Hoffman: Founders should build investor relationships well before fundraising
Reid Hoffman · Reid Hoffman: Better Decisions, Fewer Mistakes · Sep 20, 2022 · at 52:10
Greylock partner and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman discusses conscious career positioning and optimal fundraising strategies for startup founders.
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“One of the pieces of advice that I give entrepreneurs is too often what they do is they go, okay, now I need to raise money. So now I'm going to call Reed and say, now I need to raise money. And it's like, well, the really best way to do this is to with a number of, not just one, but a number of different, you know, possible funders is to establish a connection with them early. So they get to start getting to know you say, here's what I'm building. Here's what I'm doing. So then when you come back, it's like, okay, well, how much do you, how much have you stayed on plan? What have you learned? And I now know you and trust you better. So it's kind of the building up for that opportunity of financing. Don't just walk in the door, but actually, you know, build something of a trust relationship before you jump into it.”
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