Is it time to raise money for your startup?

Investors write checks when the idea they hear is compelling, when they are persuaded that the team of founders can realize its vision, and that the opportunity described is real and sufficiently large.

Our guest Christie Pitts… a General Partner of Backstage Capital, an early-stage investor at Backstage Capital and co-founder of Backstage Studio… walks you through the decision process for raising money for your startup and the steps you need to take to create a successful raise experience.

Christie joined Backstage Capital in August 2017, and went on to assist in sourcing and investing in startups led by underrepresented (women, people of color, and LGBTQ) founders, helping to bring the firm’s total investment portfolio to more than 150 companies.

Previously, Christie had a multifaceted career at Verizon, where she led operations and marketing teams, supporting more than 5M wireless customers with annual revenues in excess of $4B. From there, she identified a passion for working with early-stage companies, which led her to work on the Verizon Ventures team.

Christie shares:

00:00​ - Meet Christie!
15:20​ Backstage Capital investment criteria and Backstage Crowd - a new initiative for non-accredited investors
23:00​ Build a founder support group
28:30​ Christie's Value Prop insights and advice
33:20​ 95% of new businesses are bootstrapped!
34:00​ 1% of new businesses get funded by outside sources
36:38​ Christie's advice on how to protect your ownership
42:35​ What you need to do first when you know you're ready to raise money
53:30​ Steps you need to take when your company is ready to raise money
55:16​ Christie's "Stitch that on a Pillow" advice!!
58:30​ Join the Backstage Community!

Please follow Christie via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiep...​
Twitter: https://twitter.com/imchristiepitts​

Learn more about Backstage Capital and subscribe to their newsletter here:
https://backstagecapital.com​

Grab the Investor Questions / Questions for Investors here:
https://bit.ly/AndeInvestorQA​

Watch my fun, formula driven LTV/CAC Ratio video here:
http://bit.ly/LTVCACRatio​

Thank you carving out time to improve your Founder Game - when you do better, your business will do better - cheers!

Ande Lyons
http://andelyons.com​
#whentoraisemoney​ #videochannelforstartups