I have an MVP for a new social media app, an extensive market research report, estimations for the cost of monetizing the app, and a roadmap for what comes next. It’s also live on the app store now and have 100+ users, mostly from my own network.

I do not have a scripted pitch, but I can explain the value behind the idea to users and how it will make money to investors. I believe in the idea very much, but am struggling to get users on the app outside of family and friends due to no advertising budget, and no time for promotional events.

I am a non-technical founder who has bootstrapped up to this point over the last 3 years by working a Finance 9-5 and paying developers to build the app. I have reached a point where I’d like to receive external funding for a better equity deal than I would have gotten at earlier stages of development.

  1. Where can I find investors that are suitable for investing at the stage I am currently in?

  2. How do other founders who are working a 9-5 and sacrificing so much for your company cope with feelings of burnout?

  3. What are some startup/founder groups that are good to join pre-seed? Are these groups worthwhile when you are short for time?

  • pyfinmo@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Social is probably one of the most challenging spaces to raise money in. The general rule of thumb for investors in this space is 100k users with a proven growth channel where r0 is greater than 1 and their money is going to be like pouring gas on a fire for a proven concept. Almost every B2C product fails so investors are genuinely afraid to put money into unproven projects.

    That said, crunchbase is your best bet for finding investors. Pay for a membership and search for companies that raised in the social space. Find angel investors that invested in those apps. You should understand all the companies in the social graveyard, why they failed, and try to have conversations with their founders. This will be the most promising channel for warm intros, which are the gold standard when reaching out to angels. Cold outreach will have a low hit rate but you will succeed every now and then at getting on a short call. Ask every person you talk to if they will intro you to 1-2 people that might be able to help give you guidance. Other than crunchbase you can try angel list. Avoid angel networks, they want guaranteed investments and will consume your time like crazy while they deliberate in DD, but you can reach out to individual angels with better success.

    Remember, as an investor you see TONS of ideas. Maybe you make a few investments per year. Traction is the thing that matters most, not ideas. No matter how impressive an individual is, if they don’t have traction the answer will be “not right now.” They can afford to wait. It’s your job to show them growth that makes them feel that they can’t wait.