Fundraising Preparation for SaaS owners - how to prepare so you can close the perfect investor for your Angel, Seed or Series A.

1. ABEL Finance
V i r t u a l C F O S e r v i c e sWebinar – June 2018
Prepare to land the perfect investor
for your SaaS

2. MISSION
Guide Digital Startups and SME to faster and more profitable growth
WHO IS ABEL FINANCE

3. ABEL Finance 3 Main Services
Virtual CFO
• Trusted financial business
partner
• Support strategy development
and decision making
• Financial planning
• Oversee or execute financial
reporting
• Execute & improve financial
control processes
• Financial analysis to identify
revenue opportunities & control
costs
Financial Coaching
• Coaching program
• Empowering business owners to
take control of their finance.
• Coaching business owners on
specific projects, including:
• Fundraising
• Reading financial statements
• Financial planning &
forecasting
Deepdives
• Intense half-day session
• Diving deep in one particular
problem or question
• Receive a Summary of the
Deepdive plus Action plan going
forward that you can execute
independently
• Examples:
• Scenario planning for
investment process (SaaS)
• Profitability analysis over
product categories
(eCommerce)

4. Smart Life BV
Blaupunkt Robotics
We are
working
with:

5. Who am I?
Rob te Braake
• M.Sc in Strategic Management
• M.Sc in Finance
• Started in ING Bank’s Global Talent Program
• Co-founder and CFO of 4 Tech companies in China
• Founder ABEL Finance – outsourced CFO for SaaS and other Service companies
• Passionate about coaching ambitious people

6. Todays Webinar Agenda
What is Fundraising?
Why SaaS fail in
fundraising
ABEL 2 x 4
Framework
Applying 2 x 4 Q & A

7. Fundraising Trends (1)
Early stage funding is imploding in since 2014…
…around the world
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
US EU RoW
# VC investments/year
2014 2017
Data: Techcrunch, Pitchbook

8. Fundraising Trends (2)
SaaS got hit especially hard
Data: Techcrunch, Pitchbook, Redpoint
Total SaaS VC investments Seed Rounds invested in SaaS Companies

9. Fundraising Trends (3)
Average investment sizes are
increasing (Seed is the new A)
Data: Redpoint Ventures

10. So, What Is Fundraising?
Fundraising is NOT an event
It is a long process
Fundraising is NOT something you do on the side
It is a demanding process
Fundraising is NOT easy
It is a frustrating and confronting process

11. WHY
SAAS
FAIL
TO
RAISE
INVESTMENT
THE FUNDRAISING PROCESSTHE COMPANY

12. WHY
SAAS
FAIL
TO
RAISE
INVESTMENT
THE COMPANY

13. NO SCALABLE
BUSINESS MODEL
Customer are not willing to pay;
a sales model that does
not work;
the economics of your solution
don’t work out
NO CAPABLE AND
COMMITTED TEAM
Investments are
“80% the man,
20% the plan”
NO COMPETITIVE
EDGE
No solution that is
materially better in solving
the customers pain point
than the existing solutions
What Makes a Company Unfundable?
NO PRODUCT
MARKET FIT
No validation from paying
customers that you are
actually solving a pain
point

14. WHY
SAAS
FAIL
TO
RAISE
INVESTMENT
THE FUNDRAISING PROCESS

15. No Vision or Story

16. No Understanding Of
The Market

17. No Understanding On Investor
Perspective

18. No (Warm) Introductions

19. No Or Bad Documentation

20. No Time

21. Bad Preparation Kills Your
Chances Of Success
By failing to prepare,
you are preparing to fail.
Benjamin Franklin

22. ABEL Finance
2 x 4
Framework
THE COMPANY THE FUNDRAISING PROCESS

23. ABELFinance2x4Framework
Bring structure to your
preparation phase
OBJECTIVES WHAT IT IS
WHY IT WORKSPut you in control
Give you the confidence to
close the investment
Framework to help you
think, plan and act
All aspects covered
Less Stress
No question you can’t
answer

24. ABEL 2 x 4 Framework
STORY
Does your startup have a clear, well thought through and appealing
story? What place do you take in your market, what problem do you
solve and for whom?
TEAM
Do you have a committed team that covers the key competencies
needed for your business to succeed? Do you and your team have
proven to be able to work through difficult periods and conflict?
PRODUCT
Do you have a product of MVP in place? Do you have a clear roadmap
how you will further develop the product?
MARKET
Do you have evidence that the market exists, that there are clients who
are willing to pay for your solution to their problem?

25. ABEL 2 x 4 Framework
INFORMATION
Do you have a clear picture on the amount you are looking to raise and
what you will be able to achieve with this?
Do you have a sound financial forecast? An appealing investor deck?
SELECTION
What do you expect or need from the investor besides the money?
What other selection criteria are relevant for you?
ENGAGEMENT
Do you have access to the right investors? Do you how you will get
access to those investors?
Do you connect and engage with them early on and continuously?
ATTITUDE
Are you truly ready for a long process with continuous fine tuning of
your pitch and with at times dismissive, at times even blunt, feedback
from investors?

27. How You Can Use 2 x 4 Today
4
Bi-Weekly – Monitor Your Progress
Are you still on schedule?
What actions are needed to get back on schedule?
2
Plan The Process
Schedule time to prepare the Information Decide about Selection
Schedule time to prepare and execute Engagement Remind yourself of the process
3
Set Business Milestones
What are the Milestones you can achieve on the 4 business parts:
Story and vision Business Development
Team Technology
1 Make A Planning
Look at your runway – how much time do you have? Calculate at least 90 days for fundraising.

28. •
CLOSE THE RIGHT INVESTOR
• Feel secure about your pitch and your documentation
• Be confident how you will connect with investors
• Maximize the chance that you will close that perfect
investor
WHAT IT IS
• 13 (Bi-) Weekly coaching sessions
• One-on-one with experienced CFO
• Guide you through all 2 x 4 steps of the preparation
• Unlimited support by email
PRICE
USD 2,950
WHAT OTHER SAAS SAY
“Thanks to ABEL, we are confident & completely in control
of raising our Seed round! “ - Jaap van Etten, Datenna
ABEL FINANCE
FUNDRAISING
PREPARATION
PROGRAM
20% OFF – Only USD 2,360
Discount code: 2006W
For participants in this webinar who
book the intake before 01 July
•
•
•Apply Today!

30. ABEL helped us prepare for a funding round.
They went way beyond the original scope (in
a good way!).
Since their involvement we say:
who needs a CFO when you can have ABEL?
“
”
Tim Metz, Founder of Saent

31. Thanks to ABEL, we are confident &
completely in control of raising our Seed
round!
“
”
Jaap van Etten, Founder of Datenna

32. Q&A

33. Rob te Braake
Rob@abel-finance.com
0086 150 1044 5970
www.abel-finance.com
Thank you