Foothills Angels

I've seen at least 10 entrepreneur pitches over the past month or so, and what struck me as odd was not a single one of them had a slide in their deck with two key pieces of information: how much they were raising, and why they needed it? First, every entrepreneur pitching a group of angels should have a clear idea of how much money they are trying to raise. Second, what are you raising the money for? OK, to you maybe it seems obvious, you are raising the money to keep the company going. However the main reason the angels want to know this information is so they can understand what key business milestones you are planning to achieve on their nickel! They want to be certain (as should you) that the amount of money you are raising is going to be sufficient to extend your runway long enough to achieve key business milestones that will enable you to raise your next round of money at a much higher valuation, hence minimizing future dilution. Next time you pitch to angels (or VC's) make sure you have one slide in your deck with how much money you are raising and what you plan to do (accomplish!) with it. Good luck!