Getting funding: 6 keys for your project to get funding

Get fundingThe eighth installment of the series of reflections of Patrick Hunt about entrepreneurship was dedicated to personal and professional characteristics that an entrepreneur must have to convince investors. In today's video, Patricio focuses on the other important part: the project, of which he points out six essential characteristics for those who provide capital to fully trust your company. 1. The project must be led by at least two full-time dedicated entrepreneurs. This is true both for a single entrepreneur and for a group of entrepreneurs. If they have a job and say they will get on with the new project when they receive the funding, the investor will not consider it enough. In the first case, because investing in a single entrepreneur is very risky; in the second, because of a smaller commitment than is needed to launch a project. Someone who only decides to undertake a full business if they have a safety net gives investors a feeling of lack of conviction. Entrepreneurship absolutely tests all your conviction, so this must be very high.2. There must be a previous prototype (Minimum viable product). The entrepreneur must have something that can be put to the test, even if it does not have all the functionalities of the final product. It will help the investor to better understand the true needs of customers, what works and what doesn't, what they need to complete the product, and even what is left.3. Positive evolution data (Traction). Products that don't get off to a convincing start in a reasonable amount of time don't give investors a good feeling. They consider them “a solution in search of a problem”. In other words, either the problem is not relevant or the market is very niche. This type of situation is usually accompanied by the phrase “we need investment to be able to do marketing”, on the part of the investor. And that's another sign of entrepreneurs without the right skills. To investors, that phrase sounds like a bad payer's excuse.4. Positive data from Retention. Good traction doesn't do much good if there isn't a high level of user retention. In other words, users have to return to the product on a recurring basis, and not just try it the first time.5. Good indicators of Engagement. Users must spend adequate time on the platform (in the shopping cart, in the case of eCommerce projects). This is an indicator of how successful the product can be in the medium and long term.6. Signs that customers are willing to pay to use the service or product. Of course, the investor wants a viable business model to exist. And probably more so than investors in San Francisco or New York. Why? In Europe there are fewer resources, there is not so much time to build massive audiences, and then we dedicate ourselves to finding the most appropriate strategies to monetize that audience.