As always our dinners with VCs prove to be particularly popular and this week’s dinner with Nancy Fechnay was of no exception. A venture capitalist for 5 years, Nancy currently advises seed companies, so her talk on the “do’s and don’ts” of fundraising was quite a hit. So much so in fact we’ve got two Top Tips articles, one on The Importance of a Co-Founder, and the other on Top Questions VCs ask.

You’re going to get lots of the same questions. Create a fundraising pack and have it available on Google or Dropbox.

Make sure your fundraising pack includes answers to the main questions VCs usually ask, a one minute pitch and a video pitch too, if you can (as Nancy says this impresses investors).

When searching for an investor, Nancy recommends getting warm introductions and steering clear of any form of cold calling (including messaging on LinkedIn). This is where networking comes into its own – as the more you build your network, the more likely you will meet with people who can introduce you to investors that are suited to your venture.

Check out my pinned tweet that has the top 14 books to read to ensure that you don’t make mistakes

Finally, Nancy touched on pitching, explaining how your pitch has to inspire others. You need to have others find your business as appealing as you do. So make sure you refine each of your pitches. And don’t forget to “Pitch every damn day”.

You need to be able to express what you do in one minute as well as what value you will create. A great tip to remember is:

Never assume that someone you are talking to can’t be helpful for you.

Massive thanks to our speaker Nancy, who was joined by: Liberte Fitness, ClearMacro, TrafficLight Solutions, Insight Report, Torsion Information Security, Fashion Bloc, Apparel Systems, Yambina, Solely Original, Ignition Law and Zooqit amongst others.

Are you interested in joining us for dinner? Have a look at our upcoming dinners to see which takes your fancy.