How I Raised It - The podcast where we interview startup founders who raised capital.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with David Zhou, Head of Investor Relations at Alchemist Accelerator, a leading enterprise-focused startup accelerator and investor (https://www.alchemistaccelerator.com/). Alchemist has accelerated over 650 startups that have collectively raised over $3.9 billion in capital. David has a blog called Cup of Zhou which you can find at https://cupofzhou.com/. In this wide-ranging episode, we discuss the current market for raising a venture fund, tips for finding LPs and building relationships, the importance of developing a clear and focused fund thesis, how many LP meetings you need per week, how to find Family Offices, and much more. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $17 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Brad Porter of Collaborative Robotics (https://www.co.bot/), a startup using the power of robotics to move the world. In this episode, we discuss Brad’s amazing 30 year journey in Silicon Valley and how he got to where he is today, the process and steps he uses to engage with investors, the column schema he set up in Foundersuite to keep track of every investor in his pipeline, why market timing matters, how to find investors with conviction, how to balance the right amounts of conviction and humility when fundraising, and much more. Cobot most recently raised a a $100 million Series B round led by General Catalyst along with Bison Ventures, Industry Ventures, and Lux Capital. Existing investors include Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Mayo Clinic, Neo, 1984 Ventures, MVP Ventures, and Calibrate Ventures, bringing the total funding raised to over $140 million in less than two years. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $17 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Michael Heyink of Yellow.Africa, a startup bringing connectivity and power to rural African communities through an innovative distribution and financing model. In this episode, we talk about the opportunities and challenges of building a startup in Africa, his transition from working in private equity to becoming a startup founder, raising capital from impact investors and development finance institutions, and more. Yellow most recently raised a Series B funding round of $14 million, bringing the total capital raised by Yellow, through a combination of debt and equity, to $45 million. The round was from Convergence Partners and the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund, managed by Triple Jump, along with follow-on investment from Platform Investment Partners. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $17 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Tato Bigio of UBQ Materials (https://www.ubqmaterials.com/), a company making plastic substitutes out of mixed household waste: chicken bones, cardboard, dirty diapers, etc. In this episode, we talk about the technology behind turning trash into usable materials, raising capital from strategic investors as well as family offices, VC and private equity, building an ecosystem around your business, and more. UBQ most recently raised $70 million in a funding round led by Eden Global Partners along with TPG Rise Climate, TPG’s Rise Fund, Battery Ventures, and M&G’s Catalyst strategy. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $17 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with May Habib of Writer.com, a startup building a full-stack generative AI platform for enterprises. In this episode, we talk about enterprise AI and the trends happening in the space, selling solutions vs. selling technology, what it's like to raise capital in a white-hot market, the importance of being contrarian + right, how to choose investors and more. Writer most recently raised a $100 million Series B round led by ICONIQ Growth, with participation from Insight Partners, WndrCo, Balderton Capital, and Aspect Ventures, along with customers such as Accenture and Vanguard. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $17 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Jen Zeszut of Goodles.com, makers of "stealthily healthy" mac n' cheese products. In this episode, we talk about how to raise capital for a CPG startup, why she raised a $10M seed round to "launch big," how she recruited over 100 A-list celebrities to invest, tips for picking the RIGHT investor when you have many options, and much more. Goodles most recently raised a $13M Series A led by L Catterton. Other investors include Springdale, Third Craft Partners, Willow Growth, Alumni Ventures, GingerBread Capital, IMG-Endeavor, Cosmic VC, and Electric Feel Ventures. Celebrity and strategic investors include Gal Gadot, Klay Thompson, Khris Middleton, Domantas Sabonis, DK Metcalf, Weston McKennie, Sergio Garcia, Aaron Gordon, Marcus Smart, David Grutman, Ilana Muhlstein, Marissa Hermer, Matt Rutler, Christina Aguilera, Mau y Ricky, and The Montaners. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $17 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Hillary Bush of Pollen (https://www.runpollen.com/) a professional community for freelancers, consultants, and other independent operators. In this episode, we talk about the future of work, how the entrepreneurial journey is "concurrent not linear," tips for scaling a consulting business, why it's important to find investors who don't shy away from the "tough parts" of building a startup, how to get to a no faster, tips for reducing friction in the fundraising process, and more. Pollen most recently raised a raised $4M in funding from ANIMO VC, Founder Collective, XYZ Venture Capital, Precursor Ventures, and a group of prominent angels. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $17 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Samir Kaji of Allocate (https://www.allocate.co/) a startup that enables wealth advisers and family offices to invest in venture funds. In this episode, we go deep into what it takes for an emerging VC manager to raise funds from LPs. Samir shares an awesome 8-step playbook for emerging managers – definitely worth a listen. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite and Fundingstack customers have raised over $15 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, create an account at www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Howie Diamond of Pure Ventures (https://pureventuresvc.com/) a VC fund that invests in early stage companies and the personal development of their founders. Pure typically invests roughly 50% in consumer startups and 50% in frontier technology startups. Notably, Pure launched the Pilea platform to help founders improve their mental and physical wellness and improve their leadership skills. Learn more at https://joinpilea.com/individuals In this episode we talk about how he got started investing, why he focused on founder wellness as a unique "hook" and how it helps him get into good deals, why it's so important to have a differentiated thesis, raising capital from family offices, and more. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $15 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, create an account at www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Brian Gannon of Loop, a private family network and home display that helps families stay connected (https://www.joinloop.com/). Brian is a master networker so we cover tips for outreach, finding "believers" and building proof points, signaling momentum, how to effectively use deadlines, other tactics for creating FOMO, and much more. Loop has raised $8m over 3 rounds from a variety of sources- angels, VC, high profile tech CEOs, and crowdfunding. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $15 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Anshu Sharma of Skyflow, a startup that makes a data privacy vault delivered as an API. Anshu has raised over $70m for SkyFlow, but he’s also angel invested in over 70 startups so we talk about targeting the right investors, testing your thesis, asking for advice and more. Skyflow's most recent round was a $45M Series B financing round. led by New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners. Other investors include Mouro Capital, Mitsui’s MS&AD Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Foundation Capital, and leading fintech angels such as Coinbase Board Member Gokul Rajaram How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $10 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Billy Thalheimer of Regent, a startup making the Seaglider, a cross between a boat and a plane that uses "wing in ground effect" physics to enable efficient, all-electric coastal travel. Learn more at https://www.regentcraft.com/ In this episode we talk about the technology and physics behind the product, raising strategic capital, pitching Mark Cuban and Founders Fund and much more. Regent has raised $90 million in total. The Company's most recent round was a $60 million Series A co-led by 8090 Industries and Founders Fund. Point72, Caffeinated Capital, Mark Cuban, UAE’s Strategic Development Fund, Future Planet Capital and others participated, as well as strategic investments from Japan Airlines Innovation Fund, Yamato Holdings and Lockheed Martin. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $10 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Quaid Walker of Bezel (www.getbezel.com) a marketplace for high-end watches such as Rolex, Omega, etc. Bezel raised an $8m seed round from both VCs and several high profile folks such as John Legend, Kevin Hart and Michael Ovitz so in this episode, we get into the details of how to get connections and pitch to celebrities and other influencers. Bezel's investors include VC firms BoxGroup, Courtside VC, Shrug Capital, Abstract Ventures, Operator Partners, Electric Ant, Impatient Ventures, Nomad Ventures, Litquidity Capital, and more. Bezel also recruited celebrity investors and watch enthusiasts such as comedian Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Ventures, singer and producer John Legend, DJ Steve Aoki, NBA champion Kyle Kuzma, founder of Fanatics Michael Rubin, philanthropist Michael Ovitz, former international head of watches at Christie’s John Reardon, former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho, and cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens Marlon Humphrey. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $10 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Ben Lamm of Colossal Biosciences, a startup using genetics to bring back extinct animals such as the wooly mammoth, Tasmanian tiger, and the Dodo bird. Learn more at https://colossal.com/ In this episode we talk about the technology and the "why" behind de-extinction science, raising capital for a moonshot, how to identify investors with a long event horizon and much more. Colossal Biosciences has raised over $225 million in total. The Company's most recent round was a $150 million Series B led by US Innovative Technology Fund with participation from Breyer Capital, WestRiver Group, Animal Capital, In-Q-Tel, Animoca Brands, Peak 6, Bold Capital, Jazz Venture Partners and others. Previous investors include Thomas Tull and At One Ventures. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $9.7 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Zach Coelius of Coelius Capital (https://coelius.vc/) an early-stage VC fund that invests in B2B or B2B2C companies, with an average check size of $200k-1m. In this episode we talk about how he got started angel investing(and how he leveraged that experience to launch his fund), how to get access to good startups, how to be useful, and much more. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $10 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders, investors and consultants. This episode is with Dr. Laura Sicola, Founder of Vocal Impact Productions (https://vocalimpactproductions.com/) a leadership training and communications firm. She is also host of the "Speaking To Influence" podcast (https://speakingtoinfluence.com/) and author of a book by the same name. In this episode we delve deep into how entrepreneurs can improve their communications skills. We discuss how to connect with your audience and command the room, how the combination of appealing to the "head" + the "heart" = the wallet, the importance of being authentic, how to speak with authority, tips for your verbal delivery, tips for pitching virtually, and much more. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $9.7 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Robbie Crabtree of Founder Fundraising (https://www.founderfundraising.com/) a business that helps startup founders become a "Chief Storytelling Officer." In this episode we go deep into why creating a memorable "Founder Story" is the key to successful fundraising, how to paint a compelling vision, how to create a memorable opening hook, tips for drafting the pitch deck, how to build relationships with investors, tips for 1st, 2nd, 3rd meetings, and more. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $9.7 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Sterling Pratz of CarIQ, a payment platform for fleet vehicles (https://www.gocariq.com/). In this episode we talk about raising capital from strategic investors such as Visa, State Farm, Circle K and others. Sterling shares tips for dealing with strategics and how the pitching process is different from pitching VCs. He also shares some great tips for going into a VC meeting with a short slide deck that is like a "movie trailer" and more. CarIQ most recently raises a $15M Series B led by Forte Ventures with participation from Visa, State Farm Ventures, Telus Ventures, Avanta Ventures, Bridgestone, Navistar, and Circle K. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $9.7 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Ethan Agarwal of The Coterie (https://www.thecoterie.co/), a fintech company that builds financial products for high income people in tech and finance. In this episode we talk about the unique wealth management needs of founders and tech workers, what he's doing differently when it comes to raising capital as a repeat entrepreneur, tips for maintaining physical, mental, and financial health, and much more. The Coterie has raised nearly $50 million in capital from Andreessen Horowitz, Initialized, Pear VC and Google’s Gradient Ventures, as well as DoorDash founder Stanley Tang and AngelList founder Naval Ravikant. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $9.7 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Sarah Dusek of Enygma Ventures, an investment fund for female entrepreneurs and women founders, focused on Southern Africa. See more at https://www.enygmaventures.com/ In this episode we talk about her previous "glamping" startup called Under Canvas, the startup scene in Africa and what cities generate the most founders, how she's fostering an entrepreneurial culture for women, what types of deals she's looking for and how her team screens applicants, and much more. Enygma has deployed $10 million into startups thus far and is now raising a $30 million fund to continue investing. Enygma screens over 10,000 applications per year from African founders. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $9.7 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.