Nathan Beckord is the CEO of Foundersuite.com and VentureArchetypes.com. On the consulting and advisory side, he mainly works with early stage internet, B2B software, mobile, and consumer product startups. He is also interested in platforms, markets, and networks. Nathan has worked with several crowdfunding companies, such as Kickstarter and Appbackr. He is also the organizer of StartupBD.com and StartupExits.com.

Key Takeaways

1. Start your fundraising journey long before you need the capital.
2. Be thoughtful as you build "top of funnel" outreach. Build a highly qualified list of curated investors, and send a thoughtful email even if you don't have a warm intro.
3. Investors should recognize that most founders are raising capital for the first time, and should support them in that journey with tips and tricks from years of seeing best practices (as opposed to assuming they know those things).