Exploring VC Funding with Nathan Beckord

Nathan Beckord is the CEO of Founder Suite, a group of tools to help those seeking venture capital, as well as tools for venture capitalists. We talked all about how he built this after spending a decade helping startups raise their own VC. We also cover how to seek VC funding, and if business plans are even useful anymore. It’s a fun conversation in an area I’m only loosely familiar with – so I learned a lot. I think you will too!

Show Notes

* Nathan Beckord
* Foundersuite
* Codequest
* How I Raised It
* Let me know what you want to hear in 2020!

Sponsored by:

Cloudways: Use HIBI20 for a $20 Credit!
Ahoy!: Use code HOWIBUILTIT for 20% off!
Pantheon: Get ready for Gutenberg. Sign up for a FREE account today.


View on separate page
Transcript
Joe: Hey everybody, as we gear up for 2020 I want to hear from you and the things that you’d like to see on this show. If you have a question, a comment, a topic, a guest, any kind of suggestion for How I Built It in 2020, let me know by going to HowIBuilt.It/Feedback. That’s HowIBuilt.It/Feedback if you would like to see something on this show in 2020. And now, on with the show.
Nathan Beckord: Put yourself in the shoes of an investor. People are coming at you all day long, 50 people a day knocking on your door, seeking money from you. Are you going to take someone seriously if it’s just an idea and they haven’t put any real either time, blood, sweat, effort, money into it? This guy’s not serious.
Joe: Nathan Beckord is the CEO of Founder Suite, a group of tools to help those seeking venture capital, as well as tools for venture capitalists. We talk all about how he built this after spending a decade helping startups raise their own VC funds. We also cover how to seek VC funding, and if business plans are even useful anymore. I had to write a business plan about 10 years ago, and it was not fun. I was not a big fan of it because it asked things like, what is your exit strategy? We talk about all of that, so this is a great conversation. It’s a fun conversation because it’s an area I’m only loosely familiar with, so I learned a lot, and I think you will too. We’ll get into all of that right after a word from our sponsors.
Joe: This episode is brought to you by our friends at Ahoy, the easiest way to increase customer engagement on your WordPress site. Install Ahoy, create a message box, configure where to display it, and start seeing conversions come in. You can create messages for cart abandonment, upsells and cross-sells, custom support, and so much more. Ahoy’s flexible conditions let you choose exactly where, and when you want your message to be displayed. I’ve recently installed it on my own WooCommerce site, and I’ve already seen increased engagement. And, I know this because of Ahoy’s powerful analytics and reporting. You will see ROI within days of installing Ahoy, if not sooner. That’s even more true for listeners of How I Built It.
Joe: You can get an exclusive 20% discount on any plan. Visit UseAhoy.com/HowIBuiltIt,