Preparing to meet with investors may seem daunting. Learn best practices for your meetings
The best way to prepare to meet investors via Hum’s platform is to:
1) Understand the type and how much capital you need - Before starting conversations with investors you need to have a firm idea of how much capital you need to raise, and what you plan to use it for. In addition, you should have an idea of what kind of capital -- debt, equity, or combination of the two - that you want to raise. Hum’s investment team can help you develop a perspective on what’s right for your business on both of these fronts. In addition, you can use Hum’s Max Raise Calculator to get an idea of what your company could raise in different scenarios.
2) Have a clear company narrative - Investors will want you to speak clearly about yourself, the company, and why you are a good investment opportunity. If you can speak confidently about your company, you establish confidence with investors. Before meeting with investors, you should familiarize yourself with all of your financials and KPIs, and be able to speak to trends within that data. Similarly, investors like to see your business forecast model. In it, you should be clear on how you plan to use their capital and what metrics would drive success.
3) Know the market and competition - In addition to your own business, you should demonstrate that you understand your broader market and your competitors. The more you understand how you fit in the overall ecosystem, the more of an expert you come across.
4) Finally, research the investor(s) - Hum’s investment team will help you match with relevant investors, but you should read the investor’s website to see what guidelines they provide on their investment criteria or focus. This allows you to steer the conversation to areas you know the investor is interested in.
Hum’s investment team will help guide you to the right investors, and spend some time preparing you for those meetings. However, you should be prepared to invest time in getting ready for those conversations to help ensure your success.
For more information on how to prepare to talk to investors, read Know your Startupʼs value before you communicate it to investors.