RTC #26: How VCs decide to take a first meeting

My top 3 reasons

Author

Stephan Freudl
June 11, 2024

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👉 Navigating "corporate speak" isn't easy (Link) - My favorite this week 😂

👉 Tired of watching promising startups crash and burn because of a single, overlooked detail? This is the one (Link)

👉 This VC turned a $4Mn cheque into $1.3Bn in 5 years (Link)

👉 If your pitch deck has any of these phrases, BURN it (Link)

👉 How experienced VCs analyze startup financials (Link)

👉 What exactly does a VC do after an initial call? (Link)

👉 The crucial part most founders are missing in their pitch (Link)

📖 Report of the week

🤿 How VCs decide to take a first meeting

I went to Munich for the health.tech conference last week.

We recently launched my new investment firm Beyond Tomorrow and I wanted to expand my network with fellow investors and founders disrupting the way we think and live tomorrow.

As per my “Why-Where-Who Rule”, I started preparing a few days beforehand, making sure not to schedule 100% of my time to be open to meeting people spontaneously or being introduced to me.

My focus was on meeting:

  • Old friends and investment partners

  • New fellow early-stage investors to further strengthen my network

  • Interesting founders

So far, so good.

Wait?! Not clear at all…

How did you decide who is considered “interesting” as a founder to meet?

This is a good one.

Firstly, let me share some exclusive insights on my “Founder-Requesting-A-Meeting-Funnel” for this conference:

  • Over 50 meeting requests via the health.tech meeting app

  • Over 10 LinkedIn meetings request after my post a few days before

  • 5 founders approached me directly at the conference

  • A fellow investor introduced 2 founders

  • I met 2 (relevant) founders at a side event

Over 70 meeting requests for the two days! Out of these 70, I had a meeting with eight founders at the conference.

How did I decide on who to meet?

Today, I will share my top 3 reasons for taking these eight meetings.

Before we start:

❌ I did not set up a meeting with any founder connecting with me with the standard text and who did not include any specific details/reason.

1️⃣ Traction

This is my main trigger to be interested in a meeting asap.

I want to be (heavily) impressed by what the founder or team has achieved in the respective timeframe.

For early-stage, it does not need to be revenues, but there must be (STRONG) traction on the relevant metrics for the business.

Pro Tip: Do not talk about the great opportunity and potential when approaching me the first time (we will discuss this in our meeting), show me that you can execute and get things done.

2️⃣ Introduction from the network

Remember, two founders were introduced to me by fellow investors?

Guess what happened? Yes, I met them (of course).

This is where the majority of my (invested) deals come from: my network.

These are the people I trust and have done business with - and they trust me.

So, who would make the best introduction to me? Here’s the rough order of effectiveness:

  • Entrepreneurs and founders I have backed and invested in or am currently backing

  • Other investors with whom I have co-invested and made money or am currently co-investing with

  • Market, product, and technology experts such as senior executives at dominant companies or professors

  • Others: Lawyers, accountants, or people I "just" know but have no established relationship with so far

See what happens when a trusted co-investor tells me about a founder to talk to - I start chasing him/her 😂

3️⃣ Less is more

Don't write an essay! Focus on 1-2 key points:

  • In 5-6 words, what you are doing

  • Traction (see 1)

  • Who is backing you already?

Yes, other things are important, but not now. Your goal is to get a meeting with me. If I see just too many words in your message - I’m out!

🤔 Interested in learning how founders managed to set up a meeting with me without ticking one of the three reasons?

Explore today’s topic further with these useful reads

Founders, Forget Warm Intros — Here’s A Better Way To Get Meetings With VCs

Founders, forget warm intros, here's a better way to get VC meetings for startup fundraising

www.forbes.com/sites/sindhyavalloppillil/2024/04/16/founders-forget-warm-intros---heres-a-better-way-to-get-meetings-with-vcs

You Got a Meeting with a VC. Here’s How Not to Blow it.

It’s no secret that venture capital funding has slowed this year, but don’t let this discourage you.

www.nvp.com/blog/you-got-a-meeting-with-a-vc-heres-how-not-to-blow-it

📅 Calendar of events in the upcoming weeks

June
• London Tech Week | London, UK | Jun 10-14
• TNW Conference | Amsterdam, The Netherlands | Jun 20-21

July
☀️☀️☀️

👉 Get the full list of events in 2024 here

This was it for today!

If you share Road-To-Capital with one person who might also enjoy it - you would make my day!

Thank you so much.

Yours,
Stephan 👋

Issue #26 | 11 June 2024

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