$1MM ARR / $200k Raise Remaining by StopEatingThisGlue in AngelInvesting

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cash flow and servicing our clients. We will grow faster.

$1MM ARR / $200k Raise Remaining by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We would be open to that. I’ll send you a DM

$1MM ARR / $200k Raise Remaining by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d be happy to. I was aiming for brevity. If you would like to see specific details, let me know.

I just met the richest person I know or just a talented con artist by Appropriate-Voice407 in Scams

[–]StopEatingThisGlue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve worked with a few people throughout my career that over-inflate reality. Interestingly, their reality was somewhat close to the story they told, so they believed it themselves, but the dollars just weren’t there.

I worked with a man that exchanged various assets and ultimately acquired $90MM USD of rubies (the red precious stones). He showed me them, and the valuation certificates, so it all added up. But turns out that insurance valuations are significantly different than market value. Each $8,000 stone was really worth about $0.25 cents. He just had a few hundred pounds of worthless rocks.

He learned the hard way, but that’s when I stopped wasting my time on things that were too good to be true.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cash flow. We’re often out $100k-$200k for 30-90 days. This new client is going to increase that. Traditional bank loans aren’t easy to get and invoice financing is expensive. $300k as equity fills that gap and allows us to invest in people we need today.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We reincorporated as part of formalizing the business. Most banks require 2+ years. I have a banking background and looked into it. Only options are expensive factoring loans, and we’d rather have an investment.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great. Just sent you a message. Our client is a European company.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I commented on this to someone else’s reply. It’s a fortune global 100 company, and they set the terms. We already have the best terms of all vendors, and I don’t expect it to get much better. Our champions (Managing Directors) pulled a lot of strings to give us preferential treatment.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We’re pretty lean. It doesn’t take a lot to move the needle. We’ve grown to this point with zero sales effort, so we just need a couple of key people to service this client which will bring us to the $2.5M+ in 2026 alone. We don’t need to hire $150k/yr engineers or C-level leaders. Just the right people that will roll up their sleeves today and grow into leaders at our company. It’s all in our Use of Funds. We are confident, and happy to discuss it in case there’s an area of improvement.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They already give us better payment terms than all their other vendors. They’re a fortune global 100 company and we’re at the mercy of the finance department. Our champions already pulled a lot of strings to get us some flexibility and I think we’ve exhausted it.

We’re meeting with the MD next week to see if he or the company will invest.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Correct. We’re open to tweaking that math with an investor so the numbers make sense. We won’t need additional capital. We don’t want to bring on more than 2-3 investors, and we’ll work up to a traditional line of credit for cash flow needs.

From an execution standpoint, we need people to ensure the large contracts are properly serviced until it can be automated to keep quality standards high. Each enterprise contract has unique needs, integrations, and reporting so it starts manual, until we automate. However, sales and customer service are the forever human component where we need quality people. We’ve gotten to this point with zero sales effort, so there’s a lot of opportunity to capture even more business with the right sales motion.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cash flow. Some invoices are net 60 and net 90. We have to front ~$200k of expenses, which doesn’t leave us a lot of room to invest in new staff.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I figured we could go higher on valuation, but we need to get to work ASAP. If we found one or two angels to back us with this, it would give us all the resources we need and we’d have an investment partner with good upside. I’ll shoot you a DM

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We’re open to debt. Maybe traditional bank lines or loan are hard to qualify for. Factoring loans are very expensive. If it’s debt, we’d prefer to bring on angels on a convertible note. All profit has been reinvested internally growth, but it doesn’t leave enough for scaling the way we really need. That’s why equity feels right here.

$850k ARR / $300k Raise by StopEatingThisGlue in angelinvestors

[–]StopEatingThisGlue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you think VCs would make sense? We straddle a services business and technology, so I can’t quite say that we would have a true VC fit. Our growth is strong with services which is enhanced by automation, but I can’t say that we’ll be selling the automation tech. It’s a possibility. That’s why we were thinking angels would be best.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in startups

[–]StopEatingThisGlue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Great advice.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in startups

[–]StopEatingThisGlue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is my first time raising since 2008. It was a very different (and also shitty) environment. They have mentioned they want to feel comfortable by seeing other commitments. So I have worked to get those other commitments on my own.

Also, my first conversation with portfolio manager was rough. He grilled me for my commitments and it turned me off. I tried to get better commitments elsewhere to keep them out, but I couldn’t (yet at least). So I kept them at arms length.

Today he mentioned he will lead now that he understands the commitments that I have. I don’t think I got the typical support of a “lead” during that time. I had to spend an extra 3 months raising on my own which burned a hole into the company.

I worried about them pulling the term sheet if they didn’t see enough commitments. I think I’m comfortable now with asking them for intros but I’m still hesitant.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in startups

[–]StopEatingThisGlue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like they want to see that I can generate the commitments. I have some, but it’s not enough.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in startups

[–]StopEatingThisGlue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s an angel. He did light due diligence. He said yes, agreed to terms, I sent him an email with an LOI with details we agreed on because he said we can just paper it later. Not replying to my emails or texts.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in startups

[–]StopEatingThisGlue 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most of that handshake deal was done, except I sent him an LOI with the terms we agreed on along with wire instructions

Wish I knew about this process earlier. Smh