If you don’t have an investment banker, replicate one

The good news: even if you have a small company and can’t afford a banker, you can synthetically and cheaply replicate one. That’s part of the value proposition of an institutional VC; I have been the (unpaid) investment banker for many of my portfolio companies.  

If you don’t have relationships with potential investors, here’s how to replicate a banker:

• Hire a consultant to make your deck persuasive, thorough, and attractive, and your data room professional. Some suggested consultants and guidelines here.
  
• Make a list of potential investors, using this article as a guide.
  
• Hire someone who has worked in investment banking or VC, even if only as an analyst. 

Her job is to lead a professional outreach campaign to investors, writing highly customized emails to each based on your agreed-upon template. If you don’t have a pre-existing relationship, it is critical that you write emails which are palpably customized and of course well written, or else you’re just spamming.

The person doing outreach should have a title as senior as possible, e.g., “acting COO.” The higher the title, the higher the response rate she will generate. Any good business school will have dozens of current students who fit these criteria. She will get a lower response rate than you (with the CEO title), but likely a higher response rate than an outside banker who does not have an established relationship with the investor you are targeting. You can also have her impersonate you via email, although there’s always a risk of that ending in embarrassment if she is not highly responsible and trustworthy.  

• You as the CEO should handle all the meetings. There’s no need to bring your colleague who’s setting up meetings, although I’m sure she will appreciate it.  

Raising capital is a time-consuming, arduous, complex task and you will be living with the consequences of your actions for decades. I recommend hiring a professional to help you, if you can afford it. I also recommend doing thorough research before hiring a banker. The wrong decision can cost you millions of dollars, in the form of a broken deal process, a suboptimal valuation, or inappropriate investors.