Rolling Closing Seed Round Checklist

THE CHECKLIST

Check off the parts you've got ready to go

and see how you score.

PITCH DECK: A killer pitch deck is the base for a successful round. It has all the ingredients investors are looking for, is self-explanatory and its 12 slides can be delivered in 5 minutes.

1. COMPANY DESCRIPTOR

It is fundamental for a founder to be able to clearly describe in a few words what their startup is about. e.g., Facebook is a social network, WeWork is a shared working space, Uber is a rideshare service, and invi is a rich media messaging app. What are you? Your company descriptor (or teaser) is the main part of the Intro slide. It should already be open on the screen when investors enter the room and during the initial chit-chat before diving into the deck. It should: 1. Draw them in, make investors want to see the rest of the deck and learn about the company; 2. Give them a sense of what the company does; 3. Provide contact information, email and phone number; 4. Create a good first impression—it’s the first slide they see, so make sure it looks good; and 5. Support brand recognition, make it stand out and be memorable.

2. MARKET

Investors are tolerant of many things, but a startup targeting a small market isn’t one of them. Your target market needs to be huge, rapidly growing, and well defined. Such a market, that the company that will lead it will definitely be a unicorn. 🦄 Your market slide should define and present your target market to investors.

3. PROBLEM

There are many problems worth solving in the world. You want to focus on one BIG problem your startup plans to solve—a problem that is urgent, extremely expensive, critical, affecting many people, frequent, pervasive, rapidly escalating or mandatory to solve due to new regulations. The first company to have a good solution to this problem will experience rapid growth and become a unicorn. 🦄 You need to determine the REAL problem you’re solving and present it in this slide.

4. SOLUTION

It is crucial for investors to understand your solution and the advantages of using it. They should be able to repeat it to share it with others. Can YOU describe your solution and the advantages in a few simple sentences? Sounds easy, right? Not really. 90% of the startups we meet can’t do it. You need to be able to if you want funding.

5. PRODUCT

If the solution slide is all about WHAT you do, the product slide shows HOW you do it. It tells the story of how the product works and its unique features. As much as your product is complex, you need to be able to explain it all in this ONE slide.

6. TRACTION

‘Get back to us when you have more traction.’ Have you heard that one before? This was the most common response I got from investors when I pitched them. A good traction slide delivers the message ‘Users love us! We’re experiencing such a strong demand for our product—we need your money to serve it.’ Did you know there are 7 types of traction you can have before even launching a product including 5 traction types for the pre-revenue stage?

7. BUSINESS MODEL

How much do you charge your customers? What is your unit economics? What does your sales cycle look like? You need to know this, even before you launch your product. It is crucial for a startup CEO to be able to have a deep conversation about their business model based on their testing data and research.

8. GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY

When I had a startup, many business-oriented investors asked me, ‘You say you will get to $10M in sales in 2 years. How will you get there?’ Your go-to-market strategy slide should answer that. It is an efficient and well-thought-out plan to quickly and easily grow your business. Learn the 7 common early-stage startup go-to-market strategies, select the right strategies for your startup and make a plan.

9. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE & UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

Some investors say this is one of THE slides they base their decision to invest on yet many founders do not give it the attention it deserves. This slide should visually map out your market, clearly showing how and why you will be the winner.

10. TEAM

Many investors know ideas change; early-stage startups often pivot. What they really invest in is the team. They are looking for an A+ high-performing team. What is the best way to show it? How do you provide enough signals that your team has the potential to become the market leader? How do you let investors get to know your team and feel comfortable investing in them?

11. OFFER

Yes, investors want to know the terms of your offer, how you will use the funds and what you plan to achieve with them. You need to learn how to present your offer while creating momentum and a respectful sense of urgency.

12. VISION

The outro slide ends your 5-min pitch with a strong vision—a well-defined one sentence that WOWs investors, gets them inspired and excited about the investment opportunity. Start it with ‘Join us to...’

BACKUP SLIDES: Address important commonly asked questions

13. PRODUCT DEMO

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a product demo is worth a thousand pictures. Make sure to have a good one that shows all the important MPV features.

14. PRODUCT ROADMAP

Share your product development plan up to a fully mature product. What are the main product features you plan to add?

15. TECHNOLOGY OUTLINE

Presenting investors with your technology structure and depth will help them understand your defensibility, barrier-to-entry, and first-mover advantage.

16. IP AND PATENTS

A clear summary of your IP and patent inventions and filing status.

17. USER TESTIMONIALS

Share authentic video testimonials of your users raving about your product. Haven’t launched yet? No worries! Ask them to explain why they’ll use it once you launch.

18. CASE STUDIES

Use case studies rather than self superlatives to demonstrate product market fit. Showcase customer results, and key stats of user journeys, onboarding, usage and retention.

19. MARKET RESEARCH

Having good market research as a baseline for important decisions ensures everyone is on the same page, especially when it comes to market size, the right pricing, required budget and product features on the roadmap. Be sure to have it ready to share.

20. TRACTION DATA

Show me your traction! Be ready to present the raw materials. Expect to dive deep especially with the data-driven decision making investors. Know your traction stats by heart and be able to have an intelligent conversation about them.

21. TIMELINE

What is your plan moving forward? Where are you at in terms of product feature launch, team recruiting, strategic partnerships, projected expenses and revenues? Illustrate it all on an easy-to-understand timeline.

22. FINANCIAL MODELING

A well thought of data-driven plan to grow your business, knowing your runway, your revenue forecast and being able to answer 'what if' questions about your business assumptions and projections.

23. OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE

A good ownership structure gives founders and employees enough skin in the game, while if one of them leaves, they aren't entitled to take a big chunk of the company shares with them.

24. CURRENT INVESTORS

The list of current investors provides the social proof needed for new investors to feel comfortable joining.

THE ROUND

25. RICH INVESTOR PIPELINE

Identify a large list of investors that are actively investing in your space, stage, and physical location.

26. POWERFUL OUTREACH SEQUENCE

When investors are reading your email, they have one main question in mind – ‘Do I want to meet them?’ Craft powerful outreach messages that have what it takes to drive that decision.

27. OBJECTION HANDLING

The question is not whether you’ll face objections, but how you’ll handle them. Handling objections correctly is an acquired skill that can turn a NO GO into a GO.

28. SENSE OF URGENCY

There is no reason for investors to rush and close with you if you don’t show round momentum or trigger FOMO. There are 5 ways to do it in a respectful productive manager.

29. A CLOSING FORMULA

Like any sales process, a great pitch by itself is not enough; you need to have an effective closing process in place. You can’t afford ending a meeting with, ‘Let us think about it and get back to you.’

PRESENTATION:

30. PITCH PERFORMANCE

Is your deck self explanatory? Can you pitch it in 5 minutes? Are you clear and persuasive? Do 50% or more of the investors you pitch get excited and are eager to discuss?

31. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

You may be brilliant. You may be 10/10 in what you do. However, if your ability to communicate is 3/10, do you think investors will perceive you as 10/10 or 3/10?

32. MEETING MANAGEMENT

Learn to manage a meeting, address concerns, and close, again and again. Do you frame the meeting? Many founders go to meet investors, do a hard sell for the entire time, and afterward, wait for the investors to get back to them. If that sounds familiar, you are not alone; many founders automatically use this low-performance method. There is a much better way to manage a meeting with investors that dramatically increases your chances of raising capital from them.

33. STRONG ONLINE PRESENCE FOR FOUNDERS

Are you positioned as a thought leader in your space? Investors will Google you. What will they find?

LEGAL: Make sure your data room, founders' agreements & investment documents are ready!

34. INVESTMENT DOCUMENTS

Have your investment documents ready to be sent on the spot using an e-signature service. Make sure to include wire instructions and an offer expiration date.

35. DATA ROOM

A repository of all necessary documents investors need to sign the deal, e.g., founders’ agreement, IP assignment agreements, board resolutions, LOI, strategic partnership agreements, team bios and compensation summary with special attention given to founders' terms.

36. UNDERSTANDING SAFE

Not every SAFE is the same. Post money, pre money, with discount or without. Make sure you know how SAFE really works and its long term impact in different scenarios.

37. TOP LEGAL TERMS A STARTUP FOUNDER MUST KNOW

Avoid putting yourself in a situation where the other side (the investors) knows the rules of the game inside out while you have never played before and do not understand the rules. Get yourself familiar with basic concepts such as representations, pre-emptive rights, double-dipping, share class, liquidation preferences, board seats, reporting rights, auto-renewal and batch of notes.

38. FOUNDER-FRIENDLY AGREEMENTS

How you deal with your own terms is a critical signal to investors on how you manage the business and their money. Investors put a lot of trust in you and you don’t want to be perceived as a greedy, unrealistic, or untrustworthy founder. On the other hand, you want to make sure you are protected and well compensated. Small things that are set up in advance have a big impact down the road. Make sure they are set correctly and that you avoid the top 6 fatal mistakes founders make when creating founders’ agreements and their vesting schedule, compensation and reimbursement.

MINDSET

39. UNDERSTAND THE INVESTOR MINDSET

VC partners, VC associates, corporate VCs, impact VCs, micro VCs, family offices, angel investors, syndicates, and angel clubs all have different goals and investment practices. It is important to know how they think, what’s important to them and how they make decisions.

40. THE 4 INVESTOR PERSONALITY TYPES

Not every investor thinks the same. Learn how to quickly identify the 4 main investor personality types so you can tailor your pitch to appeal to their communication style and investment motives. It will dramatically increase your closing rate.

41. PROXIMITY

Proximity is power. Who and what you surround yourself with directly influences your success. Being around the right people, in the right environments, accelerates growth, opportunities, and breakthroughs. If you want to raise money, build a business, or master any skill, you need to immerse yourself in the ecosystem where things happen. Success is contagious, and by being close to high-level thinkers, investors, and doers, you naturally elevate your mindset, network, and opportunities.

42. EMOTIONAL FITNESS AND A WINNING MINDSET

Getting a series of ‘NOs from investors can discourage even the most motivated founder, especially from high profile investors we regard highly. There are a lot of ups and downs during the round. Make sure you have the right tools to stay emotionally fit with a winning mindset.

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Your score:

Out of the 42 elements required for a successful seed round.

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