportunity.I thought fundraising was gonna be easy because we were growing really fast.What I realized is when you go to institutional investors,they're making a bet on the vision.What is it that you're gonna build?Not that growth isn't important or anything,but they wanna know what the business looks like five years from now,10years from now.You want to tell that story.I was not doing a good job of that,you know,when it came to the Series A investors.If you're a Seed founder,you just closed your seed raise and you know that you'll likely need the Series A and you should always be working towards that next fundraise.The first thing of advice is think of fundraising as the tool.See money as a tool to help capitalize an opportunity and to help solve some of the challenges that might come with that opportunity.The capital that's gonna help accelerate the business further.The second piece of advice is,always be working towards that next fundraise,although you may not need it.Once you close your seed round have conversations with parties you think might be a part of that.There's gonna be advice of,there's no need to do that if you just closed a fundraise.It's not that you're saying you're stating that you're fundraising,but you're building relationships.And you're building relationships so that when you're ready to fundraise and you're communicating that month over month progress people see that,they see the growth that's happening.And it makes it much easier to you know,write a check as opposed to a,a new opportunity where you know nothing about the company and you're just now starting that dating process.If I was to summarize everything I shared,it's don't stop fundraising after you close the seed round.And that means,continue those relationships even for those that may have said,it was too early of an opportunity for their fund,now's the time to pick up that conversation and say that you just closed the fundraise and you're continuing to grow,and would like for them to be a part of your update.So I think in net continue the fundraising doesn't always have to mean you're asking for money.
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