This article was originally posted on VERGE (now Powderkeg).
Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
Name one unusual way I might find an investor.
1. Your Former Boss Having known you professionally from a previous work experience, your former boss might be the best person to invest in your company in case he or she likes the idea.
There are angel investing groups all throughout the United States that are actively seeking prospective new members. One unusual way to find an investor is to attend an angel group meeting as a guest to evaluate the opportunity as a prospective member. You will have full access to all attendees and an opportunity to network with a potential future investor in your company.
Those closest to you might be more inclined to invest in you. Offer them a fair return on their investment, and make sure you stick to it. When you start small with those you know and who know you, you can fine-tune your process so that when it’s time to reach out to larger investors, you’re confident, professional, and well aware of what it takes to do business.
Finding an investor who is passionate about your work is the holy grail, and finding them is easier when you already share a passion. Active hobbies like skiing have made it easy for me to meet people who work as hard as they play, and some of them have been in a good position to invest if I wanted to pursue that.
They know your products and/or services. Hopefully they also enjoy using them, and they have some money to spend. So who better to ask? Done the right way, your customers should also appreciate that you’re trying to grow and offer better products/services. By demonstrating you have their best interest at heart it’s a win-win.
I write regularly for Forbes — and semi-regularly for several other outlets — and although I’m not explicitly writing about my company, every piece is a reflection of it. I’ve had multiple VCs inquire about ZinePak because they landed on an article I wrote and saw that I have a marketing company. Writing is a wonderful way to boost your profile and reputation as an expert in your field.
Social clubs are reemerging in major cities around the country and world for professionals and entrepreneurs to meet up and socialize. This offers a more low-key way to network that could potentially connect you to an investor over a social event, game of tennis or round of golf.
While this isn’t groundbreaking, it’s definitely not an actively pursued strategy for startups and founders. I’ve met some of the most influential people in first class simply because I have no competition for attention and the environment is self-qualifying. They know I’m legit because I’m there and I have to time to build a relationship before the pitch because I have more time than others would.
Treat every person that you meet as being, at most, one degree removed from being your future investor, because they probably are. Next time someone asks, “What do you do?” answer as if they asked, “How can I help you?” This format works for investment, but it is just as applicable to business development or any other thing that you are trying to develop.
We are an IT services company and work for lots of startups. Sometimes, when a project is really good and our client lacks some funding, we also take some equity in the project. Lots of IT (also non-IT) vendors provide this option. Talk to your vendors and see if they would be interested in investing. It not only brings you money, but can reduce your cost.
It might seem counterintuitive if they have a brick-and-mortar store and you’re starting a business in the online space, but you might be surprised to find that there are owners out there with enough capital and enough interest in modern business to want to invest in a startup.
I really like Meet Walter, which is a powerful data-backed tool to help narrow down whom you should be pitching to. This is an “unusual” way to find an investor in that the tool can present people you’ve never heard of and who’ve invested in companies like yours.
In more universities and colleges, there are programs and seminars led by investors and business people interested in moving into the investment world. As a student with a potentially good business idea, this is a good place to connect as the instructor may want to mentor and fund you after working with you over the course of a semester or other program.
With all the new ways we can get and stay in touch, we often forget there are still other avenues of communication. There are investors who aren’t on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, who still read the local paper, and who may know how to use Craigslist but have never been on Instagram. Use those odd channels to fish out potential investors; you’ll be surprised with what you find.
Millennial business owners often have high-performing parents. These parents and their friends, who are usually members of the Baby Boomer generation, are retiring from traditional work and looking for smart and intriguing places to invest their time, expertise and money. Work with your parents to host a party or outing where you share information about your business without a hard sell.
Growth budget allocation
Acquiring ideal customers
Compounding growth loops
Results and expectations
