Hey look - Iâm back! For two weeks in September, I was hard at work marketing my fellowship program - Fundraise with Confidence. That meant I was sending a few extra emails out to you all (just a few đŹ), so putting the weekly Fieldnotes newsletter on pause felt like the right thing to do.
I want to address the elephant in the room and in the process tie it back to a fundraising lesson (thatâs what I do).
Whatâs the elephant in this room of fundraising friends? Itâs that a lot of you didnât like my emails. In fact, you were downright annoyed.
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In this extra wave of emailing, I focused on sharing info about a fundraising program I was about to launch. The consistent message said in different ways was:
For many of you, that wasnât relevant! You just raised, so fundraising isnât on your mind anymore! Or youâre a VC and you already know the process better than I do - you could probably teach the class! Or youâre a friend of mine who joined the mailing list to make me feel better and only like my little illustrations - you donât even read the content! The point is those marketing messages were not your cup of tea (Sorry).
âŚand some of you werenât shy about letting me know.Â
With the feedback I got, I know exactly how I could have made my spike in emails more generally accepted.
First, I would have added a section about âwhat to do after you raise.â Anyone that had been in a previous cohort of mine or those who had finished their fundraise recently would have appreciated that.
Next, Iâd add a âHidden Gemsâ list of up-and-coming startups who should get funded. With all the startups I meet, itâd be so easy to put together some exciting companies not many people know about yet. The VCs that are on my list would have been much happier seeing that.
Finally, Iâd probably add some fun general news and memes. That way, if you randomly joined the mailing list as a friend, at least there would be something youâd enjoy.
The result would have looked like this:
I have a lot of great stuff to share with you
If youâre planning on fundraising, I can help
But if you just raised, I can also help with this other stuff
And btw in case you like investing, check out these companies
P.S here are some funny memes
But hereâs the thing - Sorry not sorry.
âI wasnât writing those emails for everyone. I was writing them for the founder who was planning on raising in the next 6 months and wanted help.
And if I had modified my message to add all the extra things that would make other people happy, the founders I really wanted to reach wouldnât hear me. They wouldnât get how passionate and truly focused on helping them I really am.
Marketing is funny like that. For every ad that seems totally out of place to you or every marketing email that made you think âwhy on earth would they send that to me,â there is likely someone who thought âYes!â
You know what else is funny like that?
Fundraising.
That same âwhy on earth would they send that to meâ reaction can also occur when an investor glances over your cold email or skims the first few slides of your meticulously-constructed pitch deck. If it doesnât resonate with them and make them lean in, investors will reply with a pass, share constructive feedback, or just ignore you altogether. These results donât feel great and can easily tempt entrepreneurs to alter their pitch in an attempt to receive less of that negative feedback.
Resist the urge. Remember that your goal is not to get everyone to like you, just as my goal was not to make everyone love my emails. Your story is not for everyone. It needs to have a strong and specific point of view so when the investor who thinks like you hears the message, she knows youâre talking to her.Â
If you try to make your pitch lightly interesting to everyone it will be a copacetic blah story. You wonât offend anyone but you also wonât excite anyone enough to invest.
Donât apologize or change for people who donât get it. Build your story for a specific audience and stick to it.Â
Sorry not sorry.