Three truths to win at crowdfunding

I was asked by the CEO of SimplyCook Oli Ashness to help him raise close to two thirds of a million pounds  to further expand his home delivery recipe box business. We did better than that, hitting close to 120% of our target, whilst watching companies with bigger customer bases and higher turnovers  fail to create enough investor interest.

 Why do some companies fail? Here are three truths I have learned about how to improve your chances of getting past the finish line.

 Truth No.1 Prudence, Prudence, Prudence.

 Gordon Brown’s famously flawed rhetoric might not have been so convincing when it came to demonstrating his long term fiscal planning skills but is good advice to follow when it comes to sharing your own business plans. Overly optimistic and unsubstantiated plans get seen through and shot down early by serial investors and because all comments are shared it can be a bloodbath if you get it wrong. So big up the market opportunity but remain realistic and measured about how much penetration you can reasonably achieve within it.

 Truth No.2 Keep your pitch video ”tight and bright”.

 This phrase comes from the world of commercial radio, where unlike the BBC, every word between the ads needs to count. We all have ever-shorter attention spans so keep your investor videos short and well structured. More specifically don’t fall into the trap of sharing everything, the best strategies are defined more by what is chosen to be left out than what is keep in. Throw 3 balls and they will drop them all, throw one or two at a time and you have a fighting chance some might get caught. And remember you have maybe 30 seconds tops to hook the investors in at the start so if you can’t sell the idea and opportunity in that time you are dead in the water.

 Truth No.3 Put brand insight front and centre

 Unilever taught me that spending time obsessing over who your best customers are, ultimately reduces risk of failure. Follow the old idiom “more speed less haste” and resist the temptation to rush into crowdfunding until you know the facts about why your best customers love you. Weave that like a red thread through your brand and your pitch language. This is what SimplyCook did and the results speak for themselves.

 Giles Pearman 

Co-Founder MyBrandTruth