For part two of our Fundraising 101 series, we focus on how to present traction effectively on investor calls.

We cover the three main traction stories:

• We're growing really fast.
• Our customers love us.
• We're great at acquiring new customers.

And provide tips on how to make them resonate with investors.

For more fundraising resources visit pitchdoctor.app/masterclass.

Subscribe here or via the Associated Collective Substack.

We're bringing you a series on how to ace first meetings. In collaboration with our friends at Pitchdoctor.

We cover the four key narratives that investors want to hear as well as how to frame what your product does effectively.

Sign up to our Substack - theassociatedcollective.substack.com

Check out Pitchdoctor's masterclasses - www.pitchdoctor.app/masterclass

This is a partner episode to a blog post written on our newly launched Associated, The Collective Substack!

Join Associated co-host Danielle as she unpacks a searing question the group has discussed internally for years... are companies from all industries compatible with venture capital financing? The blog post lists out our perceived challenges of being a deeptech company working with alternative capital options and this episode is an interview with a deeptech founder, Barry Bennett. He also happens to be Danielle's father.

He is the CEO of Metals & Materials Engineers (MME) and started his company officially in 2001 after spending time running the metallurgy division of an engineering firm, working for government in an engineering capacity and studying at at top engineering schools in London, Jamaica, New York and Georgia.

We are excited for you to hear this episode. Let us know what you think on X/Twitter or LinkedIn at Associated_Pod.

Links:

• https://mmelab.com/
• https://theassociatedcollective.substack.com/
• https://twitter.com/associated_pod?lang=en
• https://uk.linkedin.com/company/associatedpodcast

We're back! Associated is now Associated, The Collective. A minor detail change, we know, but it means a lot to us. Over the last six months our team has thought deeply about the sustainability of this group and we wanted to ensure that whatever we did next could encapsulate every mode of expression we'd like to showcase. We will now come to you via substack with not just podcasts, but blog posts and much more. All the while, having the same north star: making Venture Capital more accessible. 

So without further ado welcome to The Collective !

Notice: If you want to get in contact with us you can reach us via email at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ as well as on ⁠Twitter⁠ (@associated_pod).

We are trying to understand our listeners better, so we can make better content. Please consider filling out our listener survey which can be found ⁠here⁠ (https://airtable.com/shraJVvUNv6D7PkDP).

Description: For the last episode of our series on ‘How to Raise a Venture Fund’, Danielle, Francesca and Tunde reunite again to discuss their key takeaways from the previous three episodes, where we interview the founding partners of funds with novel strategies and structures.

Our interviews with Adrian (Übermorgen), Ian (Syndicate) and Alice (Entrepreneur First) yielded fantastic insights which we got to unpack. Some of the key themes we discussed were:

• The motivations behind their atypical structures (2 of 3 are structured as companies rather than funds)
• Raising capital outside mainstream LP circles
• Earning the right to innovate on structure and strategy simultaneously 

We took so many learnings away from each episode and we cannot thank our guests enough for coming on the show!

If you want to get in contact with us you can reach us via email at ⁠[email protected]⁠ as well as on Twitter (@associated_pod).

We are trying to understand our listeners better so we can make better content. You can really help us out by filling out our listener survey which you can find here (https://airtable.com/shraJVvUNv6D7PkDP).

Description: In the penultimate episode of Season 8, Danielle and Tunde interview Alice Bentinck, one of the co-founders of Entrepreneur First. Fresh out of a grad program at McKinsey and Co, Alice and her co-founder Matt felt that there was an opportunity to shake up the early stage VC scene and founded Entrepreneur First (EF). Fast forward 12 years, EF has built more than 600 startups across 6 countries that are collectively worth more than US$10B. In this episode, Alice dives deeper into the genesis of EF and the complexities of their business model, unraveling some fascinating twists and turns along the way. She also outlines some of the unique challenges the EF team face such as identifying 'talent investors' as well as exceptional potential founder profiles at pre-ideation stage. A favourite discussion topic of ours is when Alice talks about the importance of social capital during fundraising, so keep your ears pricked for that golden nugget of wisdom!

If you want to get in contact with us you can reach us via email at ⁠[email protected]⁠ as well as on Twitter (@associated_pod).

We are trying to understand our listeners better so we can make better content. You can really help us out by filling out our listener survey which you can find here (https://airtable.com/shraJVvUNv6D7PkDP).

Description: This second episode in our final category of fund types, what we are calling peripheral funds, we interview Ian Lee, the co-founder of Syndicate a decentralized investing protocol and social network, the main purpose of this structure is to make investing more accessible to the masses mainly through cost reduction and infrastructure enablement.

In 2021 Syndicate raised $20million let by A16z, other investors included Snoop Dog and Ashton Kutcher. Prior to Syndicate, Ian had an illustrious career across a range of different sectors and roles from automotive to heading up the Crypto division at Citi Bank. It is clear from this episode that Ian is someone that can drive forward new and innovative initiatives and shape them into brilliant success stories, Ian gives a great rendition of some of the learnings he took away from raising multiple different fund types, creating collaborative work structures within large corporations and forming early teams.

Notice

If you want to get in contact with us you can reach us via email at ⁠[email protected]⁠ as well as on Twitter (@associated_pod).

We are trying to understand our listeners better so we can make better content. You can really help us out by filling out our listener survey which you can find here (https://airtable.com/shraJVvUNv6D7PkDP).

Description: On the ninth episode of our “How to Raise a Venture Fund” series, we're joined by Adrian Bührer, co-founder and Managing Partner of Übermorgen Ventures, an early-stage Climate Focused fund.

Adrian previously founded students.ch which he ultimately sold to Axel Springer. He was also a prolific angel investor before he decided to set up Übermorgen Ventures alongside 3 partners. Founded in 2019 Übermorgen Ventures, was one of the first Climate Focused venture funds in Europe and boasts a unique structure as an investment company rather than a traditional fund.

During his conversation with Danielle and Francesca, Adrian discusses the challenges inherent in raising the fund. He covers why they chose to create an evergreen dividend-paying company instead of a typical venture fund as well as the difficulties they faced in attracting investors who were unfamiliar with their structure and investment thesis. Adrian also shares details about Ubermorgen’s approach to raising capital, including building a CRM of over 1,000 potential limited partners.

Whether you're an emerging fund manager or an LP interested in investing in a venture fund, this episode is a must-listen. Adrian's insights and experiences are invaluable for anyone looking to navigate the fundraising process successfully. Listen here to learn how to raise a venture fund from someone who's actually done it!

If you want to get in contact with us you can reach us via email at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ as well as on ⁠Twitter⁠ (@associated_pod).

We are trying to understand our listeners better, so we can make better content. Please consider filling out our listener survey which can be found ⁠here⁠ (https://airtable.com/shraJVvUNv6D7PkDP).

Description: For Episode 8 of Season 8, a series on ‘How to Raise a Venture Fund’, Danielle, Francesca and Tunde reunite again to discuss their key takeaways from the last three episodes launched, these episodes are of Managing Partners who have recently launched their first fund.

Rodney (Cornerstone VC), Reem (Pact) and Manuel (Amino Collective) all have fantastic insights to be delved into and we started this episode discussing the differences between Managing Partners who have raised numerous funds to date and those who have just completed their first. We then expanded on the specific highlights from each episode, specifically around each Partners' specific fund raising and running strategies from both a professional and personal stand point and what it took to shape their fund theses into a tantalising offering for LPs. We took so many learnings away from each episode and we cannot thank our guests enough for coming on the show!

Notice

If you want to get in contact with us you can reach us via email at ⁠[email protected]⁠ as well as on Twitter (@associated_pod).

We are trying to understand our listeners better so we can make better content. You can really help us out by filling out our listener survey which you can find here (⁠https://airtable.com/shraJVvUNv6D7PkDP⁠).

Description: On the seventh episode of our “How to Raise a Venture Fund” series, we're joined by Manuel Grossman, Founding Partner at Amino Collective, an early-stage micro fund investing at the edge of health and biology. Prior to Amino Manuel was an operator at tech bio company KRY and was a seed invetor at Allcyte acquired by Exscientia.

Amino Collective started in 2020, has over 22 investments and one exit. Their first fund was 10m EUR and have recently closed a second fund at 30m EUR with ambition of getting to 40m EUR. Amino Collective is a solo GP structure, something that is quite novel, especially in Europe. The fund mainly invests in Europe, but when advantageous also invests in select US companies.

In this episode we cover the evolution of tech bio and health tech in Europe and what has changed in the last 10 years since Manuel entered the ecosystem (i.e. before it became cool post covid), how he raised a fund without having ever been a GP and the community of emerging managers that helped him.

If you want to get in contact with us you can reach us via email at ⁠[email protected]⁠ as well as on Twitter (@associated_pod).

We are trying to understand our listeners better so we can make better content. You can really help us out by filling out our listener survey which you can find here (⁠https://airtable.com/shraJVvUNv6D7PkDP⁠).

Description: On the sixth episode of our “How to Raise a Venture Fund” series, we're joined by Reem Mobassaleh Wyndham, General Partner of Pact, a seed stage thematic fund focused on ABCs - access, betterment and climate solutions. They have raised a 15m GBP fund on first close, already starting deploying capital and set to have a 30m GBP fund by second close in 2023.  

This episode dives into the ins and outs of how a fund is akin to a pre-seed investment, how to tactfully keep in touch with LPs (tip - nothing is over until there is a no!), and how they raised in the midst of one of the worst market downturns in recent history from the co-founders of Crunchbase, the Head of AI at Google and artist Anne Hathway while all getting pregnant with their first kids! Listen in to how to start a fund through it all here.

Adding to the podcast from Reem's perspective:

In regards to having kids while raising the fund, what originally we perceived as a burden has pushed us to cultivate a superpower of extreme focus and organisational maturity.

From a positioning and value add perspective we also saw the opportunity to be hands on early stage investors because not only have we been investors, bankers and lawyers, but we have also been operators at the small and large scale - ones we grew and sold, as well as another that ultimately listed. We have done this while also having worked across almost a dozen countries. This background has positioned us to working closely with a relatively concentrated portfolio providing both operational insight as well as access to a deep global network not just in the US but also in typically hard to access markets in the Middle East and Asia