Xcelerate Financial specializes in providing CFO services to startups and high growth organizations. This presentation reviews some basics around fundraising and the role a startup CFO plays.

1. STARTUP FUNDRAISING 101
Katherine Gaffney, MBA, CPA
Founding Partner, Startup CFO

2. •CFO Advisory
•Financial Planning
•KPI Dashboards
•Fundraising
•Strategy Consulting
•Accounting
•Board Reports
•Resource Allocation
•Investor Relations
•Taxes
SERVICES

3. CLIENTS

4. FUNDRAISING 101
OVERVIEW
Why raise funds?
Types of Investors
Fundraising process
Analyze your Business
What investors want to see

5. FRIENDS & FAMILY
• Beware of ruining personal relationships
• Only accept what someone can afford to lose
• Convertible loan

6. ANGELS/SUPER ANGELS
• LESS $$ ($25k-$250k)
• 3-5 MONTH PROCESS
• HNW INDIVIDUALS
• FOCUS ON INDUSTRY EXPERTS

7. • MORE $$$$
• HIGHER EXPECTATIONS
• LARGER NETWORK
• GREATER DILUTION
• RED TAPE
VENTURE CAPITAL

8. FUNDING STAGES
Friends & Family
Bootstrap
Operating: Prepaid revenue or AR Financing
Angels
Venture Capital
Venture Debt
Strategic Investors
Ideation
$0
Launch &
Traction
$1M
Growth &
Scale
$5M
Breakout
>$5M
Established
Growth
>$MM
FULL-TIME
CFO
PART-TIME
CFO
ADVISOR

9. FUNDRAISING PROCESS
• BUILD YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION
• EXPECT 6 MONTH PROCESS
• USE YOUR NETWORK FOR WARM INVESTOR INTROS
• BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS TOWARDS
INVESTORS
• DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU NEED $$$

10. INVESTOR DATING
Expertise
Brand
Support
Network
Stage
Location
Focus

11. •Create milestones around your objectives
•How will you spend the money, Dev/Marketing/G&A?
•12-18 months of runway
•Beware of raising more than you need!
USE OF FUNDS

12. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
•EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
•PITCH DECK
•PRODUCT DEMO
•FINANCIAL MODEL

13. • Vision
• Problem
• Solution
• Demo
• Market
• Competition
• Team
• Milestones
• Traction
• Financial slide
• Use of funds
PITCH DECK

14. Level 2
Level 1
FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS: BOTTOM-UP
MILESTONE FUNDING/STAFFING
DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING SPEND TO
SUPPORT GROWTH INITIATIVES
USER ACQUISITION/REVENUE BASED ON
CHANNEL SPEND

15. FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS: TOP-DOWN
CALCULATE SHARE of TOTAL REVENUE
TOTAL MARKET SIZE with FOCUS
ON SEGMENT
OPERATING EXPENSES as % of
REVENUE

16. FINANCIAL SLIDES
• Revenue model
• 5 year projections
• Funding requirements
• Use of funds

17. FUNDRAISING IS A
JOURNEY NOT A
DESTINATION

18. IT’S ALSO WHEN THE HARD
WORK BEGINS….

19. BRINGING IN A CFO
EARLY
IN THE GAME
WILL PAY FOR ITSELF
MANY TIMES OVER

20. STARTUP CFO ROLES

21. THE ACCOUNTANT
• Financials: P&L,
Balance Sheet, Cashflow
• AP/ Bill payments
• AR/Collections
• Taxes: Income,
Franchise, Sales

22. THE FINANCIER
• Equity vs Debt
Analysis
• Fundraising:
• Runs deal process
• Obtains loan/lease
approval for company
growth
• Revenue financing
• Investor relations

23. THE CLOSER
• SALES:
• Late Stage
involvement
• The Heavy:
• You can blame your
CFO for the terms
and conditions

24. THE OPERATOR
1. STRUCTURE
2. PROCESS
3. REPORTING
4. INSIGHT
5. ACTIONABLE
STEPS
6. REPEAT &
ITERATE FOR
GROWTH

25. THE COST CUTTER
• Maximize Spend ROI
• Knows where to cut
where it won’t
affect the business
• Benchmarks against
other startups:
Salaries, CAC, Development,
Rent,Insurance,Commissions

26. THE CONSIGLIERE
• Strategize
• Counsel:
• Initiative prioritization
• Advise:
• Decision-making
• Challenge the CEO
for thorough vetting

27. THE JACK OF ALL
TRADES
• HR: Commission plans,
compensation packages,
policies, culture, events
• IT: Drives information
systems
• LEGAL: Contract
review

28. THE STARTUP CFO
1. Chief Fund Raising Officer
2. Chief Accounting Officer
3. Chief Operations Officer
4. Chief HR Officer
5. Chief I.T. Officer
6. Chief Risk Officer
7. Chief Strategy Officer
8. Chief Negotiation Officer

29. THANK YOU!
Katherine Gaffney, MBA, CPA
katherine@Xceleratefinancial.com
www.xceleratefinancial.com
Instagram: xcelerateyourbusiness
@xceleratef