TLDR;

Warm intros to the right investors make fundraising a lot easier. Finding warm intros and discovering the right investors at the right time is often the most time-consuming part of fundraising - especially for first-time founders. So how can Founders find warm intros and insights into what investor might be a great fit? By using Bridge, of course, to connect and engage the right investors 😇

How?

1. Activate your fundraising network

1. Identify the people in your network who can help you fundraise. These are typically other founders, existing investors, mentors, colleagues, classmates and friends who might have raised money before, work at startups or know investors.
2. Setup a “Fundraising network” group in Bridge so you can keep track of these people and add people here as you think of them (try out our iOS app for updating groups on the go).
3. Tell them that you will shortly be starting to fundraise for your startup and that you would really appreciate their help with introductions and feedback.
4. Ask each one to suggest 2-3 people they can introduce you to who they think can help.
5. Invite them to share their networks with you via Bridge (You can invite them directly or share a collaboration link with them).
6. BONUS: Some of your fundraising network might ask if they can invest at this stage. The old adage of “Ask for advice in order to get money” can be very true when it comes to securing early commits.

2. Start researching investors and finding intro paths

1. Install the Bridge Chrome plugin to see your network as you browse the web and LinkedIn.
2. Research who are the investors that invest in your stage, geography and sector.
3. Request intros via Bridge as you spot connections so you can action them later (see send forwardables stage).

3. Build and update your fundraising pipeline

1. As you discover potential investors, add them to your fundraising pipeline.
2. Add the investor's name and website (if they are a fund) or LinkedIn URL.
3. Bridge will surface intro paths in real-time if anyone in your network can make an intro (coming soon - watch this space 👀).

4. Share your pipeline

1. Share your pipeline with your fundraising network.
2. They can offer intros in just 1 click (coming soon - watch this space 👀).

5. Prepare your materials

1. In parallel to building your pipeline, develop your investor deck and financial model.
2. Ideally test your presentation a few times with your early fundraising network to get their early feedback. In reality you will probably tweak this a lot as you get feedback during the fundraising process.

6. Send forwardable intros

1. Write personal forwardable intros for each intro.
2. If you are making intros via Bridge you can re-use previous snippets (we advise tweaking these for every intro) and track all forwardable requests.

7. Connect

1. Once connected, follow up quickly.
2. Move the Connector to BCC.

8. Follow up

1. Follow up quickly with any next steps and update your investor pipeline.
2. Update your investor deck, demo or Investor FAQ document if relevant.

9. Give feedback to those that helped you fundraise

1. Closing the loop on every intro leads to more intros as Connectors love to hear how their feedback went.
2. Keep track of all your intros and see who is helping you the most.

10. Build momentum

1. During the fundraising process, you will hopefully meet many more people who offer to help you fundraise, invite them to collaborate via Bridge so they can help you with more investor introductions.
2. On average, each person you add to your network increases your reach by almost 5K people, opening up more and more intro paths.

11. Close

1. Hopefully, your fundraising goes well and you can close the round.
2. Make sure to recognise and thank all the Connectors who helped with introductions and network sharing. You might need their help on future fundraising so make sure to recognise them now.
3. Schedule regular investor updates (monthly ideally) and look to include some or all of your fundraising network so they are kept engaged ahead of your next raise.
4. You can continue to leverage this network as you focus on finding warm intros to potential customers and talent.

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