Naval Ravikant’s advice for raising venture capital: “It is an emotional sale, not a rational sale”
“The process of raising money from an investor, a friend of mine once joked, is the process of young men and women seducing old men and women. You’re essentially trying to get them to look at you, and to see themselves in you… And so it is an emotional sale. It is not a rational sale. And you have to understand that at its core level.”
And as Naval explains, emotional sales do not happen via checklists. For example, it’s rare to fall in love with someone because they check a bunch of boxes (e.g. pretty good looking, pretty nice, pretty smart, etc.).
“Usually there is one thing about the person that is so overwhelming that makes you fall in love with them. And in that same way, when an investor is deciding to make an investment in a startup, they usually look for one exceptional characteristic about the startup that they truly adore.”
Naval believes there are four categories in which you can really excel:
Team. “If you can show that you have done something exceptional, other than starting this company, that’s a huge thing.”
Product. “A lot of entrepreneurs make the mistake of showing investors a half-finished or not-working product and then try and explain their way around it. The reality is investors are users also, so they’re highly visual. They want to see it. They want to play with it. And they’ll make up their mind very quickly.”
Customer traction. “If you have users and if those users are organically joining and growing, that’s very good. If you have to say: give us money and then I’ll go get customers, they don’t like to hear that.”
Social proof. “Social proof is basically looking at what other people are doing and doing that. So in the investing context, what this means is if you have one investor committed, very often you can get more investors interested. Or if you have a famous entrepreneur or advisor who’s very knowledgeable, involved with with the company, that can help bring investors.”
Naval concludes:
“So those are the four criteria that I think most investors look at, and you really want to be exceptional at at least one of them.
Every player and coach needs to hear Landry Shamet (@landryshamet) explain how he embraced his situational role with the @nyknicks and his belief that if you help enough people get what they want, you'll eventually get what you want:
✨ The only reason we're able to see a star in the sky from earth 🌍 , is because there's so much light projecting from OTHER stars.
Similarly, in life — The more value you create for others, the more valuable opportunities will find you. ♻️
It's counterintuitive, but basketball rewards that act of sacrifice.
It’s an unwritten law and it doesn't care about your minutes, your contract, or your title.
🏀 The game has a funny way of giving back to those who consistently make winning easier for everyone else.
Your success is always a byproduct of your teammates, and therefore the more you're willing to shine light on others 🔦, the more light that will reflect onto you and illuminate your performance. 🌙
Teams work the same way. Your success is never created in isolation, it's illuminated by the countless teammates, coaches, and support staff who make your performance possible.
⭐️ The brightest stars aren’t the ones trying to be seen.
They’re the ones that never stop giving away their light. 🌟
JAŸ-Z
JAŸ-Z IN 8
(DOCUMENTARY)
THIS FALL 🚨
▫️JAŸ-Z will sit down with Rick Rubin for an 8-part documentary series where Rubin will dig into JAŸ-Z's music, lyrics, life and creative process throughout his career