VC Minute

215. Mental Game of Fundraising feat. Alex Ryden Founder & CEO of Guest House

April 11, 2024 Alex Ryden Season 4 Episode 215
VC Minute
215. Mental Game of Fundraising feat. Alex Ryden Founder & CEO of Guest House
Show Notes Transcript

By making fundraising into a game, you can change your mindset around it.

About Guest House
Guest House is the first company to automate home staging for agents and enable commerce for homebuyers across the US real estate market. Their proprietary technology makes the furnishing process as simple as ordering groceries online, with every home installed by real interior designers using furniture from top brands, all in as little as one week. Today, Guest House is available in Colorado, San Diego and Orange County. Learn more at guesthouseshop.com.

About AVL Growth Partners
AVL Growth Partners, founded in 2009, is the leading fractional Finance and Accounting firm supporting organizations in pivoting from growth to scale. AVL brings an experienced team of CFOs, Controllers, and Accountants to your organization, delivering transparent, strategic actions for short and long-term success. Transform your financial approach affordably with AVL, supporting companies coast to coast - get to know AVL Growth Partners at avlgrowth.com. (Sponsored)

About SpringTime Ventures
SpringTime Ventures seeds high-growth startups in healthcare, fintech & insurtech, and logistics & supply chain. We look for founders with domain expertise, forging a path with a truly transformative technology. We only invest in software-based businesses in the USA. We bring a people-focused approach, work quickly, and reach conviction independently. Our initial check size is $600k. You can learn more about us and our approach.     

Alex Ryden:

The mental game of fundraising is a game. That's just what it says it is. It's a game. It's really like you're playing a game and treat it that way. I think both with how you're interacting with people. It can be fun, be positive in the fundraise. Don't let your anxiety of not closing come through in conversations with people. You're playing a game and you're stepping up to the plate, and swinging the bat. Continue to think about it and, and just have some levity as you enter it. And it's really hard, right? Because so much of your investors opportunity, your team's opportunity and your personal opportunity rides on the outcome. So it's hard to think about it as a game. But when you do, I think you can have a better outcome in my opinion. Meaning can have better mental health. Like, hey, I'm going to go start playing the game. I've got 10 meetings. I'm going to go play the game today. And when I'm done, I'm done playing the game and I'll go pick it back up tomorrow. It's not stewing on it at night and thinking about what if this doesn't happen with that doesn't happen. And then there's also rules to the game. There's certain approaches you can have to have a better outcome faster. Just thinking about the way that you're messaging to investors, like the tone of the message, but also the delivery. And then who you're reaching out to and how long you're running the process. Then there's always going to be wins and losses in any game and you're not going to hit a home run every time. So every time you stand up to the plate, you're not going to just close someone and get the capital. I don't know how long I can run with this game reference, but I think I can do it. It's going to take a lot of time. It's going to take multiple innings. It's much more of a marathon, a baseball game, whatever than a game show that happens over 30 seconds. Just be ready for it to take some time.