Dr. Thomas J. Powell of The Founders Office gives a short talk summarizing the "six Cs" of storytelling for raising capital—Challenge, Champion, Change, Credibility, Call to Action, and Connection—and emphasizes Connection as the "secret sauce": create a "me too" story to attract investors who already recognize the problem you solve, ensuring capital alignment and avoiding educating uninterested investors. He also stresses asking for the next step and invites viewers to The Founders Office Wednesday lunch-and-learns (foundersoffice.com).
Chapters
Hey, Tom Powell here with The Founders Office, foundersoffice.com and Wednesday's lunch and learns. Today we are finishing up the six Cs of storytelling and raising capital. And these six Cs are like that Rubik's Cube. If you follow them in order, you will raise capital, I promise you. So first one is challenge. That's the problem that you're solving. Second one is the champion. How do you actually solve it? Third one is change. What does it mean if you actually solve it for both the clients you serve and the investors that are putting money into it? Credibility. Credibility is all about who says besides you. Where do you have proof that this is actually working? And where do you have proof that there's actually a market that is going to support this idea that you have? How's it going to make money? The next one is the call to action. That's the piece that a lot of founders miss in there when they're storytelling. They just don't want to ask for the next date. And the last one is connection. Connection should be built all the way through, but it is really one of the most secret sauces. We're asked consistently to have people introduced to the right basis of investors. Who are they? If they just get in the right room of those investors and they share their idea, then somebody's going to invest. The real answer is you don't want just somebody to invest. You want the right somebody, a right group to invest. The right capital matters. Capital alignment matters. And that's why your story should be a me too. Throughout, you're looking for the people who have already identified that problem you are able to solve or looking to solve. And you want them because they've identified this as a place that they want their money to go and do good work. If you are finding other people that have money and are looking for investments, you're going to school them on that investment. And the next time one of your competitors, and yes, there is someone working on the same problem out there comes along, they will be primed to listen to that and make that investment. So understand that what you're really looking for is the me too in your storytelling. Marketing is about attracting the right type of group and repelling the wrong type of group. And in this case, the connection throughout the storytelling helps you be above others and raise that capital quickly. Join us at the Founder's Office Wednesdays lunch and learns foundersoffice.com and you can learn more. Have a great day.
