"[Before FWC] I was confident in my story but not in my process"
Company HQ: NYC
Round Raised after FWC: Pre-Seed
Amount Raised: $2.3M
Initially I was trying to raise from VCs at pre-seed and moving through that process and noticing that there wasn't that many pre-seed funds. I didn't really have a network of VCs up here in New York. I eventually decided to do equity crowdfunding.
Going through that process for a couple months just made me realize I didn't want go through what I went through again when trying to raise $2M. I started thinking who can I meet, how can I get a network in VC? What are all the things that I need to do to be able to raise $2M efficiently?
I didn't realize that what I was going through during pre-seed was really an issue until I met Jason. He showed me there has to be a process and to treat it as a sales funnel.
I did a paid program called Tacklebox in early 2020, but it was different. What Adamant offers is very different. Tacklebox is more, pressure test your idea before you quit your day job. And then Adamant is more for after you've pressure tested this is a really good idea, quit your day job and somewhat built a company and have to go fundraise - now you need Jason
I think both services that I used were actually the right timing for me. I'm not aware of any fundraising course and process like the one Jason teaches.
If I wouldn't have gone through what I did in 2020, I don't think I would have pulled the trigger. Getting a taste of that, I knew Jason understood what I was missing and needed to succeed when he was talking to me about how it's a process and this is where founders fail a lot when they're trying to fundraise.
When he was saying that, I was nodding along because that was exactly my experience. That's actually what I went through in pre-seed. So he didn't have to sway me too much because what he was saying was something that I was experiencing and was going through previously. I decided to join his first cohort because of that.
I knew that I wanted to plan before going out to raise even more. His course was really the only one on the market that could offer that.
I think the most important element is the story and I had confidence in my story going into the program, but I didn't have confidence in the process.I knew my story made sense and was working. My vision has never changed. But where I lacked confidence was, confidence in the process.
What certain words meant that investors were saying, how to follow up with investors, being confident, pushing an investor to say no or yes. Those are all things that I learned with Jason. The process of it and what is normal and what isn't normal. If you just go out and fundraise- without a process, you're just letting the wind push you wherever and letting investors push you wherever.
Going through Jason's program made me feel more confident in pushing investors.