Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Jack Conte of Patreon.com, a platform that allows creators to monetize their work through a direct relationship with their fans. In this episode, Jack talks about how and why he came up with the idea for Patreon, how he turned rejections into tips for improving his pitch deck, how he uses his personal story as a key component of the pitch, the difference betw...
Nov 12, 2020•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Milana Lewis of Stem.is, a platform that helps musicians distribute their music, automate splits, and get paid. In this episode, Milana talks about how she informally socialized her deal with investors (but ran a process), what discovery questions to ask prospective investors, what her investor funnel metrics looked like, how to prioritize investor leads, and...
Nov 03, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Paul Wiltshire of Songtradr.com, a music licensing platform that helps artists and songwriters license and monetize their content. In this episode, Paul talks about how the music industry works, why he decided to raise only what the Company needed to hit incremental milestones, his largely Australian cap table, raising capital from a family office, and more. ...
Nov 03, 2020•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Justin Mast of Bloomscape.com, an online marketplace for fully grown and potted indoor plants. In this episode, Justin talks about his family's 5 generations in the garden supply business and how he evolved it into an online company, how he bridged the gap between local Detroit investors and VCs based in San Francisco, the risks he took when he launched witho...
Oct 28, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Ameeth Sankaran of Religion of Sports (www.religionofsports.com) a sports media platform that produces content to explore greatness and human potential. The site features top athletes like Tom Brady ("Tom vs. Time") and Michael Strahan. In this episode, Ameeth talks about the greatness code and flow states, turning the business from a production company into ...
Oct 22, 2020•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Mustard (www.teammstrd.com) an AI sports coaching application that helps athletes improve their baseball pitching technique using machine learning. The platform is based on data from legendary pitching coach Tom House among others. In this episode, Rocky talks about how they are taking data from 40+ years of traditional coaching techniques and turning it into...
Oct 22, 2020•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Joseph Woodbury of Neigbor.com which makes an online peer-to-peer self-storage community that connects people with unused storage space. In this episode, Joseph talks about how he used business plan competitions to get exposure to VCs, how he got Jeff Jordan (eBay, PayPal, Open Table, etc.) on his board of directors, his formula for running effective board me...
Oct 13, 2020•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Hall Martin of TEN Capital, a "fundraising as a service" platform that helps connect startups with investors (https://tencapital.group/). In this episode, Hall talks about the origin of TEN, how investor relations campaigns are a proxy for sales, how many touches it takes to close a deal, why he believes startups must have a growth story to be fundable, and m...
Oct 08, 2020•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Christina Dorr Drake, CEO of Willa's Kitchen (www.willaskitchen.com), makers of organic, non-GMO oat milk. In this episode, Christina talks about how she pivoted the company when her main clients -- coffee shops -- were shut down due to COVID19, how she continued to raise capital during COVID (and after also being diagnosed with cancer), why she believes you ...
Sep 29, 2020•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Chris Molaro of NeuroFlow.com, an online platform that optimizes mental wellness and performance. In this episode, Chris talks about the connection between mental and physical health, the time he did a risky live on-stage of his product at SXSW, how he used his student status to win business plan competitions, how he found his first "champion," tips for follo...
Sep 17, 2020•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with David Rogier of MasterClass, an online lesson platform where viewers can learn from experts like Steph Curry, Simone Biles, Serena Williams, Natalie Portman, Martin Scorsese, Gordon Ramsay and many others. In this episode, David talks about how the idea for MasterClass was inspired by his grandma's quest to become a doctor, how he cold called and hustled to g...
Sep 17, 2020•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Alexey Mitko, CFO of Eucalyptus.vc, an Australian-based startup studio launching a series of digital consumer companies such as Pilot (men's telehealth) and Kin (women's fertility teleheatlh). In this episode, Alexey talks about the strategy of using a common digital marketing engine across multiple brands, his experience working at Canva, how as an Australia...
Sep 10, 2020•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Mark Switaj CEO of RoundTrip, a digital healthcare transportation marketplace and all-in-one ride ordering solution. In this episode, Mark talks about what COVID19 has done to healthcare businesses (and raising capital during C19), tips for preserving capital to extend runway, tips for doing an insider round, and more. The Company recently raised $4 million o...
Aug 28, 2020•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Jannick Malling, CEO of Public.com a social and fractional share investing app that unlocks greater access to the stock market for a broader audience of investors. In this episode, Jannick talks about the evolution of stock market investing apps, the growth of "verticalized social networks" (like Venmo), raising capital from celebrity investors like Will Smit...
Aug 25, 2020•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Gautam Tanbay, CEO of Springboard.com an educational software platform and online courses that help customers level up and make career transitions. In this episode, Gautam talks about how fundraising is not about convincing investors, but rather "a search for believers," how he starts socializing his deal several months in advance of fundraising, how he divid...
Aug 19, 2020•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Matt Pohlson of Omaze.com, an online fundraising platform that offers once-in-a-lifetime experiences and prizes to support charities around the world. In this episode, Matt talks about his business which has run non-profit fundraising campaigns with celebrities including Daniel Craig, Kristen Bell, Matt Damon and Pope Francis, his near-death experience of fla...
Aug 13, 2020•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Marcus Cobb of Jammber.com, a platform that helps musicians and songwriters manage their royalties and split revenues. In this episode, Marcus talks about how the revenue pie is divided in the music industry, how a hackathon led to the Company's new business model, the Nashville and Chicago startup scenes (including the Nashville Entrepreneurial Center), the ...
Jul 15, 2020•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Derek Andersen, founder of Startup Grind (www.startupgrind.com) and now Bevy (www.bevy.com), a platform to host virtual online events and build a community. In this episode, Derek talks about the ROI of building a community and the benefits of word-of-mouth marketing, how he grew Startup Grind to over 500 chapters worldwide without raising capital, why he dec...
Jul 08, 2020•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Cristina Rogers of Men's Gold Box (www.mgbxx.com), an Austin-based subscription clothing service for XXL men. In this episode, Cristina talks about pitching former Patriots wide receiver Rob Gronkowski, paying contractors with equity, what it's like raising money as a queer Latina woman, the Austin startup scene, how an ad in "Gay Bear World" magazine was a t...
Jul 01, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Jonny Price of Wefunder.com, an equity crowdfunding platform. In this episode, we go deep into the different types of crowdfunding including Reg D, Reg CF, and Reg A+, crowdfunding vs. raising capital from angels or venture capitalists, the downsides to crowdfunding, tips for running a successful campaign, and more. This series is produced by Foundersuite, ma...
Jun 19, 2020•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with entrepreneurs and VCs who have raised capital. This episode is with Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital (https://backstagecapital.com) a venture capital fund that invests in under-represented entrepreneurs including women, People of Color, and LGBTQ founders. In this episode, Arlan talks about her journey from being homeless to raising over $10 million, why investing in under-represented founders is not just the right thing to do but a financial oppo...
Jun 03, 2020•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with George Arison of Shift Cars (Shift.com), an online car shopping platform that brings the car to your door for test drives. In this episode, George talks about how fundraising is a process of "VC thesis matching," how he raised the seed round by going back to previous bosses and co-workers, how startup valuations really work, tips for surviving a downturn, why...
May 26, 2020•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with entrepreneurs and VCs who have raised capital. This episode is with Nitin Pachisia of Unshackled Ventures (www.unshackled.vc) a San Francisco based venture capital fund that invests in early stage startups led by immigrant founders. In this episode, Nitin talks about why investing in "immigrant founders" is an opportunity, why VC pattern building is important, how he transitioned from raising money from individuals for h...
May 12, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with entrepreneurs and VCs who have raised capital. This episode is with Elizabeth Yin who runs Hustle Fund (www.hustlefund.vc)a San Francisco based venture capital fund that invests in seed and pre-seed startups. In this episode, Elizabeth talks about the opportunity for pre-seed investing, how she assesses startups at the earliest stages when they are pre-revenue and pre-traction, how she used her personal network + events ...
May 06, 2020•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Christine Outram of Everydae.com, an online digital tutoring platform. In this episode, Christine talks about how and why the company decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign, how she leverages social media, blog guest spots, and email drips to drive backers, how they did a "thunderclap" to amplify social channels, some of the advantages and challenges of wo...
Apr 28, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with entrepreneurs and VCs who have raised capital. This episode is with Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures (www.precursorvc.com) a San Francisco based venture capital fund that invests in seed and pre-seed startups. In this episode, Charles talks about how many investor pitches it takes to raise a first-time fund, what LPs expect to see before committing to fund #2, the dynamics of being a single GP, deal sourcing outside ...
Apr 23, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Scott Kitun of Technori, an online startup network and media hub based in Chicago. See www.technori.com for more details. In this episode, Scott talks about how he met one of his investors by having him on his podcast, the importance of managing your cap table, the Chicago startup scene (including a great list of local resources), and more. The Company has ra...
Apr 21, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Chris Hicken of 'nuffsaid (www.NuffSaid.com), makers of of a workflow intelligence platform to focus people on the work that matters. In this episode, Chris talks about how and why he "nurtures" investor relationships well in advance of fundraising, 5 key things that entrepreneurs need to convince VCs of, how to build an investor "dream team," what he filters...
Apr 14, 2020•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this special podcast episode, Nathan Beckord synchs up with Devon Leichtman and Prashant Shukla of Origin Ventures, a Chicago- and Salt Lake City-based venture capital firm with over $200 million under management. in this episode, the trio discusses reasons to be both cautious and optimistic in this COVID19-dominated market, how VCs are responding, tactics startups can employ to survive and thrive, tips for fundraising in this market, and much more. Produced by Foundersuite.com, a software an...
Apr 09, 2020•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with entrepreneurs and VCs who have raised capital. This episode is with Anna Palmer and Chip Hazard OF XFactor Ventures (https://www.xfactor.ventures/). In this episode, the duo talks about the challenges and dynamics of raising money as a woman (and why there is an opportunity to invest in female founders), how fundraising for a venture fund is similar to - and different from - raising for a startup, what their fund seeks i...
Apr 02, 2020•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
