🎙️ EP17: How to Get 1:1 Meetings with VCs and Make Your Virtual Event More… | InvestHer Podcast

InvestHer Podcast is for you, the female founder who has a product, a service, or a message that you believe in and need to get funded. Or for you, the investor who wants to learn more about the huge untapped investment opportunity that gives you a higher return— women entrepreneurs. My name is Anne Ravanona. I'm an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and women's advocate, and I'm passionate about helping women entrepreneurs get funded. In each episode, we'll take a behind-the-scenes look into real-world funding tactics and strategies to help you get the funding you need faster. Let's put the fun into funding. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let's get started. So let's get started, Jan. I know you're a busy man getting everything ready for Arctic 15. Welcome, we're delighted to have you with us on Investor Podcast.

Thank you so much. It's a great, great pleasure to be here today.

So before we start, can you tell us a little bit? I always ask our guests on the podcast, give us one fun fact about yourselves. So can you give us one fun fact about Jan?

Who are you?

Okay. Maybe something, something that I normally don't comment on. Once way back, I hitchhiked from Finland all the way to Madrid in Spain in 4 days. And we spent one night in Dover in UK on the way.

Oh my God!

Yeah, Finland, UK. Oh my God, so you kind of did a big roundabout, and those are the days when it was still okay and safe to do hitchhiking. I'm not too sure if you'd do it today, would you?

1995 was the year.

Oh, good old days. Oh, brave man, brave man.

Fantastic. But actually, the fun fact on that was that, uh, It was supposed to be like a 1-month trip with my friend, but then I stayed 10 and a half months on that trip, so it got a little bit extended. And my mom had to clear my apartment because my roommate moved out, so while I was in Spain.

But you came back, that's a good thing. So you're, you're logging in to us from Helsinki in Finland, is that correct?

That is correct. Helsinki, Finland.

So tell us a little bit about— tell us a bit more about Arctic 15 and about how you got involved and became the CEO, because we want our listeners and our viewers to learn a little bit more about your great event.

Sure, sure. Okay, so then it's a company called Arctic Startup, and it started as a news blog in 2007, and then they started making events in 2011. And actually, I was reading the news They write news about the Nordics and the Baltic startups. Back then we didn't have Supercell, Spotify, Fames, so we were a small region in the corner of the world. And then I was reading those news, and then once they wrote like, hey, we're doing this Arctic 15 event and they're looking for volunteers. And just out of curiosity, I was like, hey, I go a lot to events, so why don't I go and volunteer and see how it looks from the inside of the event? And then sure, and I really enjoyed being there as a volunteer, and then get to know the team. And then like, well, I think it was 2 weeks after the event, the original founders announced that they're gonna shut down the company because 3 of them have left, only one was left. And then they passed it on to 2 different guys who were working there who I got to know while I was volunteering. And then I started like, then a couple of months ago, and then I started helping them a little bit and asking, hey, are you gonna do the Arctic 15 again? I want to volunteer, I want to volunteer. It was fun. And then I They said, no, we're busy writing this startup news. And then maybe a few weeks later, one of them, I asked again, hey, are you going to do the RT15 event? I want to volunteer. And at some point they got sick of me asking them and they said, you seem so excited about this thing, why don't you do it? I said, hmm, okay, I'll do it then. So basically from volunteering out of curiosity and fun, I jumped into running the whole event. on a one-go basis. So that was the story. And then that happened 7 years ago, 2012, 2013. Then Aita kind of like took over and I'm still here and I'm kind of quite surprised about that actually. But it must mean that I enjoy what I do because the main part obviously is to help putting people together, connecting people, helping others to succeed.

Right.

Amazing. So, so I love it. So I think that's great. It's a great lesson to our listeners saying, okay, if you volunteer for events, be careful, beware, you might get more involved, but actually You know, joking aside, I think it's a fantastic way to learn from the inside out about how things really work, and then to to really figure out your passion. It's like with everything. I think it's you have to try things first and then see what fits. And it sounded like it was a perfect fit. I mean, I know that I have a fantastic colleague, Madeline, and similar, I posted a job ad for a different job to work in in Global Investor. And when we started talking, I started showing her the Investor Directory, and she started getting super excited. She's like, "Oh my God, this is great!" Da da da da. And I mean, one thing led to another and now she's our directory lead. I mean, it just, her passion was such that it was evident that that's what she wanted to work on, not the other thing. So I think it's a great lesson for us all, isn't it? To kind of go for it.

100%. And we've had a lot of like volunteers who join our team or turn into interns and then turn into employees. Then even some we've helped to start their own company as a spinoff. Even we've done stuff like that.

So.

Which I think is a beautiful— it's a beautiful message because it's kind of the overarching message of our webinar today and of our podcast, which is like, we want to pick your brain, Jan, as to how you've built those relationships, particularly with investors, because that's super worthwhile and helpful to our female founders who are listening and to other investors who are there. But I love it because what you're talking about is about building relationships, isn't it? It really, really is.

Of course.

Yeah, it's all about the people, you know.

It's all about the people. And even look, you and I, we met at I Am Tomorrow, an event in Barcelona organized by Kieran Maverick. How many years ago? 2016?

No, 2017, I think.

2017. And look at us now, and we're partnering together on your event, and you're here on the podcast. So yes, this is it.

Yes. Yeah.

And obviously I would love you to come to Finland for the event, but no. Hopefully next summer, keep fingers crossed on that, yes. But now that we have this online environment, so we were very long over the summer hoping things look very good in Finland, very under control, so we were preparing for hybrid event, but then very shortly before we were ready to launch, then the cases go up, up, but then okay, let's just forget about the hybrid and make the best possible version of Arctic 15 online, basically. It's about bringing value to people, and that's like a your— I call it like a very roughly, like, it's your right to stay alive in the business. You have to bring value or then like, then do something else more valuable.

Very, very true. Very true. So can you tell us a little bit more? Because Arctic 15 now in particular, as like the face-to-face event and now your online event, you have become one of the leading events in the Nordics, and particularly when it comes to matchmaking, to bringing together investors and startups. So can you tell us more about what makes Arctic 15 different and how, yes, it's Nordics, but actually beyond, because you've got some amazing speakers. I'll let you announce them because it's exciting. So tell us a bit more.

Okay. So what makes us kind of different since I like took over and started running, we've been heavily focusing on, because we know that the startups, investors, any business owners or supporters, they need deals to get happen and things to move forward. So we've been pushing people to, hey, come here, Of course you choose, we have great set of speakers, but like we tell our audience, don't sit 8 hours watching the speakers, choose 1, 2, 3 relevant ones and the rest of the day spend networking and having meetings, opening new connections. And then that's what we've been, and it's about repeating the message, of course, and pushing people hard on, hey, we're gonna open a deal room in a few days, tomorrow it's gonna open, now it's open, start booking your meetings. So it needs repetition on the message also because people are, lazy to prepare. And we know for a fact that better you prepare, better results you're gonna get, right? And now with this online environment, obviously it's even lower, lower the preparation part compared to booking your flights and hotels and stuff like that on your mind when you're going to a physical place. Now you're just like picking up a remote and pressing a button and you're there, kind of like. So it's a very different how to prepare. But that's been the core for us. It's about networking, it's about people, it's about making deals because this is the way we want to keep the ball, push people forward and make things— we're heavily focused on action, right?

Mm-hmm.

And action, talking is good, but you have to shift from talking to action as soon as possible, right? So we are for action and getting deals done on one way or another is a critical part of and a key part of the message of what we're doing. Obviously, when you talk about it geographically, of course, we are like, from the startup's perspective, we are more regional, like, and then, but of course, from the investor's perspective, we are like totally global. We have investors coming from Asia, Middle East, US, all over the place, who want to see what cool things are happening in Finland, happening in the Nordics, happening in Europe, even in that sense. And in that sense, you can say that we are very international and global in terms of investors, but we want to be more— especially current environment, we need to kind of like help to keep the ecosystem ball rolling here in the Nordics and Baltics because there's a clear— we've seen already like that the angel investors are challenging to find new deals. Early-stage startups are suffering the most of the COVID at the moment.

And I think I like what you're saying though. I think it's interesting what you said about like the amount of preparation. You're totally right. Like when you get ready to go to a physical event, it's a different experience because you are physically moving yourself and you change your mindset, you change your scenery. And so it puts you in a new open mindset where you are more apt, I think, and more focused on building those relationships and connecting, which can be, I'd say, maybe the downside or the more difficult side of you're doing this online. And I would say, though, I would say that, like, when it comes to the preparation for the startups who need to and want to do the, you know, one-to-one meetings with investors, they still should do the same amount of preparation when it comes to, you know, preparing about investors, like who they're going to be meeting, and the key things that they want to learn from those 20 minutes. Can you tell us a little bit more about how the deal room works? and how effective it has been so far in the past?

Okay, sure. So basically it's like a software which is designed for matchmaking and make the best possible matches for the events and the right kind of people. So basically you, when you get the ticket, you get invitation to the platform, you fill your profile, like, and then more specific, you put information and like, especially like what I'm looking for, what I'm seeking, what I'm offering, which gives the other parties then possible to see your profile and you can also browse other people's profiles and then send me— you can send chat, hey, if you want specific or just send a meeting request. And then when you send the meeting request, then the other party, they receive and then they can choose the convited system notes when you both are available. So then you can like book the meeting. And then of course, traditionally it's, we will have a big room full of tables. Like I think last year we had like more than 100 tables. And then on during 2 days we had more than 5,000 1-on-1 meetings organized through the DealRoom platform, basically. So that was like amazing with 100,000— 1,400 people who were— so that was heavily, heavily— people know they come for RD15 for a specific reason.

Yeah, because they want—

so they want that 1-to-1 deal-making possibility.

Exactly.

So like, tell us how it's going to be slightly different this year then if you're doing it through the app. I would guess it's going to actually be easier and better because I've been to the 1-to-1 meetings like in VentureCrush in San Francisco, for example. And I mean, with the best will in the world, sometimes one meeting goes over from another. And if you physically have to meet from one end of the room to the other or whatever, sometimes you miss each other and you have to reschedule and so on. So maybe, maybe it's going to be a little bit easier now using your app. Yes, have those meetings.

Yeah, for sure. Obviously, in the, in the physical world, then we have numbered tables. And very often, of course, the system is not that smart that it could allocate you the same Sometimes you do, but then you might have to go from table 1 to 23 or whatever. At least we have been able to keep it in the same area, so you'll just find it there, or delays. But now it's like from your home, you're from your office, and it's like you will have 20 minutes and there's a clock ticking, and when the 20 minutes over, boom, it's done basically. So you have to also prepare for the ending part. You can continue chatting, but like in the real world, of course, you can like keep talking, oh, let's go to the corridor or grab a coffee. So, so that's a challenging part because there's always good and bad things. Because the good thing about the physical world and the physical events, there's these random encounters which happen in the corridors or cafeteria or food area, smoking area, wherever. And when we have removed all this, so it's not— of course we love efficiency, right?

Yeah.

More efficiency gets you more results. So in that sense, online you should be more— and in the real world, I need to close the door 6 o'clock and kick people out. Now that limit doesn't exist. So we decided actually we're gonna keep the room open 24 hours.

Wow.

I don't care what time, what time you want to have your meetings, go ahead. I don't put restrictions. So basically from Sunday, 1.5 weeks from now, on the, on the 18th, like midnight of the 19th, and until Thursday. Actually the event is 3-day event, but we decide we're gonna put additional day of the deal room so you can book your meetings for one extra. So basically it's gonna be 96 hours open nonstop and take your meetings whenever you want, basically.

This is fantastic. So, okay, so tell our listeners what they need to do in order— so they need to sign up and choose their tickets. So what do they get as a startup ticket and, you know, to Arctic 15, and how do they get into the deal room? Tell us now and And how they need to prepare that side of things so that they can get the most out of it now?

Yeah, so obviously when you buy the startup ticket or investor ticket and then you will get the invitation and then next Monday, like one week before the event, we'll open the platform and then you can, like I said, as better you can prepare your profile, like describing what you're looking for and what you're offering, like if let's say you're a investor, hey, I'm looking for early-stage B2B SaaS companies and then I'm providing ticket size $100,000 to $500,000 and locate geographically Europe, for example. So then you can basically identify easier that there's less waste, like wasted time, so that you get more target. And the algorithm already knows when you fill your profile, all your technologies, to be asked questions about technologies or industries and team size, these kind of things, how much you're raising. And then actually this year for brand new, we will also include value-based matchmaking. This is brand new, we've never done this before. We decided that after multiple discussions with several, especially angels, and when— because we'll come back to shortly, I'm guessing, talk about the angel syndicates. But when we talk about angels and how how angels like to invest together or co-investing. And then how do you invest? And then it brings also like you wanna work with people who have similar minds and same kind of values. So now we are actually adding on top of this business technological, this kind of, we're gonna add also kind of like a, it could be lifestyle related or planet related or this kind of field. So you can even filter then and filter people based on those and make a little— because it's people first, right? But then back to the preparation part, get your profile. And when you check all the other people's profiles, like read through them and don't kind of like spam them through just because they're investors. It's better to do your homework and become more relevant. Find those who are the right relevant investors for you. as a startup, because usually the investors are the ones who more get obviously inbound. But if you're a smart investor, of course you will do also your homework on the other direction. And then it's just like, then you book those meetings and then there you go. And then hopefully you will find like, because technically you can have now 72 meetings in 24 hours, but if you book and standard, you would have like 3, 5, 20 minutes. Of course, because we have great program, we want you to watch some of the cool programs, But like more, we want you to find right connections to make some deals, right? And then that's the way how you can move forward. But the preparation important, get your profile, don't lie. Obviously it's very basic because we've seen like somebody put, oh, we have like a lot of revenue. And then when they have the meeting with the investor, they're gonna double-check, they're gonna do their due diligence and find out if you lie. And then it's gonna— if there's— I've heard so many times that some founders said, yeah, we have 300 paying customers, but then when they actually— there's only 50 of them, and this is a big red flag for the investor, like, immediately. So be honest, that's the key part, like, don't— because you will get caught, and then when you get caught, it's, it's not gonna end up a good way. You're just wasting other people's time.

So I think that's very interesting because I have a hunch, I have a feeling that that type of behavior would be more prevalent with male entrepreneurs than female entrepreneurs. Female entrepreneurs tend to be over— I don't say oversharing, but overhonest. Like, they tend to actually say exactly how much revenue to the pence, to the cents, you know. So I'm just guessing that I don't think that will be a big issue with some of our people here.

And of course, when you approach somebody and what is the message kind of like, and then Be polite and be curious. And then, and it's not, it's not about you, it's about them more. Like, like I hate those, hey, I have this thing. And like, like if you have a meeting and then after like 3 seconds somebody starts selling something to you.

Yeah.

So, so in that sense, in that sense, in that sense, there's a There's a, like, be curious and ask about the other person first. Like, hey, is there something I can be of help, right? Rather than, hey, I need money, give me money.

Well, you know, and I would— I think that's very important advice. And it's also, I think, certainly when it comes to the female founder point, it's also, remember, ladies, and I'm addressing the ladies in our audience here, that, you know, The male investors are not seeing enough female founders. So I don't want to put extra pressure on you. But it is like, we do need to, unfortunately, I don't think we need to be doubly good, or even twice as good as the male entrepreneurs. But really, it is a question of remember that, you know, their perception of female founders is also going to be impacted by the way you interact with them. And I do feel, and I'm very confident, Jan, that the female founders will do their homework, and they will know. So the best make the most of those 20 minutes when they meet their investors, potential investors, and they'll have done the homework with regard to the values fit. I think that's absolutely fantastic. I think that is like a really big USP. I think you should scream about that, Jan. So I'm so happy you're saying this.

I'm gonna scream about it. It's something very new. And I haven't seen basically anywhere. Of course, if you go to dating websites, right, they have different kinds of things, but not in the business environment. I haven't seen like this value. So this is something new. And obviously now in the online environment competing against Netflix and whatever TV shows you might be watching. So it's like we have really, we put a lot of thought on how can we stand out because every day there's online conferences happening and like that. And then we also ask money from our attendees, obviously. So then it's for us to how are we providing value? What can we bring on the table? And obviously Like this value-based matchmaking is one of them, but the more important one which links to what we spoke earlier, that's been most damaged for the early-stage founders, that then connecting with angels and other like investment opportunities. And that's why we kind of like relaunched our pitching competition with a new twist. And the new twist is we are actually setting up multiple soon tickets Instead of normally we would have only one syndicate in the competition. And now we have 9 syndicate leads, and one of them is also specified on the female founders. We'll probably— I'm guessing you're going to ask me more about it a little bit later.

Well, I think it's perfect. Let's go into that now. So tell everybody as to how Arctic 15 is really going to help more women entrepreneurs, you know, get funded this year. What are you doing differently? In general, and I think that's great what you're saying. So tell us more.

Yeah. So like I said, we want to have as many deals as possible and having this kind of 9 different syndicate leads, it's not like guaranteed everyone will find, but it's about if they can find an interesting target from our pitching competition applicants. We had more than like 130 applications, like, and now we are just announcing top 30 tomorrow morning. There's gonna be public voting on them and then next week we will go down to top 15. So, and, and I have to— we haven't announced them yet, but I checked the list of the top 30 and there was a lot of female founders.

Yay!

And I know it's not because they're female, it's because they're really good companies.

It is a very strict, very tough application process. I got personal messages from different platforms complaining about how tough the application was, like multiple, multiple. But now, and, and it's no new anything new to Aalto 15. Last year winners was female founders, 2017 was female founders, so it's nothing new in that sense. It's not about the gender, it's about the quality of the company, and we know for a fact that female founders are great entrepreneurs. We just need more, and we just need more money support going towards them. So, but that's— and then one of the things, collaborating with you is one of the important, but we— that we put some content out there, we bring in some rare high-quality top people to give us speeches and having meetings with other investors and the startups. And then on the little icing on the cake, we're also doing one of the syndicates is purely focused on the female founder because others might be like B2B SaaS or fintech or foodtech, these kind of things. But we want to also highlight that things are tough now for all over and we need to work hard And then we wanted to put like, let's set up one for a female founder syndicate. And then of course, I'm— maybe it's gonna be the winner, but now the good thing about it, you don't have to be the winner because you can get funded being number 2 or number 7 or number 15 even.

It's like watching the, what you call it, The Voice and, you know, the Simon Cowell, the song competitions, like One Direction didn't win. I think they came third, but look at them. Nobody's complaining.

Exactly. Yeah, so it's about giving more opportunities. And then, because, you know, event, it's like a platform. So it's because we can send out messages, different messages, hey, and what we feel also it's important for the ecosystem on the reach, local, regional, on the global level. And this, like, I feel it's also part of our duty to put important messages out and bring out special important things like in the program and moving from the talks to the action. And we're pushing that. And that's a very good example that we're doing collaboration with you with bringing in great content, but that's not enough. We're also moving into the action part, right?

I love it. Exactly. So let's talk a little bit more about our partnership because InvestHer, we are partnering with Arctic 15 for the first time this year. And we're absolutely thrilled to do that, Jan, because When we had our very first Conversations listeners, you know, Jan was 100% online at the very beginning. If you remember, Jan, I was saying, now I hope, Jan, that you're going to have as many female speakers and experts as possible, and you're not just going to have us on the little side stages or being moderators. And you're like, ah, we don't do that.

This is—

they're always embedded across the— and I'm like, oh, it was so refreshing already to hear that this is something that you've been doing for years. So, you know, talk a little bit about how are you bringing gender balance, like being gender smart, into Arctic 15 across the event. I think that's pretty, you know, I wouldn't say unique because other people do it too, but it's a big USP and you do it naturally. So tell everybody a bit more about how you're bringing in this gender intelligence, the gender smart side.

Yeah, well, first of all, the gender is not main part, the quality is the main part, but we want to also emphasize and do our work because we know that it's terribly off balance on the investor world where the venture capital money is going. So we want to also, since I think 2015 when we started putting more thought on this and then lifting more ladies up and giving opportunities. I remember 2016, we decided we're going to do 50/50 speakers, but then it took me actually 3 months of late-night work of— because like I said, I'm not reducing the quality requirements, right? So you'd have to be the right person for the session or for the job, right? Not because of anybody's gender or any other attributes as a person. So it took so much extra time then. So then we kind of like a—

I would just say on that part, it took extra time just simply because you didn't have those people in your network.

Exactly. Because it takes— exactly. Now it's much more easier because the development is happening. So, and I'm very positive and that we want to be helping that. And now of course, my personal networks and my network network is better than, let's say, 5 years ago, right? And there is more female investors in partner level, so it's much more easy to find these people. And it's not— and more not— and we were this year, we were also discussing, should we do diversity and inclusion track? It was a very long debate, and because we said we need, we need to have this and to address them, and then so many people say that, and then internally we discussed, we have like more women in the team than men, basically. always on runs. And then we decided, no, we're not gonna put any diversity panels, we're gonna embed it in there like it's supposed to be. Because like, and I get feedback from somewhere, when there's a diversity panel full of women, then all the men investors disappear from the room. So this is not, it's not useful.

No.

It's not useful. So we don't want to force it, we just want to put it there and show it naturally. And I haven't checked Like, I think I checked yesterday, 2 days ago, we are now maybe 70-80 speakers, and it's like, it's not 50-50, but it's like 45-55 roughly at the moment. So, and a little movement there, but our minimum target always have been that at least 1/3 and 2/3 on the speaker level. But like, I think we've been beating that every year in any case, and now it will be better. And now it is less work than 5 years ago in that sense. So it's— there's progress, but hey, progress doesn't mean that the work is done. So, uh—

Tell us about it. Totally. But, you know, it's great to have you as a male champion. And I, again, I totally agree with you. It's— I don't want to have to, you know, say it and use your gender as the key defining adjective there. However, you are a champion for change and that, that I think you'll easily take that t-shirt and say, yes, I am. And, and, you know, thank you for being on our side. And helping to create more opportunities, equal opportunity to all different types of investors and founders through Arctic 15. I think it's fantastic what you're doing. So, like, just to summarize, you are embedding the diversity, so equal opportunity, men and women, in your speakers, in your investors, in the syndicates, in the pitch competition, you know, and in the topics, because It's not a question of doing a D&I, diversity and inclusion piece somewhere else, it's just embedded throughout. It's just, these are the experts and so they will be speaking and that's it.

Yes, that's it exactly.

That's fantastic. I want to kind of pause and call in on our listeners who are in with us live on— because it is a live podcast— and just check and see if you have any questions for Jan. Please just type them in in the chat box. Let us know. I'm keeping a keen eye on it, and I'll make sure that Jan can see the questions coming too, but I'll make sure that I ask them too. So please do put in your questions there.

And maybe while that, maybe I'll ask you a question if you don't mind.

Of course.

So what's kind of like the— what's the— like, you've been now a couple of years working hard on this, and what's kind of like the key things on the progress you have seen so far, and what's kind of like the major steps we still need to work hard on?

Okay, so good question. So on the major, let's start with the progress. I've seen huge progress over the past few years. Like, I set up Global InvestHer 8 years ago, so since 2012, I mean, in 2012, I set up a Google alert for female founders, women entrepreneurs, and funding. And I would get Google sending me back articles about that topic maybe once a month, twice a month. Now I get them 4 or 5 times a day.

Yes.

That's a huge difference. So that's one thing. But beyond just us talking more about it in the media, as you rightly said, there has been an increase of women partners in the investment funds Because, again, society has claimed it. Society said, listen, we're not ready to put up with this anymore, and we want to see change. So, I think that is a good thing. It's not happening fast enough, Jan, because I just literally shared an article that came out today sharing that, you know, by PitchBook, saying that the funding to female founders, it's the lowest quarter in the past 3 years now.

Yeah.

So, and knowing that the female founders, we only get 2.8% of total venture capital, and that hasn't changed in 30 years. So, it's not just a kind of year on year. There were like a good few years. I think 2015 was our highest point. At one point, we were up to 8% of venture capital, and then it went way back down. But we've never ever gotten up past 8%. And so that is an issue. And then the number of women investors is increasing. However, and this is the thing that is changing, but it's a good thing, there's a major transfer of wealth, as we know. So particularly in the US, that's going towards more women. So through the women creating their own wealth and to inheriting wealth, that wealth transfer is happening and it's in the 20s of trillions, which is a very important thing. However, you know, it's still— we're still not at the case where those very wealthy high-net-worth women are used to investing in startups or, you know, getting the female wealth managers who will help them, you know, invest in different things. So to actually see the impact of that wealth transfer, it's going to take more time. So like, I'm in this for the long haul, as are other people are in the long haul. So I think that the way we can make things, the big steps, I would— this is to your second question, how can we make things change and faster? I think one is creating more awareness. This has been happening consistently over the past few years, so it's something that I do. I do a lot of public speaking, And through everything we do at Global InvestHer, it's about raising awareness about those figures that are ridiculous and are unacceptable. Because even founders of color are getting 0.02% of venture capital. It is criminal. Criminal. Especially given that women of color and founders of color are, you know, they are the majority in this world. I'm just looking at the comments coming through, which is fantastic. You can see them coming through. So what needs to change for me is we need to create more awareness. We need more male champions of change like you, Jan, whipping up the investors, getting them excited. And that's why I'm so happy to partner with you at Arctic 15, because we're going to, you know, together and with all your partners, it's to keep sharing that women entrepreneurs and female-founded companies actually have a higher return on investment. So you— it's a— the business case is there. It's just that you're not used to dealing with us and not, not sure where to find us. So one of the things that we're doing in our partnership with you is, just for our listeners, is that we'll be creating a, a guide for investors as to where they can find the female founders, you know, that's going to go out to them before and during. And then for investors, the angels, there's going to be a a special survey for them. We want to survey the angel investors from North America and across Europe because we're doing a piece of research on that. And again, to give practical key tips. And for the VCs and the LPs who are coming, and the angels, we will encourage them all to sign up onto the directory because we want those who believe in this to connect with us on the InvestHer directory because we're going to be doing some more matching in the future as well. So I think that's very important. Let's just pause because I want to bring in some of the comments that are coming now. Everybody's like waking up live and going, okay, okay. So let's start. Colleen wants to know, is there still opportunity to pitch at Arctic 15, Jan?

Unfortunately, the pitching competition application ended last week and we're announcing the top 30 already. But if you go to the page, the syndicates page, you could still apply to be considered by the syndicate leads. So that, like, the application form is there, but you won't be able to make it to the top 15, but you can still get funded and some syndicate lead can still notice you. So no pitching chances, but chance of getting funded is still there.

I love that.

That's excellent. Okay, now next question. How did you ensure that the marketing in Arctic 15 reaches a diverse audience?

Oh, that's a tough question. I'm not running our campaigns myself, maybe writing newsletters for our newsletter readers, but I believe that Google and Facebook especially, they know so much about us and where we are surfing. So I'd have to kind of like lean on it, obviously our marketing team, and then we're using also some external support on specifying some some target markets, and then I'm counting on Google and Facebook to know who are the right people for us. And then actually, thank you, I will double-check with the marketing team that is there any specific gender-focused or campaigns coming, because of course we will be highlighting maybe here's a couple of female speakers, here's a couple of male speakers, here's some Mix of them, right? So, so, so, and I don't have an exact answer, but I'm, I'm counting on Google and Facebook. No, those are the major, major platforms because you're talking every—

just to put it into context, Jan is the CEO of Arctic 15 and he's in the trenches, he's doing everything. So he's, he's got a team working on that side, um, and part of that, I know that I'm, I'm working with, uh, with your, uh, colleague as well. Chetna about emailing and reaching out to female founders. So you will be hearing more and more over the next few days and so on. Now, this webinar is here live, the podcast recording is going to go out very soon. So once this is on the podcast, we'll be sharing the podcast, and we will ask you to kind of share that out. And we'll be sharing newsletters and social media in the run-up to the event.

On the day of the event, you're going to hear a lot from us.

So, you know, but also, I think from your other partners, it's like we'll all be spreading the word, so that's cool. Colleen says, thank you, Jan, very informative and intriguing event. It sounds exactly what is needed for funding. It's never fast enough.

Never fast enough. And Kirsty, she's saying, you mentioned that the application process for the pitching competition was tough. Do you feel it was inclusive enough, or are the questions biased towards a certain type of applicant? Perhaps the stereotypical tech startup guy.

Good.

That's a good tough question, and I have to say I'm not involved on creating those questions, and I haven't— I had a look at them, sure, but like, it's not— I would say that when I look at it, it's more about— it's formed in a way that it's more to find out. It's more like a— how do you call this— like a self-evaluation thing also. Where do you feel you are and what you answer? And then it's gonna be scored based on how ready you are, because this is from angel investor's perspective. Obviously majority will be males who are there, but, but like, it's about finding those right investment targets and then more ready, prepared you are for the investor, then, then that's designed on looking at your business, like how ready you are, what's going on. What do you know? What you don't know? How aware you are? So it's built on that. And actually, this is not where we are looking into data. And in the future, we're hoping to— hopefully in the near future, I see that somebody's asking, this should be every week. I'll come back to that later.

Yeah.

But like, could we then— because now we can see at what point, or if there's some oops, this company hasn't done this, or oops, this company hasn't done that. So could we then help somehow connect them with the experts or other support who can get them to fix those few little things that they are at the investment readiness level?

I love that.

I'm not promising that yet, but we are looking into it.

And just to remind our listeners who maybe have not seen the program on Arctic 15, go to Arctic arctic15.com. Arctic15.com is the website. You can check out the program there. And InvestHER, we're doing— we have a track, so we're across the 3 days. But one of the things we'll be doing is a workshop to help founders know how to pitch to investors. So we're doing that on day 2 before other pitches that are happening on day 3. And also just, you know, it'll help for your one-to-one meetings as well. So don't miss that. I think we can have up to 55 people in our breakout room online. So, you know, check that out on day 2 in the program if you want to get some pitch techniques. But I think it's great. Again, look guys, listen to Jan. He's saying we're thinking about this. We're always trying to see how we can add value. And for those who are not exactly just ready yet for the investment side of things, you know, what else can we be thinking of to get them to that next level? And I love that. I mean, even the fact you're thinking that way is just testament to who you are and what Arctic 15 represents.

And one very important relating to this, even if you're not ready, when you're not ready is the best time to start talking to the investors. And then what do you do? Then you ask for advice. Hey, I don't know how to, how should I prepare to entering German market or whatever? You ask questions, you ask advice and you start building the relationship.

Yes.

And, and it goes same from the top, top to the bottom. It's, it's about people and you have to build the trust and you have to keep your promises. Like very rare. Okay. Angels might do deals. And now, now in this crazy virtual environment in the US, especially, the deals happen super fast because everybody's online competing. You don't— it's not anymore limited to those you can meet face to face because you can't meet nobody. So I'm hearing crazy stories about how deals happen super fast because everybody's— and I see US investors coming to Europe more because they don't have to travel and they can grab and we have better valuation. But when you— when it's time for you to raise money, when you need the money, then it's too late. You have to start 3 months, 6 months before. Because it's gonna take time. You have to build a relationship and build the trust there. And of course, the trust building is an issue now in the online environment when you don't have the physical, you cannot go for a drink and get to know the person. You see, it's like, so then you especially have to rely on the, like, verified data so that you have actual numbers through and you can show this. And then, but VCs, especially later rounds, even later rounds, they wanna know you for 1 year before. They wanna know you in the early stage. Like you are raising $100,000, you can still talk to the guys who are gonna invest $1 million because they wanna learn about you, what you're doing. And then when you say, hey, we're gonna reach $1,000 next month, $10,000 in 5 months, and then they can follow up on you and see, did you actually make those, keep those promises? How is your traction going? Are you following that? And if you are, then they're gonna be very comfortable and easy then to trust you and then invest into you. when the time is right, but definitely don't leave it to the last minute. Then you're going to get only bad deals and then it's going to hurt you on that, but prepare. And like I said, there's this saying often goes, when you ask for advice, you can get money. When you ask for money, you're going to get advice. So when you're urgent, you're asking for money, they just tell you, hey, well, you should do this, that, this, and this. When you ask, hey, what should I do? When they get to know you and learn more about you and your business, they get more in. in the advisory mentality, and then they are more inclined to partner with you on your journey.

So I think that's fantastic advice, and I'm sure you've heard this advice before, and it's always good, always good to remind ourselves of it. Jan, with regard to inside the one-to-one meetings, do startups have a possibility to upload pitch decks? decks that they can share directly with the investor that only they will see or executive summaries? How does it work within your online environment?

Yeah, yeah. So basically you can send chat messages, you can upload your deck and then the investor can check out in more detail or why, and then they agree on the meeting or they can then not, or they will, the polite ones, of course, a lot of them, a lot of, of course, most popular They get so many requests that they cannot answer all of them. And sometimes even using assistants there, especially some of the top partner levels and stuff like that. So, so yes, you can kind of like manage them and get— because it's important to make the first contact and even more important then to follow up. And even, and like I said, first contact, then the next one, they want to track your progress. Are you keeping your word? Are you trustworthy? Like, are you growing or are you staying the same spot? And then these things trigger red flags, a lot of red flags existing, of course, there. But then, because for investor, it's always like a no is the easy— the no is always easy to say. The yes is very hard because it's gonna be maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe. And then at some point, maybe it's a yes.

Always.

Yes. No. Yeah. No comes quickly. That's easy to get. And then don't be afraid of the nos. Like, then it's not the right match or you'll be open. Hey, thank you. I'll be back then next week. So—

I love it. I love the way, like, don't be afraid of the nos and that it's, that's all good.

I think that's—

It's part of the business.

Yeah. It's all part of business. Exactly. So we have some questions coming through. Amy wants to know, okay, your current pitch competition is closed. When will you be having your next one, Jan?

Okay, it's a good question. I'm 100% focused on this event now and make it a success. And then after that event is done, I'll breathe a couple of days, maybe relaxing, and then we will assess how did we do. Is this, is this something that we can bring value and getting the feedback from our attendees? And then we will talk about our plan is if everything goes well and we can achieve our internal goals, which means providing value to all of you. And then we would probably do a series of more intimate events over the winter because it's not gonna happen. We cannot do any before next June. I don't see any physical bigger conference happening. So we would be, and then it would be probably more, more not like a broad multi-day. It will be more focused on matchmaking. And so I don't, I don't have a future pitching competition coming up. quite now, but hopefully some online events coming for matchmaking, supporting you guys in the coming months and over the winter and spring for sure.

Okay, and I think that's great because again it just shows that you're working on it. Kirsty wants to know, since there's clear evidence that women and non-white founders don't get funded, there's need for raising awareness, teaching people to see their unconscious bias, etc. Would it also be useful for the founders to learn how to influence the investors? And what's the key secret to breaking the glass?

Hmm, that is a tough question for sure. Well, the investors get, of course, facts and the opportunities. You need to know your business, you need to know your market. They are very pragmatic often like that. They are looking for opportunities and goal to get return on their investment. So it's very often like a— I don't believe that there's too much bias perhaps towards a gender. Okay, I don't believe that the female founder could bring better returns because that has to be counterintuitive because obviously the facts say that its average return is better even on the VC fund level.

Yeah.

So when LPs are looking, so So that, like, it's probably because of the pure volume and the past kind of like this sense, okay, I'm a white guy, I invest in the white guys, but this is changing. So if you have faced this in the past, don't— I don't believe that it's as big problem it might be, but the unconscious bias, it's of course very difficult to It, it takes time. It takes, it's come from the past, so it's not gonna overnight happening. It takes years, years, decades to have everything into the 50/50 level where it should be. And I believe it one day it will be, but not, not yet. And we need to work heavily.

We need to work heavily towards it. And that's why I think what the way you're doing things at Arctic 50.

But like how, but like how to break the glass, how to make it, it's like But show it, show it by doing so that you are a great entrepreneur so that you get results so that you can grow your company. You have everything. We have, we have, you have the team in place, you have the finances in place, you have the product or service in place and you have the plans to grow in place. This is the most best thing you can do to play. And then just don't get, like I said, there's always those nos coming in. Don't get sad about them.

Next.

Next, that wasn't the right one. Don't, don't like get stuck on some, even somebody you, you look up onto somebody, hey, that would be my ideal dream investor. Maybe you didn't do enough research or they have their limitations, but there's always another one which is the better match for you. So like, like my advice is keep going. Don't get scared on or like entangled on some minor details. It starts like Next, next, next, and then you will find what is the right one for you. But do the good research and show by showing, by doing.

You see, I love it because I think it's fantastic what you've just said, Jan, and I think it's very true. Look, things are not going to change overnight. We can— all we can do, like certainly even the World Economic Forum has said, like if we do not change the way we do things now, it's going to take up to 257 years for women and men to reach gender equality in the economy. Now, when I did my TEDx talk in 2015, that figure was 90 years, and we've gone to 257. So, you know, it's, it's kind of crazy. So the thing is, look, we need to keep doing exactly what you said. Just be brilliant women. Keep doing it. Just do it. And Say what you're going to do, do it, and then say what you've done, like in a speech, same thing. For example, and Kirsty, you were asking, do we know those who have succeeded in doing it? Yes. So I have interviewed hundreds of women entrepreneurs who've raised money and become— some of them have gone on to become— actually, I'm just trying to think, out of the ones I interviewed, already 3 of them have become unicorns. out of the ones that I've interviewed. One of them is Julia Hartz from Eventbrite. Did you know that Eventbrite is co-founded by a woman? So woman and her husband Kevin, so it's Julia and Kevin Hartz, and then Renaud Visage, who's a French techie. He was the techie on the team. And so when I first interviewed Julia, I asked her about her funding journey for Eventbrite, and she said, Anne, the first year we went looking for funding, We had contacts in the Valley because my husband Kevin had already, you know, created and sold a startup, so he knew VCs. But we were starting a new segment. Nobody knew about online ticket sales and so on at the moment. This is in the early 2000s. And so, like, because that's all— they're only whatever, 10, 15 years old. That's all they are, Eventbrite. And so what happened was that they went looking. They knocked on the doors. They used all their contacts that they had. and they said, this is what we're going to do, and nobody gave them any money because they were starting off in a new segment, creating a new segment. The following year, they went back to all the same investors that they had seen, this time saying, when we met you last year, we said we're going to do this, this, this, this, and this, and here we are again this year, and we've done all of that plus this. And they raised Exactly. They raised several million in that round. And then I was just laughing when I was talking. I said, okay, walk me through your funding journey. And then it was getting to the place where, you know, Julia was saying, and then we did a $50 million round and another $50 million round. Then we did a $200 million round and another $200 million. And I said, okay, what is this? Is this round G, H, or I? We don't give it a name, a letter anymore, you know, but they have raised over $200 $250 million. So, you know, it's kind of— you need to learn from that. What I learned from her, and when she was starting, when they were starting out in the very beginning, Kiersey, was they said, we're gonna do this, this is how we did it, and we went knocking on the doors and we did it. And we actually went back to them and we showed them how we did it. So it is possible to do it that way. And again, when you come with the irrefutable proof that you can deliver what you say and that you can get that traction, that's what you need to do.

Mm-hmm.

Amy's saying she's found that VCs don't want to talk with a startup unless they're Series A and have raised already $100K or more. And I think that depends, Amy, on the type— she's now left, so she's no longer live, but I do want to answer her question just to say that it sounds like— and I know from our conversations, because Amy is a member of the investor community, I think that she's not targeting the right investors. So I need to give her some advice on that. That's what that just means.

Yeah, do your homework on the investors, what they are triggering, because there's a lot of early-stage VCs and then other who are more later-stage or A-round. There's plenty of new funds who are looking at those pre-seed, seed rounds.

Yes.

So just a little bit more better homework is always good to do. And don't go for those superstars because they're like, if you go to Anders and Horowitz, these kind of like, they just open the door a little bit and everything's flying in. There's lots and lots of good good investors who are then more inclined to be open to working with you. So do your homework better, I would say. There are for sure investors who are eager and willing to talk with you and help you and support you 100%.

So Jan, as we're coming to the end of our, of our podcast here, what would you say are your favorite fundraising resources for founders? Where should they go looking to learn about funding or to find sources of funding?

Well, the physical resource would be Arctic 15, obviously, or digitally now.

Yes.

And physical again. And, but for the virtually, well, there's so many different websites and stuff like that. It's good to, obviously easiest way is to, like, if you have some, talk to some founders who have actually done it, who have raised, maybe even exited they are more willing to maybe share with you the tricks and like the tips on how to get funded and where to find the information. And obviously we did the survey in the springtime about like that, and then 60% of startups asked that they would need professional help to identify and connect with the right kind of investors. So even sometimes there's— it's a curse word to use, but hey, if you don't know, please, then you need to use everything you can to get where you want to go, right? So then talk to some professionals. They will take a cut of the deal, but then hey, it's gonna save a lot of effort and stress from you if you talk to some investment banker or a single advisor like this who will help you to raise money for your company. So don't be afraid of asking advice and even get paid in that sense because then you're gonna get there faster than doing it on your own or starting from scratch. So absolutely, ask advice from those who've done it already, be their investors, founders, and then don't be shy to find professional help.

Yeah, and I would say, so for those who— the ones who tend to get the professional help, they tend to be doing the Series A, just to kind of be clear. It doesn't used to be like— in the sense that if you're going to be paying a percentage of the raise or commission on the raise, it's usually at a higher— it's a higher thing. It depends, but also to be— I would say, be careful because some— there are some sharks out there and who take advantage of you. And, you know, you need to choose that person because sometimes they don't have a good reputation among the investors. So—

Yes, double-check.

You need to double-check and do your homework there too. I would also add Global InvestHer, good resource for those of you who are the female founders to come and learn about funding. We have on our website, you come to our— go to our academy, we have a whole page of resources of where to look for funding and the community. And so we've loads of things here to help you too. So what needs to change in the funding ecosystem, Jan, moving forward? What do you think needs to change?

Well, I would say the very simple way is to do that— there's a lot of these big pension funds, public funds, private funds, which are now in— well, of course, a bunch of it in stock markets or in real estate or other traditional assets. So that how we would get the big guys, the LPs, to move tiny little bit of their huge multi-tens of billions dollar assets towards the venture capital assets, which will flow down to startups and create more jobs and opportunities. So from the top, we need— it needs to change from the top, not from the bottom, basically.

I love it. And that's Excellent, excellent point. I think we don't talk enough about how the LPs— and for those who are not sure what an LP is, an LP is a limited partner. It's basically the person who writes the big fat check that puts it into the fund that gets then deployed and invested in the startups. So they're the monies who put the money into the funds that is managed by the MPs or the GPs, the general partners or the lead partners. Sorry, managing partners. So we're kind of coming to the end of this podcast now, we really are, Jan. So how can our listeners find out more about Arctic 15? Point them in the right direction because we want them to go sign up, join us, be with us live.

Yes, so it's very easy, www.arctic15.com.

Perfect.

So Yes, yes.

Or Google it and you will find it for sure.

And I'm putting it in here into the chat box for everybody to find us. So there you go, arctic.com. Should they follow you on Twitter as well? Any other places you want to— for Arctic 15 and for Jan yourself, where do you want them to find you?

Oh, well, I'm quite active on LinkedIn and I'm open for chats and connecting on LinkedIn. Twitter, I'm not like conversational that much on Twitter. I'm maybe observing and sharing more there, but you can find me there also. But I would say that LinkedIn would be the best place to find me.

Perfect.

Final thing, how can we put more fun into making online events more gender smart?

That's a very tough one. Yeah, and I'm like Probably not by making it like a dating for— probably not by that, but like there's so much fun happening online on Gender Smart. I don't know. What would you do? I need to ask your advice on this.

That's a very clever way of answering the question. Reflect upon— you're watching too many of the American presidential debates, Jan. No time for that, unfortunately. No time for that, he says. No. How we can make it more fun?

I think it's like, it's a tough question, but I think that like in the messaging, in the messaging to the people that we're trying to attract to the event, it's just like, it's changing up some of the messaging so that it's poking fun at some of the biases and the myths, but laughing at it and saying, that's really not true. Come and see how we'll show you how.

Yeah.

I would use humor as a way to defuse that.

So like stand-up comedian battles or something like this?

Maybe, why not?

Why not?

We've one or two last questions. So Colleen is saying, is there an environmental category to meet those investors? So in your investors, do you have anyone in the environment, green, that kind of thing?

I'm not— I don't fully understand environmental category.

So I suppose investors who invest in green tech, clean tech, anything that's more sustainability. Is that right, Colleen? If, if that's, you wanna clarify your question, you should just type it in.

Yes.

So the clean tech and that kind of thing.

So there are multiple, when you fill in your profile, there, there's like multiple different industries and loads of different technologies you can choose. And then, like I said, it's very important to like write on the, this little open text box, what I'm offering, what I'm looking for. And there is very important to specify, and then you can search by all these filters or categories also.

So fantastic. Kiersey is saying thanks a lot for a very interesting webinar, always nice to hear insider views. That's great, fantastic. Any last message to our listeners, Jan?

Well, I, I'm a man of action, then I'm also hoping for everybody else to do their part so then we can get together When we do things, then things actually happen. Even if it takes time, still every day you have to put in the work and keep, keep doing and believing that things will change when we do things together. So that would be my— like, talking is great, but, but doing beats the talking every time. So I love to talk little and I like to convert into action. So just go and do and show. Do show by doing. I, I would say that.

I love it. That's such a great way to end this podcast. And also, guys, go sign up, join us at Arctic 15. Come and come get part of the one-to-one matching. You know, Jan has put everything in place to help you to get there. And you come and join some of our Investor Track, uh, event events too. But really, come. Who is your key super speaker you should mention as we close this up? Who's gonna Who's going to be speaking at Arctic 15?

Well, no doubt about it, it's going to be Gary Vaynerchuk, Gary Vee. Gary Vee will give us some tips on how to survive and thrive in the COVID environment.

Fantastic. So don't miss it, everybody. Join us the 19th to the 21st of October. Go to arctic15.com. If you don't find it and you're already following Global Investor, we're going to be communicating it in all our social media, so you'll find out more. Listen up soon. Check out the social media very soon to get the links to this podcast recording, which will be up very, very soon. So thank you all for being with us today. Thank you, Jan, for really bringing us behind the scenes on how you're organizing Arctic 15 and what's motivating you to be part of that change. You're a man of great words and of action and doing, and I am absolutely thrilled to partner with you on Arctic 15. Congratulations. on everything you're doing, and we're going to make it a fabulous, fabulous event.

Thank you so much, and very much looking forward to this event and all the future collaborations also.

Fantastic. Thank you, everybody. Thanks for joining. Thank you, Jan. Bye.

Thank you.

Thank you for listening to InvestHer Podcast. Don't miss more great funding tips and insights by subscribing to the podcast on Apple or your favorite podcast host. And while you're there, I'd love you to rate and review the show. We'd love to hear from you. So if you'd like to send in some questions, interact with our guests, or suggest other great people we should feature, join our community on the Flick InvestHer group. Or send us a message on investherpodcast.com. Want more great resources for female founders about funding? Check out our InvestHer Academy at academy.globalinvesther.com. I'm Anne Ravanona and look forward to having you with us again for our next episode. Let's put the fun into funding and get more women entrepreneurs funded.