I am willing to bet that funding, fundraising, and managing VCs relationships are the top skills that emerging startups and entrepreneurs desire to master! Questions on this topic have long circulated within our community. Yesterday, I had the utmost pleasure of moderating a chat by Launch DXB with Joy Ajlouny, which addressed these skills and debunked misconceptions associated with scaling up and raising funds.
I am happy to recap the lessons I learned from the valuable session, abound with Joy's radiant vibes, remarkable expertise, and timely advice.
For those who don't know her, Joy Ajlouny is the first Arab woman to raise $100 Million in funding, both in the MENA and in Silicon Valley. She co-founded the Forbes 'No.1 Startup in the Region' fetchr. She is currently an active investor, serial entrepreneur, founder, board member, and speaker.
In order to perfect your pitch, overall proposition, and land your investors, you have got to start first by looking into how many players had existed in your industry, how and who exited and what their profiles are. You need to then understand your value proposition & exit strategy. Once all is set and the pitch is in place, storytelling is key in helping you convey your message. In your pitch, Joy advises to add a marketing strategy to show your pay-to-play game. Here, you need to think creatively and to highlight your various means to be followed in terms of customer acquisition.
Moving to talk about the entrepreneurial journey in general, and Joy's experience in particular, she delved into the entrepreneur's most common fear: the fear of rejection! Challenging the mindset behind it, Joy insisted that rejection should mean nothing to entrepreneurs. They should never live their lives in fear of rejection. In fact, as it is expected for entrepreneurs to knock on hundreds of doors for a single 'yes'; they should train themselves not to take the rejection personally. "On the contrary, it would be best for them to gamify rejection", she added.
Moving to other questions and to dicsussing VCs and the art of mastering reaching out, securing communications and entry points, and getting them to sign you that cheque, Joy shared the following thoughts: 1. VCs love to see that you have worked in your field, that you have the expertise and know what you are doing 2. The journey always starts with a team; the team is actually everything for VCs. This is why you should capitalize on who you work with. 3. VCs want you to exit your company in 5-6 years, and this should be your plan as a startup since day 1. 4. VCs want a GLOBAL play, not a local or a regional one.
In order to perfect your pitch, overall proposition, and land your investors, you have got to start first by looking into how many players had existed in your industry, how and who exited and what their profiles are. You need to then understand your value proposition & exit strategy. Once all is set and the pitch is in place, storytelling is key in helping you convey your message. In your pitch, Joy advises adding a marketing strategy to show your pay-to-play game. Here, you need to think creatively and to highlight your various means to be followed in terms of customer acquisition.
As we were summing up the chat, Joy noted that as an entrepreneur, you are always fundraising, as you should be. For her, it is a never-ending pursuit for CEOs. Joy likened it to running on a treadmill; you just cannot stop and you have got to keep going. The best startups out there raise $5M and never again. So any time you reach out to a VC, keep in mind that the best and the majority of them are ex-entrepreneurs. They are people who have been in the game, who know its ins and outs. Therefore, the key to winning their cheques is learning how to sell yourself, your team, and your idea.
Yalla, got a business idea? Let’s talk more about it. Email me on daoudiala@gmail.com for free mentorship ✨
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