Do you know how to attract investors for your startup? What are the key things that startup (quality) investors are really looking for, above all else? In this quick, but useful video, I talk about the best ways to attract investors for your startup:
Here are the key takeaways to remember:
1. Put together a small, quality team. You need to have reliable, conscientious people working with you if you want investors to take you seriously. The people you surround yourself with will ultimately be your downfall or success, so keep that in mind when staffing and looking for co-founders.
2. Invest your own money. The more you can use your own money to facilitate your startup’s needs, the more you won’t have to rely on other people. Investors will see your commitment and value of the company, and that’s huge.
3. Build your Proof of Concept, or MVP. This is your company’s first product in its most rudimentary form. This is also referred to as a working prototype or MVP (minimum viable product), whereby early adopters of your product can enjoy enough features to give them confidence and make them fans.
Do you have the money or skills to build an MVP? If so, awesome! If it’s strong enough, it’ll be easier to entice your first customers to pay for the privilege of owning your glow in the dark, velcro doohicky. With paying customers, investors will love you.
4. Establish month-to-month growth of users and/or revenue (however small) for several months. Your figures can be a little bumpy, but as long as you can show some kind of movement and growth over a period of time, that will be what investors will look for. Without this growth, don’t bother to meet with an investor yet. Honor their time, show some growth and life in your startup, and in turn they’ll honor yours.
