How to Build A Better Spreadsheet For Fundraising Fundraising can be a daunting feat to overcome. In fact, people fail far more than they succeed. Of the more than 6 million startups that launch in the U.S. annually, less than 1% receive funding from angel or VC investors, according to data from Fundable. Knowing this and wanting to avoid common pitfalls, Erin Wilson of hirepool and her co-founders asked several founders what’s been key to their fundraising success. One tactical piece of advice multiple sources shared was to compile a spreadsheet filled with high-quality potential investors. 
From Startup Investors Alex Clayton of Spark Capital thinks other things like a big market opportunity, great product, team, and execution are more important factors in creating a large and enduring public SaaS company in “SaaS IPO Benchmarking | Subscription Contract Sizes” Bryan Birsic of Wunder Capital reports on how in the first half of 2017, Wunder financed 15.2 MW of solar project capacity - 12.2 MW more than all of 2016, in “2017 Mid-Year Review” FundersClub visualizes their firm’s funding, success, and portfolio metrics since inception in 2012 in “Five Years of FundersClub” Brian Harwitt of CoVenture describes how the community approach can save venture capital from its systemic gender power dynamic in “We Must Educate Everyone” From Startup Operators Leonardo Federico of PlainFlow argues that today's prevailing wisdom of maximizing user engagement might change very soon and why, for a lot of SaaS products, engagement will be a lagging metrics in “The Next Generation of SaaS Won’t Optimize for User Engagement” Ceci Stallsmith of Slack digs into a framework for predicting the next big trend in “The Next Major Platform” Dan Shipper of Firefly shares the three tactics that moved the needle the most for him and Firefly, and how beginning founders can get a head start on success in “This 23-Year-Old Built and Sold His Startup While in School” Melody Koh of Blue Apron details her general framework and process for prioritizing product features, in “Roadmap Planning and Prioritization” Must-Reads From Today's Raise The Bar
Dave Brock of Partners In Excellence wonders if we have it right when we think about the Sales Development Rep role, who we hire, what we expect them to do, in “Rethinking the Role of the SDR” Lynn Perkins of UrbanSitter shares how UrbanSitter has approached trust-building through product marketing and how other companies can do the same to grow fast, in “This Is How You Get People to Trust Your Product” Raise the Bar is our other daily newsletter that brings you real insights from sales, marketing, and growth leaders. No click-bait or time-wasting articles.
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