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Uber founder Travis Kalanick: “Every angel deal that gets done is a momentum play”

August 06, 2024

Below are the key excerpts from Travis’s blog post Startup Seed Raising Skillzzz:

  1. Priming the Pump. “Go to angel gatherings, industry conferences, any and all networking events. Meet people who are angels or who know angels. Give ‘em the elevator pitch… make sure you’re meeting with somebody new EVERY DAY.”

  2. Intro meetings. “Informal discussion where you pitch the company over a lunch/coffee/etc., and expand potential angel network through referrals. Get your pitch down to 5-10 minutes, and prepare a tight FAQ in your head so that you have tight answers to the top 20 questions. Let them pay. Be proud of your scrappiness.”

  3. ABC’s – Always Be Closing. ”At the end of every meeting, get a clear understanding of where they stand on your deal opportunity.”

  4. Referrals are key. “Most angels will immediately offer up a couple folks they can hook you up with… always ask for more folks you can connect with.”

  5. Advisors: ”Turn a couple of these potential angels into advisors. Having a few top-notch people in your corner can make all the difference in turning the tide in an angel round.”

  6. Thought Partner: ”Pick one advisor, co-founder, or mentor who will be your thought partner in managing the process.”

  7. TheList: ”Keep a list (aka pipeline) of the people you’re meeting with, the referrals that they provide you, and the level of their interest in the seed round. Stay on the ball…Always follow up.”

  8. Passion/Charisma. “Focus on the positive, have confidence, be amped, bring passion to your game, and share the love with the person across from you.”

  9. Credibility. ”DO NOT FIGHT THE TRUTH… Do not try to spin out of what your weak points are. Do not try to make something certain that is not. Do not pretend to know something that you don’t. Credibility is the name of the game in fundraising.”

  10. Momentum and Urgency. ”Investors are fickle creatures, they are motivated by fear and greed… Time IS NOT YOUR FRIEND! The longer the process drags out, the more it seems that nobody is interested in your deal, and the less likely you are to actually get one.”

  11. Getting the Lead. ”Until you have a lead, you don’t have a deal… The way to get a lead is to spur one of the larger, most interested investors into making an offer.”

  12. The Competitive Deal – The Need for Speed. ”The second you have a single term sheet, you need to move very quickly to get a second one. You don’t have a lot of time, because momentum at this point is crucial to closing… Your second term sheet will be easier to get than your first, but it will make a HUGE impact on your deal. Without a second termsheet, you will be in a position to take whatever crappy terms the original lead provided, and it’s quite possible that the terms could get worse (or even go away!) as the one-termsheet deal drags out.”

  13. Herding the cattle. ”Once you start working the competitive leads, you need to start getting word out to ALL of the interested parties, that this deal is getting hot, and that you could start moving to close in very short order… This makes them anxious about the competitive situation you’ve created b/c now your deal has been validated.”

  14. Anti-Collusion. ”The heavyweights in your deal will have the inclination to collude to make the terms better… Keep it short and sweet with each potential colluder, and draw a very straight firm line that the material terms are not changing.”

  15. Sprint through the close. ”Until the deal is closed, you have at best a 50/50 shot of it happening. Keep working new seed investors, keep the competitive leads warm, get your deal oversubscribed, because until your deal is done, it’s just a nice fantasy in your head.”