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If you had whispered in my ear the name First Time Founder Capital just a year ago, I wouldn’t have budged. Whisper it now, and you’ll have my heart forever.
Below is a brief story explaining how, over the span of a year, I went from devastatingly low to getting a body of goosebumps at the FTFC acronym.
I had the distinct displeasure of shutting down my most recent company, entirely against my will, with the forcing hand of a co-founder. About 2 weeks away from hitting market no less; after thousands upon thousands of hours spent building this from the ground up. All gone in the span of one email. Sent to the startup grave alongside so many a great idea. I was devastated.
After some much deserved brooding, I revived my consulting firm, Spidaliere Consulting. I began helping startups with things like new revenue stream assessments, sales strategy audits, go-to-market strategies, the whole biz dev gambit. It kept me above water, as I’d dipped into my savings quite a hefty bit during my startup experience. It was work, it was fun at times but nothing outrageously fulfilling.
Fast forward about 6 months. Something happened that changed the entire trajectory of my consulting focus. Taking a quick step back: in my last company, Promus, I very happily took on the entire fundraising strategy, preparation, and execution. When we were forced to shutter our doors, I was full steam ahead on our fundraising. I tasted the blood of how difficult and exciting it can be. And I wanted more.
Back to it. I found a company I really liked in some community Slack channel letting everyone know that they were in the midst of raising. So I reached out to see if they needed any help with their strategy. They said yes. So I came in and helped with some foundation work, deck assessment, and worked through some biz dev work with them discussing how they will eventually break into the US market. Now here comes the juicy part. I ended up connecting them to an investor from my network who came in to close their round. For those reading that may be wondering, I’m no licensed broker, so no, I only got paid for the consulting work, not the check brought in.
It was this moment that two things happened: I took a look and started to realize that previous clients of mine were first-time founders making first-time fundraising mistakes I’ve made myself and seen running rampant in the industry. Enter the First-Time Founder Fiasco. Then came the lightbulb moment.
Lightbulb moment: How big of a value add would it be for future fundraising clients if I was to build a network of investors actively allocating capital, especially in the macroeconomic climate we jovially find ourselves in? Answer: incalculable.
So I hit the ground running like Usain Bolt on a casual jog. I started reaching out to and booking 1X1’s with every investor I could find. I immediately established a north star goal: no matter how niche a potential client may be, I’ll have at least one investor I can intro them to.
Nearly instantly, I found what those in my industry call Product-Market Fit. I began sending curated dealflow to investors, clients of mine were ecstatic about the extra shots on goal with new investors, and the deals were much more appetizing after I came in to spruce up their entire foundation.
I started pushing and pushing on the new client and investor fronts, meeting new investors every day/week, and doing everything I could to find startups raising. Serendipity struck right as this began though! Growing up as an entrepreneur in Denver, I was deeply exposed to Techstars everywhere. This instilled a goal to become a mentor one day. While this was still in its infancy, I found an in. I met with the program manager of Techstars Portland, and got added as a Mentor. Right as that was unfolding, I met the PM of a Founder Institute cohort who asked me to jump in as a mentor as well. And since news comes in threes, I made my way into SeaAhead here in Boston to mentor startups focused on garnering energy from bluetech.
Pipeline feeders and investors were growing by the day. But I have no business model. I’m not a licensed broker, and since I play in the pre-seed/seed/Series A game, it didn’t make sense to get the license. At this point, I’m doing the work pro-bono or taking advisor shares, unsustainable if I want to ever eat again.
So I slammed my head against the wall, over, over, and over again. I asked investors, I asked friends, I asked the wall in my room (too many times to not be embarrassing). Enter one of my Promus mentors. Turns out she’s been doing some of this work on the side. She gives me the old “what you’re doing is wrong, here’s how you do it.” BOOM. Business model complete. Now how much do I charge to not price myself out of this market? Enter my literal next conversation; a founder I just helped bring in the final closing check. I asked them to turn back time and tell me how much they’d pay for what I provided them. Immediate answer. BOOM. Pricing for my top tier done.
I took those two conversations and spun it into three packages:
Fractional COO: Building the entire fundraising foundation including how much are you raising, ideal valuation, vehicle, milestones, ideal investor, competitive analysis, pitch deck, data room, etc., biz dev consulting, and my time shopping your deal to my investors
Foundation: All of the above, sans biz dev and access to my network of investors
Deliverables: pitch-ready deck, branded website, and personalized data room
I can’t in good conscience spin a story about how I came up with the incredibly snug, delightfully suitable name. I don’t really remember where it came from. But I imagine it probably came to mind while I was showering, blasting ABBA, and singing perfectly in-tone. Once it was said out loud, it felt like a Nick Parker and Liz James reunion moment. It felt like Mia learning that she was a princess.
So here we are. The beautiful wrap-up moment of this succulent saga of building this soon to be famous firm that I enchantingly name First Time Founder Capital. Through strife and struggle, pain and pitfalls, traction without a single dollar made, I arrived here. Business model established, investor network ever evolving, and me feeling euphoric to announce to you:
First Time Founder Capital.
This is my mission. To be the bridge between founder and funder. To help founders building incredible companies succeed in their fundraise and to provide curated, strategic deal flow to my beloved investors.
