Weekly 🔥 #6: Surviving the VC Funding Drought
Welcome to another edition of our new newsletter! You’ll receive the best practical startup advice straight to your inbox every week.
In this week’s edition, we discuss:
- the impending downturn in VC money and what it means for your startup’s fundraising efforts,
- building businesses without a HR department (yes, you read that right),
- how to make the biggest financial decisions of your life,
- and how to get media coverage for your startup, for free.
Last week, we launched a Call for Submissions for our Crypto Handbook, which you can read here. We’d love to share your journey into all things crypto, blockchain and NFT.
How to survive the startup funding downturn
DC Palter a serial entrepreneur and angel investor who has already lived through 4 major downturns. Now, he expects another is just around the corner. But what does it mean for startup funding, and how do startups survive the money-drought?
- Raise as much as you can, right now, while investors are still flush with cash
- Hit your milestones — companies doing well will get funded. Companies not hitting their goals will be left to die on the vine.
- Expect more investor demands in a downturned market — they have more negotiating leverage and will fight harder for other desired terms.
- It might be the time to bootstrap — if you can afford to. While VCs will continue to invest in proven startups, getting new startups off the ground will be more challenging.
How to build a $5 billion company (without an HR department)
Greg Jackson joined us on the Entrepreneur’s Handbook podcast this week. He is the founder of Octopus Energy which has $6 billion in revenue after just 6 years.
In this insightful episode you’ll learn:
- How to disrupt an industry and gain millions of customers in a short amount of time.
- How to empower the people you hire so you don’t need an HR department.
- Simple tricks that can lead to huge sales benefits.
- How to keep the entrepreneurial fire burning by focusing on a mission bigger than just money.
How to make the biggest financial decisions of your life
As entrepreneurs, we love to tell ourselves,“the higher the risk, the higher the potential reward.” Sometimes that’s true. Often, it’s not. Before you make the biggest financial decisions of your life, heed the advice of Rachel Greenberg, that’s earned her millions and saved her from losing it all:
- 1% of the time, 1% comes true — the risk may be the slimmest of chances, but that still means there’s a chance. Take caution.
- You need a financial runway should that speculative investment take longer than we’d hoped to pan out (or not pan out at all).
- Desperation is the kiss of death in financial decision-making. Never let intrinsic panic due to external circumstances muddy your rationale.
- Use one simple guiding principle to help sway each financial, entrepreneurial, and career-related decision — What will you regret in five or ten years?
How founders can win media coverage for zero cost
Felicity Cowie sifted through over 100,000 story pitches while working for BBC News and Panorama. She realized how poorly many companies were at crafting a good pitch and has been helping them ever since. Here are some of her top tips:
- Start with clarity— Just mindlessly throwing out pitches won’t get you anywhere!
- Pitch when it’s fresh — No journalist wants to cover an old story, you need to get out in front if you want the best chance.
- Focus on trends bigger than just you as it encourages the journalists to believe more of their audience will care.
- Use a press release to give journalists information fast without them needing to message you for more information.
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