
How I Raised It - The podcast where we interview startup founders who raised capital.
Produced by Foundersuite.com, makers of the leading software stack for raising capital: Investor CRM + VC/Angel database + Pitch Deck Hosting + Investor Update tools. Used by startups to raise > $2.5 Billion.
Latest episodes

Jul 16, 2021 • 36min
Ep. 207 How I Raised It With Thomas Fairey Of Stakester
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Thomas Fairey of Stakester.com, a platform that users to play online games and compete for money and prizes.
In this episode, Thomas talks about how pitching is a performance, how fundraising can be done as a formulaic sales process, how he automated a lot of his outreach and follow up, how the intent of the first contact is not to invest but to have a conversation, and much more. He also shares his exact script for doing cold emails to investors.
The Company raised 3.1 million pounds (about $4M U.S.) from a variety of angels as well as VC firms RTP Global and GFR Fund.
How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at https:/www.foundersuite.com/

Jul 6, 2021 • 34min
Ep. 206 How I Raised It With Travis Holoway Of SoLoFunds.com
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Travis Holoway of SoLo Funds, a community and app that enables peer to peer loans.
In this episode, Travis talks about his mission to create an "Airbnb for loans", how he plans to unlock capital from "guys like his Dad," how he raised his initial capital from Black angel investors, advice for fundraising and much more.
The Company recently raised a $10 million Series A round led by ACME Capital with participation from Impact America Fund, Techstars, Endeavor Catalyst and CEAS Investments. To date, SoLo has raised $12 million, including a $2.8 million seed round and a series of convertible notes from other investors.
How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at https:/www.foundersuite.com/

Jun 9, 2021 • 39min
Ep. 205 How I Raised It With Donnel Baird Of BlocPower
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Donnel Baird of Blocpower.io, a Brooklyn-based climate technology startup that is making American cities greener, smarter, and healthier by retrofitting older buildings with more efficient energy systems.
In this episode, Donnel talks about how he got started by "greening" some barber shops in Harlem and then landed a government contract, getting past 200 "no's" when raising early capital, pitching Ben Horowitz and Mitch Kapor for his pre-seed round, understanding the "Silicon Valley Archetype" of what VCs are looking for and how to close the gap if you are different from that archetypes, tips for Black founders, and much more.
The Company recently raised a $63 million Series A round ($55 million debt, $8 million equity). The round was led by American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, AccelR8 and The Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, with participation from Kapor Capital, Elemental Excelerator, CityRock Venture Partners, The Schmidt Family Foundation and Salesforce Ventures. Other investors in the Company include Kapor Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, MaC Venture Capital, Exelon, New York Ventures of the Empire State Development Corporation, Echoing Green, and The Schmidt Family Foundation.
How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at https:/www.foundersuite.com/

Jun 5, 2021 • 26min
Ep. 204 How I Raised It With Dima Syrotkin Of Panda Training
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Dima Syrotkin of Panda-Training.com, an online coaching and employee development platform.
In this episode, Dima talks about how he funded his startup using a combination of loans, government grants, R&D credits, and other incentives. He also talks about his experience at SLUSH Conference and the startup scene in Finland.
How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com/

Jun 5, 2021 • 28min
Ep. 203 How I Raised It With Marie Tors Of Graffiti / Reeveal
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Marie Tors of Reeveal.ai, an augmented reality shopping assistant that helps you select the right products.
In this episode, Marie discusses raising capital for a startup based in France, how often she sends an investor update, advice for other French founders, the challenge of seeking money vs. seeking the "right" investors, and more.
The Company raised $100k from friends and family ("love money" as it's called in France:) plus another $450k as a SAFE in a seed round.
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How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at https://foundersuite.com/

Jun 3, 2021 • 37min
Ep. 202 How I Raised It With David Rabie Of Tovala.com
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with David Rabie of Tovala.com, an AI powered oven and meal kit subscription business.
In this episode, David talks about raising capital for a hardware startup, going through Y Combinator, doing an Angellist Syndicate, what has changed between the Series A and Series C rounds, the Chicago startup scene, and much more.
The Company most recently raised a $30M Series C funding round led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from previous investors Finistere Ventures, Comcast Ventures, OurCrowd, Origin Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, and Joe Mansueto.
How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at https://www.foundersuite.com/

Jun 2, 2021 • 37min
Ep. 201 How I Raised It With Joel Holland Of Harvest Hosts
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Joel Holland of HarvestHosts.com, a service that lets RV owners camp at wineries, breweries, golf courses and more.
In this episode, Joel talks about how to align your interests + skillsets to create the optimal outcome, how he acquired -- not founded -- the business, including how he contacted the original owners and came up with an acquisition price, what private equity investors are looking for, tips for raising capital from a PE firm, and more.
The Company most recently raised $37 million in capital led by Stripes, a private equity firm.
How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at https://foundersuite.com/

May 26, 2021 • 31min
Ep. 200 How I Raised It With Lindsay Tjepkema Of Casted.us
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Lindsay Tjepkema of Casted.us, an audio and video podcast product aimed at B2B marketers.
In this episode, Lindsay shares tips for leveraging podcast content, tips for distributing and measuring content, spinning Casted out of a venture studio, cultivating relationships in between rounds, successful elements of her investor pitch, next-gen content marketing and more.
The Company raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Revolution Ventures. Previous investors High Alpha Capital, Elevate Ventures and Tappan Hill Ventures also participated in the round.
How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at foundersuite.com/

May 13, 2021 • 46min
Ep. 199 How I Raised It With Sparsh Khandelwal Of Stylework.in
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Sparsh Khandelwal of StyleWork.in, a membership club to get access to coworking spaces across India and SE Asia.
In this episode, Sparsh talks about raising capital for a startup based in India, how he used LinkedIn automation to message a list of investor targets, tips for getting deals done quickly, how he used Foundersuite during the process, and specific tips for Indian founders.
The Company raised $545k from 500 investors and investor groups including Inflection Point Ventures, Mumbai Angels, Ah! Ventures, and others.
How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at foundersuite.com/

May 7, 2021 • 27min
Ep. 198 How I Raised It With Dejan Pralica Of SoleSavy
Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Dejan Pralica of SoleSavy.com, an online community for sneaker aficionados.
In this episode, Dejan shares how he came up with the idea, the evolution of the sneakerhead community, his experience going through Jason Calacanis' LAUNCH Accelerator, raising capital from VCs like Ben Narasin and musical acts like Diplo, and more
The Company recently raised a $2 million party round from Panache Ventures, Jason Calacanis’ LAUNCH, Turner Novak, Ben Narasin, Morning Brew’s Alex Lieberman and Austin Rief, Tiny Capital, Wesley Pentz (yes, Diplo), Matthew Hauri aka Yung Gravy, Ryan Holmes, Roham Gharegozlou and Bedrock Capital.
How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $3 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at https://foundersuite.com/
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