Your Fundable Profile, if properly created, should convey a lot of salient information to investors. However, it is only a starting point meant to get conversations with investors started. Once engaged with an investor, they may request additional documentation. The items below are some of the items that an investor may request. You don't necessarily need to have them in order now, but it's a good idea to be thinking about them.
Executive Summary
- Your Executive Summary is a high-level overview of what your business does, how your product or service works, and your strategic plan to develop the business. The summary needs to be thorough enough to engage a potential investor but is not intended to be an exhaustive outline of your entire business model.
- The Executive Summary is designed to be read in under 5 minutes so that an investor can jump into reading about your company and quickly understand what's going on. Learn more about how to write an executive summary here.
Fundraising Terms
- The parameters and terms of your offering need to be determined before you launch your campaign. This includes the amount that you are looking to raise, the percentage of equity you will provide potential investors and any relevant deal terms that are pursuant to your particular deal. You must also include a set fundraise duration so that investors know when the deal is expected to close.
- This involves looking through the different types of equity you will offer and deciding which is the best for you. You can read more in the article "What should I set my fundraise goal at?" under Pricing, Fundraising and Fees for more information about the different types of debt and equity Fundable allows you to offer.
Business Plan
- Fundable does not require that you present a full Business Plan. However, it is a helpful tool to convince prospective investors that you have thoroughly planned the execution of the business, and entrepreneurs often learn a lot more and think through their business plan more thoroughly when going through the act of creating a business plan. Having one demonstrates to investors that you are determined and have thought through what you're doing
- Your Business Plan should include a detailed analysis of your market segment, sales & marketing strategy, strategic growth plan, and corresponding financial plan.
- You can create your own business plan, or engage our consulting team to write one for you here.
Pitch Deck
- The Pitch Deck is a more visual version of your Executive Summary, most widely used for in-person presentations.
- More and more, the Pitch Deck is replacing the Executive Summary as the first document requested by investors, mainly because it forces entrepreneurs to be brief, which investors appreciate.
- If you recorded a video of your elevator pitch, you might even consider attaching a video of that to your business plan section; a lot of information that a pitch deck or executive summary may not communicate are communicated effectively via video. This includes your enthusiasm for what you're working on, how determined you are and how prevalent the problem really is.
Financial Statements
- Investors will want to see a breakdown of your use of funds and financial projections at a minimum. Providing this information as a downloadable file on your profile is highly recommended before launch. Fundable does not require this section, however, any serious investor is going to request this information before making a commitment to your company, so it is critical information to have on hand.
- It is important to note that projections do not constitute a likelihood of earnings — and investors know this. Investors value projections not so much because they put weight behind what the projections are, but because having them demonstrates an understanding of numbers concerning your current growth rate, market size and how fast you can scale.
Closing Documents
- Upon fundraise close, you will need to have specific documents prepped. For example, you’ll need to complete a Subscription Agreement which provides detailed terms of the investment to all committed investors. It is helpful to have these documents prepared in a draft format prior to fundraise close. They can also be drafted once funds have been verbally committed.