The exact fundraising playbook we used to raise $3.3M
When I first started fundraising for our first round at Frich - I didn’t know a single investor. People kept telling us to go to wealthy “friends and family” for first easy checks but we didn’t know anyone like that.
I went through a lot of trial and error to create this playbook detailing how we raised $3.3M from leading VC-s and angels starting literally from no investor connections.
Step 1: Build a highly targeted investor list
For VC-s: Look for investors whose thesis matches your category or your founder profile
For angels: Find people who invested in similar but non-competitive companies
Example: For Frich, we looked at investors in Venmo - since we’re both in social finance. We also focused on female-founder focused VC-s & angels since we're female-founded.
<div class="frich-tip">Frich tip: Founders usually have at least 70-100 investors in their initial hit list!</div>
Step 2: Find a warm intro path - never pitch cold
Look up the investors on LinkedIn and identify:
- Founders they’ve backed
- Mutual connections
- Advisors in common
Your goal is one strong intro from someone the investor trusts.
<div class="frich-tip">Frich tip: I never had much success pitching to analysts, associates or principals - I suggest aiming directly for the Partners to get directly in front of the decision maker. </div>
Step 3: Make intros easy for the person helping you
Never ask vaguely: “Do you know any investors I should talk to?”
Instead:
- Share specific names of your target investors
- Include a forwardable blurb they can send in one click
Any VC-backed founder is most likely drowning in work - they won’t help you if you make them do the extra work.
Step 4: Use this template to get introduced to investors
Hi (name),
Thank you so much for introducing me to (investor’s name) from (VC firm's name). I’d like to connect with (investor’s name) (a sentence about why your startup is aligned with their investment thesis - DO NOT SKIP THIS PART).
- One sentence of what your startup does
- 1-2 bullet points proving traction
- Bullet point highlighting your background/your team
- Bullet point on how much you've raised / are raising
Best,
(your name)
Here’s an email template back from 2022 that landed us 10+ investor meetings:
<div class="frich-tip">Frich tip: I’d avoid sharing link to your entire deck in the email - you’re still going “on a first date with the investor”, not proposing a marriage.</div>
Final takeaway
All the checks we’ve raised came from trust built over time - relationships we nurtured over months with other founders, showing consistent progress long before we ever brought up fundraising.
