Funding is always a topic that is top of mind for founders. There are many strategies founders can take to secure funding from investors and also non dilutive options such as grants or pitch competitions. Today the organization R!OT hosted a great talk featuring Kelly Fitzgerald, Engagement Director of The Launch Place, who shared insights on ways to get funding for your startup, including: Best way to approach an investor, Must haves for your pitch deck, and Being well positioned for due-diligence.
Here is a summary of top points shared to support your development. Hope this helps.

• Get an introduction! A warm intro is so much better than a cold call when securing interest in funding. Look for an insider introduction from friend or colleague to investor to help get the leg up on best first impression and opportunity for funding.
• Have a great pitch deck and presentation to make your best impression within 10-20 minutes. The best pitch deck include these top 10:

1. Present Clear Basics! Contact info. Simple Message & Simple Look. 
2. Clearly state what your product/service is. One sentence on Value Proposition. What you have, why better, why people will part money for it, problem you solve, your overall sweet spot offering. Keep concise!
3. Know your ask and have it substantiated with facts. How much money you need and why and terms proposing. Share how you will use the money with clear plans. Have a good valuation for your company that is justifiable.(Science and Art)
4. Know your competition and why you are different. Know your unique competitive advantage. Be honest about competition and be aware of alternative competition to demonstrate your aware of all threats.
5. Keep the problem you solve top of mind. Focus on the pain point you address not just your widget features.
6. Tell a beautiful story. Use video and pictures to emotionally connect and share the beauty of your product offering.
7. Share intellectual property information like patent, trademark, and/or how to protect your company like any trade-secrets.
8. Have a clear sales and marketing strategy! Show your plans to get your product into marketplace to drive revenue asap and cost efficiently. Pick one or two channels to focus on to most effectively/efficiently get product into consumer's hands.
9. Button Up Your Financials! Know your business numbers and how you derived the numbers like cost of goods, customer acquisition cost, and use best accounting practices. Keep financials simple.
10. It's about your TEAM! Yes, investors are investing in your company, but really they are investing in YOU and your TEAM. Show strength in you and your people.

• Weakest link in investor presentations is talking to much about the product and not communicating enough on how you will make money. Having unclear financial numbers is a red flag.
• Prepare for due diligence. Top things to prep for is your team, value prop, intellectual property, revenue model, current traction, key milestores, development plan, industry/market analysis.

Overall, a great event. Thank you Tom Snyder and Caroline Griffin from R!OT and Kelly Fitzgerald with The Launch Place. To view this article and learn more wisdom and advice from others, check out articles on LinkedIn:   ​https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ll-how-get-funding-your-startups-keith-washo-mba-m-a-/?published=t

Sharing new innovative tech earbud product from local Raleigh-Durham startup, Purebuds. Check out these world's first real metal earbuds designed with aluminum alloy for great acoustics, durability, and bass boost enhancement for pure music listening also featuring noise cancellation technology for pristine phone call audio. The Purebuds also include custom audio tips to personalize your listening experience with three tips like surround sound, full-range audio, and extra bass effects. The Purebuds Earphones also includes a convenience control module on the cord for easy access to your music and phone calls to play/pause and answer/hangup phone calls with one press of a button plus increase or lower volume with the included audio slider.

Sharing interview with CEO/Founder of RewardStock in Raleigh-Durham at their Shark Tank episode launch party at American Underground, Check out the advice from Jon Hayes as he shares wisdom gained in leading RewardStock to success and getting on Shark Tank and beyond. Top three points to remember to succeed in your startup venture:

1. Keep at it! Stay alive long enough to get lucky and hit that intersection of opportunity. "Survive And Advance" as they say so you can reach bigger opportunity crossroads. Don't give up. Keep grinding. 
2. Share your idea early and often! Learn from feedback asap to iterate and keep improving your product and learning from market sooner than later.
3. Release your product early. Don't wait for it to be perfect! The notion of "Good enough" is good enough! Get your product into the hands of people, get beta testers, and consider the "Most Viable Product" approach to have your MVP out in market asap so you can learn and start building momentum from insights gained along the way to iterate and have new better product out asap...

Thank you Jon Hayes, CEO/Founder of RewardStock for your time and good advice. Hope you enjoy the video!