Prepping For an Investor Call 101

One of the areas at Breakout we’re trying to put a stronger focus into is setting our clients up for success on the calls between them and an investor.

Generating interest from a fund for an intro call is more than half the battle.

But you still need the call to go well if you want to end up with a term sheet.

The most specific part of this we’re leaning into is pattern recognition of funds and where to be most prepared. Here is our thinking / thesis:

Investors like to invest in patterns. Things that feel familiar / known to them.

This is the whole idea of what a “thesis” is.

What this means is that some aspects of your business are going to be more important to one group, than it is to another.

If we take the example of a software marketplace company - maybe business metrics like:

• GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) - total transaction volume flowing through the platform

• Take Rate - % of GMV you capture as revenue; tells you how much pricing power the platform actually has

• Buyer/Seller Ratio - are both sides of the market balanced and growing?

Are the things that matter more to a fund focusing specifically on this.

If you spend the call running through your founding team & TAM data - odds are it might be a quick conversation.

This is the importance of knowing your avatar before you’re speaking with them.

It is of extreme importance you’re speaking the language of the investors and the things about your company that matter to them.

The aspect of this taking things a step further is looking at their portfolio companies.

One of the strongest things you can do in an investor intro call is be able to logically compare your company to a similar, already-successful, company in their portfolio.

“Auto Company 123, who you’ve backed at both Seed and Series A is taking the same philosophy we are. Their integration with XYZ is the same thing we’re doing with 123 - just in a different vertical.”

In our opinion, this helps position your company as something they’ve already put their trust in before and are seeing success with.

On a psychological level, humans also just like to compare things to what they already know and understand.

Any aspect of “we’re like X, but in the Y space” will usually be beneficial for you to get funds to “get” the mission and vision you’re building your company on.

Obvious disclaimer:

Coming to a meeting with a fund prepared with the right data is not going to be the sole thing that gets your company the capital you’re looking for.

But it will show you understand who you’re speaking with, what matters to them, and might just make a killer first impression 9/10 other founders aren't making.

Let me know if this makes sense or if you have any questions on this part of the fundraising process.

Thanks for reading,

Ryan Bryden

Capital Advisory Thesis 
Revenue Advisory Thesis