WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.640 Sweet. There we go. Well, anybody else need anything in here? We're good. Okay. 2 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:15.600 Thank you. You're welcome. 3 00:00:15.600 --> 00:00:21.120 So let's check in on homework. I really want you all to share just a couple minutes of 4 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:26.680 how that experience was if you were able to do it and what kind of feedback you got. And 5 00:00:26.680 --> 00:00:34.280 then I think we're just going to open it up to Q&A. So there's just a few of us here, 6 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:41.240 which is great. So we can get a lot of questions answered. If you want to share your screen, 7 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:47.640 I think I can let you do that. If there's a slide that you want me to look at, I'm happy 8 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:54.240 to get feedback. So really, however you all want to use this time so that we can do as 9 00:00:54.240 --> 00:01:02.160 much fine tuning of your pitch as possible in under an hour. So who wants to share about 10 00:01:02.160 --> 00:01:05.519 your homework? How did that go for you? And what did you learn? 11 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:16.800 Yeah, Nikita. Hi, Shelley. How are you? Good. How are you? Good. This is Nikita. Basically, 12 00:01:16.800 --> 00:01:27.080 this is my first time preparing a pitch to be true for which you heard basically a pitch. 13 00:01:27.080 --> 00:01:34.680 So this is fairly new to me. So I'm starting from square one. My question to you is preparing 14 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:43.840 it I had to get used to Google Power, Google Slides and all of that. What is too much information 15 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.360 on the slide that you would think that is too much information? 16 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:54.960 Yeah, I tend to be pretty lean in terms of the information on the actual slide. 17 00:01:55.520 --> 00:02:04.080 I would much rather you all put less on the actual slide and be able to communicate verbally 18 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:07.680 more. Yeah, I hit it real quick. 19 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:10.560 Oh, oops. 20 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:16.080 Does that make sense? So we can it might be helpful to 21 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:23.040 as you're, you know, to think about your slide. And even as we go through this, because 22 00:02:24.720 --> 00:02:29.520 there's kind of a magic number, because I think if people are reading your slide, 23 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:35.040 if there's too much up there, they're not listening to you. Okay. And that's really 24 00:02:35.040 --> 00:02:40.720 what you want to think about on the pitch in the actual pitch. Your slide is really about 25 00:02:43.200 --> 00:02:47.840 it's, I like to think of slides as a little bit more of a visual graphic 26 00:02:48.720 --> 00:02:55.520 that enhances what you're already saying. Okay, so I want to hear you tell the story and you 27 00:02:56.320 --> 00:03:01.280 talk about, you know, the vision or talk about the market or whatever it is you're, 28 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:06.720 you're talking about for that slide. And then I want to see a little bit of data to support that. 29 00:03:07.600 --> 00:03:13.280 Okay, so basically, the slide is just helping you kind of go through the information without losing 30 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:18.640 it basically in your head. Exactly. And it gets it reinforces what they're hearing you say. 31 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:25.120 Okay. And the more you can do that visually, I think the better it is, like I wouldn't put a 32 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:30.560 lot of words up there, I wouldn't put a lot because it's just, it's hard to get through all 33 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:37.600 that content. Okay. And you have to remember, like these investors, many investors aren't going to 34 00:03:37.600 --> 00:03:42.960 know your industry. And so, you know, your industry, you know, your company, but they may 35 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:47.440 be hearing about it for the very first time. And so they're going to be like, oh, there's a lot, 36 00:03:47.440 --> 00:03:54.800 there's a lot to absorb here. So keeping it simple, keeping it conversational, and then using 37 00:03:54.800 --> 00:04:04.160 the slides just to kind of show what you're saying. Okay. And the last thing, when I'm doing 38 00:04:04.160 --> 00:04:11.280 well, as far as the elevator pitch, what can I kind of imagine to start off with? Or what is 39 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:18.800 like a good idea that I can start off with as far as giving a great elevator pitch? So what's your 40 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:26.400 company? It's an organic hair and body product. Nice. Okay. Why did you start your company? 41 00:04:27.440 --> 00:04:32.480 Because basically, I seen a need for in the industry right now, it's a whole lot of chemicals 42 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:40.000 that's affecting people. And I wanted to, as far as biracial kids and families, they're now having 43 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.600 a problem with finding products to basically take care of their hair and their bodies because of all 44 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:55.920 the chemicals. Yeah. So do you have any kind of personal story around that that you would be 45 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:59.840 willing to share? A personal story from 46 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:01.700 my cell phone from clients? 47 00:05:01.700 --> 00:05:03.380 It could be either one. 48 00:05:03.380 --> 00:05:06.620 Okay, so basically one of my clients came up, 49 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:08.180 I was doing a pop-up shop, 50 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:12.620 and she basically said that she had a biracial child, 51 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:13.820 and she just was like, 52 00:05:13.820 --> 00:05:15.820 she didn't know what to do with his hair. 53 00:05:15.820 --> 00:05:18.900 And so I have a leave-in conditioner that's really great, 54 00:05:18.900 --> 00:05:21.860 and she just said she needed something to detangle. 55 00:05:21.860 --> 00:05:25.900 And soon as she used it, I had her use the sample, 56 00:05:25.900 --> 00:05:27.300 and it combed right through. 57 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:28.140 And she was like, 58 00:05:28.140 --> 00:05:31.140 oh, I've been looking for a product like this in a store. 59 00:05:31.140 --> 00:05:33.340 And she referred to Cantu, 60 00:05:33.340 --> 00:05:36.460 and I've been in the industry for 28 years, 61 00:05:36.460 --> 00:05:38.140 I did hair for 28 years, 62 00:05:38.140 --> 00:05:40.420 so I know I've used Cantu, 63 00:05:40.420 --> 00:05:43.020 and it basically really didn't do 64 00:05:43.020 --> 00:05:45.980 what it's supposed to do to a patron's hair. 65 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:47.580 And so basically after that, 66 00:05:47.580 --> 00:05:51.360 she was sold on the leave-in conditioner. 67 00:05:52.340 --> 00:05:56.020 And so I would wanna know kind of the emotional outcome 68 00:05:56.020 --> 00:05:58.780 of that experience for your client. 69 00:05:58.780 --> 00:06:02.540 It's like, what, and I'm a heart type, 70 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:04.020 so I'm like, yes, I get it, 71 00:06:04.020 --> 00:06:05.940 but some investors are not gonna be. 72 00:06:05.940 --> 00:06:09.860 So to tell a story about why that matters, 73 00:06:09.860 --> 00:06:12.580 why does that matter to her on an emotional level? 74 00:06:12.580 --> 00:06:15.780 Because she wants her kid to feel 75 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:18.700 a sense of love and belonging, 76 00:06:18.700 --> 00:06:21.060 or a sense of like, I'm beautiful, 77 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:25.460 or whatever that impulse is 78 00:06:25.460 --> 00:06:27.860 for a mom to wanna do this for her child, 79 00:06:27.860 --> 00:06:29.900 I think that's your story. 80 00:06:29.900 --> 00:06:31.140 Okay. 81 00:06:31.140 --> 00:06:31.980 Thank you. 82 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:32.820 Yeah. 83 00:06:32.820 --> 00:06:34.260 And a really good question. Thank you. 84 00:06:34.260 --> 00:06:37.900 And I would say telling the story. 85 00:06:37.900 --> 00:06:38.740 Okay. 86 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:40.700 Yeah, and really, and that's the hook. 87 00:06:40.700 --> 00:06:41.980 You're looking for a hook. 88 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:44.980 And I think a lot of investors, 89 00:06:44.980 --> 00:06:49.980 they're looking for a story that they can believe in. 90 00:06:50.180 --> 00:06:51.020 Okay. 91 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:54.300 And if you can't lead with that, 92 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:56.340 then the rest of your pitch, 93 00:06:56.340 --> 00:06:58.740 you're just kind of making a case 94 00:06:58.740 --> 00:07:02.940 for why you're the product to invest in. 95 00:07:02.940 --> 00:07:05.540 But if you get them early believing 96 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:08.180 and kind of cheering for this story, 97 00:07:08.180 --> 00:07:10.220 they're much more willing to wanna hear 98 00:07:10.220 --> 00:07:12.180 the rest of the pitch. 99 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:13.020 Okay. 100 00:07:13.020 --> 00:07:14.660 So that's the end of the story. 101 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:15.500 Thank you so much. 102 00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:16.340 Yeah, you bet. 103 00:07:16.340 --> 00:07:17.180 Okay. 104 00:07:17.180 --> 00:07:18.020 That was so good. 105 00:07:18.020 --> 00:07:18.860 Thank you so much. 106 00:07:18.860 --> 00:07:19.700 You're welcome. 107 00:07:21.020 --> 00:07:22.260 If you've got your homework done, 108 00:07:22.260 --> 00:07:23.660 if you had any challenges around it 109 00:07:23.660 --> 00:07:25.900 and what questions do you have? 110 00:07:25.900 --> 00:07:27.220 I have a question. 111 00:07:27.220 --> 00:07:28.060 Yeah. 112 00:07:29.020 --> 00:07:33.420 So I am a business, fairly new business. 113 00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:35.380 I've been in business for about two years. 114 00:07:35.380 --> 00:07:40.380 I'm also a beauty business for hair and skincare company. 115 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:44.580 And I wanted to know, being a new business, 116 00:07:45.700 --> 00:07:50.700 starting with my own funds to build this business 117 00:07:51.860 --> 00:07:55.940 when you are a business that has started from scratch 118 00:07:55.940 --> 00:07:58.260 and pulling from your bootstraps, 119 00:07:58.260 --> 00:08:03.260 what are investors looking at from bootstrapping companies 120 00:08:05.940 --> 00:08:07.340 or startup companies? 121 00:08:07.340 --> 00:08:08.180 Yeah. 122 00:08:08.180 --> 00:08:11.300 So that's a really good question. 123 00:08:13.580 --> 00:08:15.220 And it depends on where you are 124 00:08:15.220 --> 00:08:17.780 in the life cycle of your business. 125 00:08:17.780 --> 00:08:21.020 So bootstrapping, there is an assumption 126 00:08:21.020 --> 00:08:22.860 that you have revenue. 127 00:08:22.860 --> 00:08:27.500 And so that would be, whereas there's so many, 128 00:08:27.500 --> 00:08:30.580 especially in tech, a lot of tech startups 129 00:08:30.580 --> 00:08:33.580 that do not have revenue. 130 00:08:33.580 --> 00:08:35.179 And so they're pre-revenue. 131 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:36.340 And so they're going after, 132 00:08:36.340 --> 00:08:39.659 they're pitching the big vision for the investors. 133 00:08:41.419 --> 00:08:44.780 So that's a way to get investment. 134 00:08:44.780 --> 00:08:46.300 So what you're wanting, 135 00:08:46.300 --> 00:08:48.260 you're still gonna do the exact same things. 136 00:08:48.260 --> 00:08:49.900 You're still gonna tell your story, 137 00:08:49.900 --> 00:08:52.420 why you got into this, about your company, 138 00:08:52.420 --> 00:08:53.860 you're gonna hook them, 139 00:08:53.860 --> 00:08:56.540 but you're gonna have a little bit more, 140 00:08:56.540 --> 00:09:01.540 I would lean really hard on the story of bootstrapping 141 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:04.140 as well, because as an investor, 142 00:09:04.140 --> 00:09:07.660 I really like to see bootstrappers, 143 00:09:07.660 --> 00:09:11.980 that they're already putting in their sweat equity 144 00:09:11.980 --> 00:09:14.820 and they have some traction, they've got some growth. 145 00:09:16.620 --> 00:09:21.540 And that's the thing about bootstrapping is once you, 146 00:09:21.540 --> 00:09:22.540 you're making revenue, 147 00:09:22.540 --> 00:09:24.380 but you're putting it back into the business. 148 00:09:24.380 --> 00:09:25.620 Right. 149 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:28.460 And so they want to see, 150 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:31.380 looking at the stats on how you're growing, 151 00:09:31.380 --> 00:09:34.780 but realize for the first about five years 152 00:09:34.780 --> 00:09:38.340 with bootstrapping until you find other income 153 00:09:38.340 --> 00:09:41.180 or other ways to fund your business, 154 00:09:41.180 --> 00:09:43.140 that's constantly coming in 155 00:09:43.140 --> 00:09:45.780 and going right back into the business. 156 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:46.700 Yeah. 157 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:49.980 And I think savvy investors will know that, 158 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:53.020 they'll understand that you're, 159 00:09:53.020 --> 00:09:55.540 basically all your revenue is kind of going right back 160 00:09:55.540 --> 00:09:57.860 into your business. 161 00:09:57.860 --> 00:09:59.980 So I think what they're gonna want to. 162 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:07.280 stand and see demonstrated is that you have two things. You have a strategy for how you are 163 00:10:07.280 --> 00:10:14.000 reinvesting that money. Like where's it going? Are you hiring people? Is it just, 164 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:23.040 you know, I don't know. I think really walking them through your thinking with how you're, 165 00:10:23.040 --> 00:10:28.400 as you're making revenue, where are you putting it and why? Okay. We're going to want to know that. 166 00:10:29.040 --> 00:10:35.120 And they're going to want to know. So they give you half a million, a million dollars, 167 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:41.040 let's just say, how are you going to spend it to grow? Okay, that those would be the two things 168 00:10:41.040 --> 00:10:49.920 that I would really think about demonstrating that you have some traction. How have you been 169 00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:55.280 previously reinvesting in your business? And then what is your intention as you go forward? You 170 00:10:55.280 --> 00:11:05.280 want to, you know, hiring people, any growth goals you have, you want to build on. That's 171 00:11:05.280 --> 00:11:13.120 what I would be thinking about. And I noticed last week when the owner of Range Beauty spoke, 172 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:21.520 she was saying how in a fairly new business, especially if you are the only one that's 173 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:28.720 running the company and you're your only employee, look, invest, looking to, if they want to invest 174 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:36.720 in you, you having more than one person. So if you are just you in the company, but you're 175 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:43.760 wanting their money to help you scale, as far as hiring more people, what is the best route to 176 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:48.960 display that information without them saying, well, you don't have the, 177 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:57.200 the manpower, right? Yeah, I think a couple of things would really sing to me as an investor. 178 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:04.560 One would be like, I have this total, like amazing person who's ready to come on and sign up today 179 00:12:04.560 --> 00:12:09.440 and with when work with me, I just can't afford to pay her right now, like, because it's just me. So 180 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:14.640 that would be really interesting to me if you already had someone that was ready, and maybe 181 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:21.840 even it was just sweat equity or just hustling to help you grow. Like that's like, if you can 182 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:29.200 convince somebody to, to jump in on a promise, then that's really interesting for an investor. 183 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:34.480 So what do you know, you're, I want to know your hiring roadmap to like, what, what do you know 184 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:40.640 about yourself and your strengths as a founder? And then who do you know, you've got to get around 185 00:12:40.640 --> 00:12:44.160 you to help build this thing. I would want you to be thinking about that too. 186 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:49.440 And what if you have like people that are volunteering hours? 187 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.840 That's awesome. Totally say that and put that in the pitch. 188 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:01.840 Yes. I said, this is being recorded and I see your hand up too. I'll come to you in just a second. 189 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:06.000 I said, this is being recorded and I see your hand up too. I'll come to you in just a second. 190 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:12.560 Does that help Jasmine? Any other questions about the team? 191 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.040 That was perfect. Thank you. 192 00:13:15.040 --> 00:13:21.040 Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I mean, your, your overhead with your salaries is going to be 193 00:13:21.680 --> 00:13:28.080 one of the largest chunks of your investment. So really think about it, spend some time thinking 194 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:33.120 about how would you form your dream team? And then you really need to make a case. Like for me, 195 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:39.040 I'm not an operator. And so, and I'm bootstrapping right now. And one of the first things I'm 196 00:13:39.040 --> 00:13:45.360 planning on hiring is an operator who can really come in and scale some systems. Like I would 197 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:50.880 totally be talking about that. And it demonstrates, you know, your strengths and your weaknesses, 198 00:13:50.880 --> 00:13:54.160 and you know, where to hire to fill in those gaps. Okay. 199 00:13:54.160 --> 00:13:56.880 Okay. Thank you. 200 00:13:56.880 --> 00:13:57.440 You bet. 201 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:03.360 Isis, do you want to go next? I see your hand up. 202 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:09.680 Yeah. I'll turn it over, but it's Friday. So, 203 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:16.800 so yeah, I think my first question was about, I had on question to Jasmine. So I'm also 204 00:14:16.800 --> 00:14:23.280 bootstrapping. I've been investing a lot of the money into social media ads, and I'm just 205 00:14:23.280 --> 00:14:29.920 kind of concerned of how I would frame that because the ROAS hasn't decreased. I'm still 206 00:14:29.920 --> 00:14:36.800 experimenting with that and learning a lot, like what kind of copy generates, what kind of customers 207 00:14:36.800 --> 00:14:42.640 starting with like very B2C and tweaking them to like appeal more to libraries who surprisingly 208 00:14:42.640 --> 00:14:49.920 enough actually buy from indie bookstores who knew. So, but going back to the original question, 209 00:14:49.920 --> 00:14:55.440 as an investor, if a business was saying we are using social media ads to scale our business, 210 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:59.840 but still experimenting to make them land, is that a compelling story? Or like, you don't know? 211 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.680 you doing? No, totally testing. It's testing. I think that's 212 00:15:03.680 --> 00:15:07.800 totally legit. Yeah. And I but I also think that, you know, be 213 00:15:07.800 --> 00:15:11.040 prepared to talk about the results. Like, what are you 214 00:15:11.040 --> 00:15:15.200 saying? Like, what is what is the data telling you? And which 215 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:18.800 is some of the beauty of social media, because you can get so 216 00:15:18.800 --> 00:15:22.880 many analytics from that. One of the things I wish I'd done with 217 00:15:22.880 --> 00:15:27.080 my old company was a lot more market testing with social media 218 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:30.080 ads, because you can really start to see if there's a 219 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:33.320 product market fit. And then, and then where do I need to 220 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:38.240 adjust? So yeah, I think that's really compelling, I think to 221 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:45.920 like, having a little bit of a good judgment around what is 222 00:15:45.920 --> 00:15:49.200 your budget spend for that, because we can put so much into 223 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:53.320 ads and get not a lot back. So I think talking through like, 224 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:57.920 here's what, you know, our ad spend is, it's like, whatever, 225 00:15:57.920 --> 00:16:02.640 300 a month. And here's what we're seeing. And here's what 226 00:16:02.680 --> 00:16:05.840 we're getting back from that. And if you're still testing, 227 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:09.080 that's totally fine. You may not have a lot of ROI with those 228 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:13.080 ads right now. But you do have data. And I think, you know, 229 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:17.800 once you get, I always think about like the sweet spot of a 230 00:16:17.800 --> 00:16:20.080 lot of the social media ads, what do you think you could 231 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:24.280 generate at scale? Right? There is a little bit of logic and 232 00:16:24.280 --> 00:16:27.880 some assumptions baked into that. And I always had like the 233 00:16:27.880 --> 00:16:31.960 marketing team that I worked with always wanted to see a 300% 234 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:37.000 ROI. And so like, how do you get there? Right? I think that's 235 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.040 what investors would want to see. But if testing right now 236 00:16:40.040 --> 00:16:41.320 is totally legit. 237 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:46.720 Yeah. And that was our goal, my goal, like a 300% ROI with the 238 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:49.720 consultant, I was like, really to break even I need a 5x. But 239 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.320 I would be excited to get a 3x. Yeah. And sometimes we've gotten 240 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:56.880 close to like 2.5. And some weeks, it hasn't made one. And 241 00:16:56.880 --> 00:17:00.600 those weeks, I'm like, how do I how do I convince investors that 242 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:04.960 I know what I'm doing? So that's good to know that I can, the 243 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:08.720 main thing is the data and the learning. So that was my first 244 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:11.920 question to take it a step back. I'm Isis, Sister Sci-Fi is the 245 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:14.000 first Black-owned bookstore focused on science fiction and 246 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.599 fantasy in the US. Our goal is to double the number of science 247 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:21.839 fiction and fantasy titles by Black and Indigenous authors on 248 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.160 the New York Times bestseller list. So that's our elevator 249 00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:30.560 pitch. Right now. I think I'm trying to figure out what's the 250 00:17:30.560 --> 00:17:33.360 most compelling to an investor to tell them that we're looking 251 00:17:33.360 --> 00:17:36.200 for investment to roll out automated vending kiosks, like a 252 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:39.320 national network of automated vending kiosks, or looking for 253 00:17:39.320 --> 00:17:43.560 investment to launch a third party network for indie writers. 254 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:46.480 So your feedback on that, and that's my last question. 255 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:50.800 I think I would want to know more about both of those. Yeah, 256 00:17:50.800 --> 00:17:55.720 I think I do think you have to think about what you want to 257 00:17:55.720 --> 00:18:01.800 pitch. And, and maybe there's a little bit of getting some 258 00:18:01.800 --> 00:18:04.720 feedback around that, like having kind of friendly investor 259 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:07.480 conversations. And one of the things I mentioned in my 260 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.960 presentation with you all, I think I said this, but I think 261 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:14.680 I said this, if you ask for advice, you get money, ask for 262 00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:18.360 money, get advice. And so one of the things I would be doing 263 00:18:18.360 --> 00:18:21.240 right now, if I were you is having lots of conversations 264 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:25.280 with investors and getting advice on that. You've got these 265 00:18:25.280 --> 00:18:30.160 two kind of viable paths that both make sense to you. And you 266 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:33.800 can see how they could both work in the market. But in terms of 267 00:18:33.800 --> 00:18:38.320 what could grow at scale, you know, what would you think? 268 00:18:38.320 --> 00:18:41.800 And you really start to, it's so funny how that happens, but 269 00:18:41.800 --> 00:18:46.360 they do get kind of pulled into the process with you. And then a 270 00:18:46.360 --> 00:18:49.160 lot of times those people end up coming back and be something be 271 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:52.120 are sometimes the first investors, because they feel 272 00:18:52.120 --> 00:18:55.240 bought in. So, you know, I think I'd have to know a little bit 273 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:59.040 more about and by the way, like that gave me goosebumps as you 274 00:18:59.040 --> 00:19:04.880 just shared that kind of high level elevator pitch. But I 275 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:09.520 think it's a really compelling story. And it's, it's gonna 276 00:19:09.520 --> 00:19:15.760 hook. I think what, what isn't as clear as which is the most 277 00:19:17.800 --> 00:19:22.920 realistic path for you. And so as you think, as you figure that 278 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:29.440 out and get excited about your vision for your company, then 279 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:30.960 others will get excited too. 280 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:35.720 But I do think there's an element of getting feedback, 281 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.680 getting advice from people, especially if they're in the 282 00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:43.800 industry. Like, I think that would be great. But really kind 283 00:19:43.800 --> 00:19:48.000 of putting a stake in the ground with what you really what is the 284 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.320 vision for your company that you really want to see come to 285 00:19:51.320 --> 00:19:52.000 fruition. 286 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:52.960 Thank you guys. 287 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:01.240 Does that make sense? 288 00:20:01.240 --> 00:20:03.280 Yeah, it 100% makes sense. 289 00:20:03.280 --> 00:20:05.320 Did you get goosebumps because you liked the idea 290 00:20:05.320 --> 00:20:07.760 or you like books or you like science fiction? 291 00:20:08.600 --> 00:20:10.160 The idea and the books. 292 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:11.840 I'm not a sci-fi person. 293 00:20:11.840 --> 00:20:14.800 Okay, and I was just like, is it compelling too? 294 00:20:14.800 --> 00:20:16.640 And so I was just like, okay, cool. 295 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:20.560 Yeah, I mean, the justice element of it, 296 00:20:20.560 --> 00:20:22.720 kind of the, I think there's a market there. 297 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:25.080 So, I mean, I'm like, as an investor, 298 00:20:25.080 --> 00:20:26.880 I'm like, I think there's a market there. 299 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:31.880 So, but there is the sense of like underrepresented voices 300 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:35.400 in this genre, I think is really compelling. 301 00:20:35.400 --> 00:20:39.040 And so, and my husband's a publisher 302 00:20:39.040 --> 00:20:40.840 and like, so I know a little bit about- 303 00:20:40.840 --> 00:20:42.160 So you know, okay. 304 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:44.800 Yeah, I think it's really interesting. 305 00:20:44.800 --> 00:20:48.840 And so, you know, telling that story 306 00:20:48.840 --> 00:20:53.840 from the lens of an author who has such talent 307 00:20:54.840 --> 00:20:57.480 that is being underrepresented in this genre, 308 00:20:57.480 --> 00:20:59.320 I think is really interesting. 309 00:20:59.320 --> 00:21:01.320 And then now your job is to figure out, 310 00:21:01.320 --> 00:21:04.520 okay, how to put the right pieces in place 311 00:21:04.520 --> 00:21:08.280 to help an investor see the potential, 312 00:21:08.280 --> 00:21:10.280 the earning potential from that. 313 00:21:15.520 --> 00:21:16.760 Thank you, that was very helpful. 314 00:21:16.760 --> 00:21:18.120 Oh, good, you're welcome. 315 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:21.040 Right, Ash, you're up. 316 00:21:22.040 --> 00:21:23.600 Oh, you're on mute. 317 00:21:23.600 --> 00:21:24.600 Hi, Shelly. 318 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:28.280 I've kind of lost my voice, 319 00:21:28.280 --> 00:21:31.440 so I apologize for how I'm sounding. 320 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.040 But it's been super helpful to hear, 321 00:21:35.040 --> 00:21:36.320 I think what Jasmine and Isis, 322 00:21:36.320 --> 00:21:39.240 both of you think through your stories. 323 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:42.960 My questions, I have three. 324 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:44.440 The first one is, 325 00:21:45.840 --> 00:21:50.840 my company creates regeneratively grown flour mixes. 326 00:21:51.080 --> 00:21:54.000 And pancake mixes, we approve revenue. 327 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:57.680 And really the story is around climate change 328 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:00.000 and regeneratively grown grains 329 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.240 are not a super well-known market right now, 330 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:05.800 but it's an opportunity, it's a white space area. 331 00:22:05.800 --> 00:22:08.680 And it really is working directly with farmers. 332 00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:10.960 So what I'm finding myself doing in my pitch deck 333 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:14.360 is spending maybe four slides telling the story 334 00:22:14.360 --> 00:22:18.680 of why food is a lever for climate action. 335 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:22.680 I'm concerned that that may be too much time 336 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:25.720 spent on a story, but because it's such a new area, 337 00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:27.720 I don't really know how to balance that. 338 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:33.280 Yeah, my initial, are you asking if it's too much? 339 00:22:33.280 --> 00:22:38.280 Okay, my initial gut reaction is wants to say yes. 340 00:22:39.080 --> 00:22:42.280 And I think trust your instinct around that. 341 00:22:43.560 --> 00:22:46.000 I think if you get too much into the weeds, 342 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:47.960 you're gonna lose people. 343 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:51.600 They're gonna gloss over a little bit. 344 00:22:51.600 --> 00:22:53.920 So what I would say is like really, 345 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:57.520 almost like this sounds condescending 346 00:22:57.520 --> 00:22:59.120 to talk about investors this way, 347 00:22:59.120 --> 00:23:01.880 but talk to, like if you were describing it 348 00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:04.200 to like a seven or eight year old, 349 00:23:05.600 --> 00:23:09.680 what would you include and what would you leave out? 350 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:11.880 And so I'm not saying that you need to reduce it 351 00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:13.960 and dumb it down that much, 352 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:16.920 but I think that's a starting point 353 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:19.400 because you need to start with the essentials. 354 00:23:20.360 --> 00:23:22.160 Like, what can I not leave out? 355 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.880 And then from there, I think you're gonna, 356 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:28.360 and then getting feedback from people is huge 357 00:23:28.360 --> 00:23:30.880 for this, in this situation. 358 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:34.080 People that aren't familiar with your industry. 359 00:23:34.080 --> 00:23:35.560 So starting with the essentials 360 00:23:35.560 --> 00:23:37.480 and then building it from there, 361 00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:42.800 where are the holes that people still are confused 362 00:23:42.800 --> 00:23:44.160 and then fill in those holes 363 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:46.680 with a little bit more content or data. 364 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.120 However, you need to share your story, but not too much. 365 00:23:50.120 --> 00:23:54.000 And I think this is where we get in trouble with our pitch. 366 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:57.800 We think we have to put, even like in the beginning, 367 00:23:57.800 --> 00:24:00.320 we have to put so much in because it is so complex 368 00:24:00.320 --> 00:24:02.800 and it's, there's a lot to it. 369 00:24:02.800 --> 00:24:07.800 So it's like, you have to be willing to cut your darlings, 370 00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:11.560 willing to get rid of the things 371 00:24:11.560 --> 00:24:14.600 that just at this point are not as essential. 372 00:24:15.360 --> 00:24:16.200 Got it. 373 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:17.240 You wanna share just enough 374 00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:20.360 and not knowing the industry, I think it's fascinating. 375 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:25.840 I think, I mean, I can imagine the white space. 376 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:28.480 I just joined Thrive Market 377 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:31.120 and I would be totally in for this. 378 00:24:31.120 --> 00:24:31.960 Yeah. 379 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:33.480 I think there's like, 380 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:36.880 there's something interesting there to think about. 381 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:39.360 I love the idea of working with farmers. 382 00:24:39.360 --> 00:24:43.560 I think that's, I don't know that very well. 383 00:24:43.560 --> 00:24:47.520 That's not my world that I move in, but I'm intrigued by it. 384 00:24:47.520 --> 00:24:49.760 And so making a business case for it 385 00:24:49.760 --> 00:24:51.560 could just, could be compelling. 386 00:24:52.560 --> 00:24:53.400 Great. 387 00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:55.400 Which I think is a good segue to my second question, 388 00:24:55.400 --> 00:25:00.400 which is what the product lives and solves both the. 389 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.200 supply side problem of farmers, 390 00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:04.040 who are trying to reach consumers, 391 00:25:04.040 --> 00:25:06.760 and consumers who are seeking approachable, 392 00:25:06.760 --> 00:25:09.800 easy, affordable, plant-based options. 393 00:25:09.800 --> 00:25:12.120 And I can set up the story in my deck, 394 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:14.600 but on my problem slide, 395 00:25:14.600 --> 00:25:16.880 I've found myself talking about both the farmers 396 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:17.800 and the consumers. 397 00:25:17.800 --> 00:25:19.800 And once again, I don't, 398 00:25:19.800 --> 00:25:22.520 I think it, I do need to, 399 00:25:22.520 --> 00:25:23.600 your point is well made Shelly, 400 00:25:23.600 --> 00:25:24.880 I do need to run this by someone 401 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:26.760 who hasn't heard the pitch before. 402 00:25:26.800 --> 00:25:28.320 I think it's okay though, 403 00:25:28.320 --> 00:25:29.320 that you're, 404 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:32.280 there's a lot of companies 405 00:25:32.280 --> 00:25:35.840 that are solving multiple pain points. 406 00:25:35.840 --> 00:25:37.120 So I think it's okay. 407 00:25:37.120 --> 00:25:39.080 And I think just make, just being, 408 00:25:39.080 --> 00:25:42.360 in fact, I think that the integration of those, 409 00:25:42.360 --> 00:25:44.720 where you would come into the market, 410 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:46.880 there's a lot of really interesting companies 411 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:48.680 that are doing that. 412 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:53.080 So just make it clear, make it explicit, 413 00:25:53.320 --> 00:25:56.760 and then show the business case. 414 00:25:56.760 --> 00:26:01.760 Like how does kind of dual pain points 415 00:26:03.360 --> 00:26:06.360 turn into a revenue model? 416 00:26:07.520 --> 00:26:09.480 Like really walking them through that. 417 00:26:10.840 --> 00:26:11.680 Awesome. 418 00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:15.200 And my, thank you, that's super helpful. 419 00:26:16.520 --> 00:26:20.000 My last question is in the financial ask, 420 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:22.920 I'm pre-revenue, as I said. 421 00:26:23.800 --> 00:26:28.800 I want to raise in order to enable product development. 422 00:26:30.040 --> 00:26:32.080 I will be in pilot before I go raise, 423 00:26:32.080 --> 00:26:34.880 but knowing that I'm truly pre-revenue, 424 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:37.400 or I will be when I'm talking to investors, 425 00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:40.440 how would you frame, how much detail should I go into 426 00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:42.520 when I say, hey, this is the amount I'm asking. 427 00:26:42.520 --> 00:26:44.320 This is the use of funds. 428 00:26:44.320 --> 00:26:47.360 What level of detail are investors looking for then? 429 00:26:48.360 --> 00:26:52.000 Yeah, I, a couple of thoughts about that. 430 00:26:55.400 --> 00:27:00.400 I think in a verbal pitch, they, it's not too granular. 431 00:27:01.600 --> 00:27:05.120 I think if you have like a million dollars, 432 00:27:05.120 --> 00:27:07.000 maybe you're raising, I don't know what the number is, 433 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:11.720 but think about like, what are the three, two to four, 434 00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:16.160 we'll say that, main buckets that you want to use. 435 00:27:18.360 --> 00:27:22.360 Product development, maybe recruitment, 436 00:27:22.360 --> 00:27:24.480 like, you know, whatever those are. 437 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:28.200 And then talk about like, okay, when I have this money 438 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:32.520 and they go in these buckets, what is that going to yield? 439 00:27:32.520 --> 00:27:34.000 What will that produce for us? 440 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:35.600 A lot of companies when they're pitching, 441 00:27:35.600 --> 00:27:37.600 they forget to say that. 442 00:27:37.600 --> 00:27:39.360 They ask for the money and they tell how 443 00:27:39.360 --> 00:27:41.760 they're going to use it, but they don't, 444 00:27:41.760 --> 00:27:44.360 they forget to say to what end, 445 00:27:44.360 --> 00:27:46.960 like really making the case. 446 00:27:47.560 --> 00:27:49.160 Like, if you give me this million dollars, 447 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:50.280 here's how I use it. 448 00:27:50.280 --> 00:27:53.200 And we can, you know, in X amount of time, 449 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:57.280 we can spit out, you know, however much, do the math. 450 00:27:57.280 --> 00:28:00.840 But I think really helping investors see 451 00:28:00.840 --> 00:28:02.920 where there's money, where their money's going to go 452 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:06.120 and what that's going to actually look like. 453 00:28:06.120 --> 00:28:08.520 A lot of people forget to add that 454 00:28:08.520 --> 00:28:10.800 because we want you all thinking about that. 455 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:13.560 That's excellent. 456 00:28:13.560 --> 00:28:16.240 And does that have to be a monetized amount 457 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:18.360 or can I see an incremental? 458 00:28:18.360 --> 00:28:21.080 I know I'm thinking of 300,000 is the number 459 00:28:21.080 --> 00:28:22.760 I'm working with for this initial round. 460 00:28:22.760 --> 00:28:25.520 So I'm thinking about 35,000 additional families 461 00:28:25.520 --> 00:28:27.360 reach or additional units made. 462 00:28:28.840 --> 00:28:31.200 Does that have to be monetized as well? 463 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:33.560 I would try if you can. 464 00:28:33.560 --> 00:28:37.480 I mean, I know it's not a perfect science, 465 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:40.160 but I think you could probably get close 466 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:45.160 if you have some metrics from your industry of like, 467 00:28:45.520 --> 00:28:49.440 you know, what would a unit cost be per pound? 468 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:53.440 Here's what we think we can sell it for retail. 469 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:57.600 Here's what our margin is at however many, 470 00:28:57.600 --> 00:29:00.120 like you think you can sell it to in your market 471 00:29:00.120 --> 00:29:01.720 and with the market share. 472 00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:04.760 And, you know, I think just getting close. 473 00:29:04.760 --> 00:29:07.880 And again, it's not like no one's going to hold you to this 474 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.240 because we know there's a lot of variables. 475 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:13.440 We want to know that you're thinking through it 476 00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:18.280 and that you're able to kind of make those judgment calls 477 00:29:18.280 --> 00:29:22.440 and think through all of the business model. 478 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:24.840 I wanted to say too, though, also, 479 00:29:24.840 --> 00:29:27.560 I think one of the things I know you're pre-revenue 480 00:29:27.560 --> 00:29:29.560 and maybe before you pitch, 481 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:37.240 but there might be some, like you might have some POs. 482 00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:41.040 You might be talking with some farmers. 483 00:29:41.040 --> 00:29:42.560 You might be talking to some manufacturers. 484 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.720 Like I think all of that is going to help build your case 485 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:48.920 for why you need money. 486 00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:51.040 If you have all that kind of waiting on the wings, 487 00:29:51.040 --> 00:29:53.800 yes, we may not have the product to sell, 488 00:29:54.800 --> 00:29:56.760 but here's what we do have. 489 00:29:56.760 --> 00:30:00.080 So I would really hustle hard to get as much. 490 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:06.800 that lined up. You know, again, it's just going to look really attractive to an investor if you've 491 00:30:06.800 --> 00:30:10.400 already got, if you're already having these conversations and have them ready to go. 492 00:30:11.360 --> 00:30:19.120 Great. That makes sense. Thank you. Yeah. I think Isis had a question in the chat, Shelly. 493 00:30:19.120 --> 00:30:26.000 Oh, yes. Thank you. Can you dive deep in not being held to a sales forecast? Yeah. 494 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:36.000 Um, what do I want to say about that? Um, I think any investor that holds you to it is, 495 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:45.680 has never started a business themselves. And they know most know how unrealistic they really are. 496 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:52.800 So I think the main thing that we really, in fact, when I see projections, I usually divide 497 00:30:52.800 --> 00:30:59.520 them by half. That's just a little trick a lot of investors do. Because of course, 498 00:30:59.520 --> 00:31:05.200 you're going to believe that you have, like that your pro forma meets the standard that, 499 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:10.400 of course, you should think that you should think that you have these amazing sales potential. 500 00:31:11.600 --> 00:31:18.800 But we also know that there's a lot of a lot of variables that impact that that's most of which 501 00:31:18.800 --> 00:31:26.160 are out of your control. And so the main thing you should be projecting, you should try to be 502 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:35.520 realistic. The most thing I want to see is that you have logic behind it, that you're you're not 503 00:31:35.520 --> 00:31:42.880 just throwing stuff up there. But you're really thinking through if you have a pro forma, which 504 00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:50.080 you should and you have these projections, why? What are the what are you basing this on? And if 505 00:31:50.080 --> 00:31:54.480 I know it will change, and I know it will fluctuate, but I want to know that you thought 506 00:31:54.480 --> 00:32:01.040 through that. Does that help Isis? That's really helpful, because my career used to be in finance. 507 00:32:01.040 --> 00:32:07.520 So I'm like, Oh, if I'm off by like 20%, then that's that's like, we have to go through and 508 00:32:07.760 --> 00:32:13.760 redo everything. And investors like, what's going on? And so I think I would have probably taken my 509 00:32:13.760 --> 00:32:19.520 sales forecast and cut it in half before putting it on a slide. So it's also doing it. It's like, 510 00:32:19.520 --> 00:32:23.600 maybe I should rethink my strategy. So that was actually really helpful. 511 00:32:23.600 --> 00:32:27.760 Yeah. And that when I was pitching, and I did, there was a season I was just pitching, 512 00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:32.000 I don't know, like two or three times a day, like for many months, it was crazy. 513 00:32:32.560 --> 00:32:42.000 And I can't remember what I was gonna say. Oh, I was like, I was freaking out constantly, 514 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:47.680 because I had investors, you know, I'd have my spreadsheet up there. And usually it's five year 515 00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:53.920 projections is like really looking at what that would look like. And they didn't really care. 516 00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:59.040 They're like, Okay, this is this looks great. You think you'll be $150 million company, 517 00:32:59.040 --> 00:33:06.720 or whatever it was? Why? Like, talk me through column A. How are you getting there 518 00:33:07.360 --> 00:33:11.840 to this in number, like, walk me through all of the things that you're seeing. And I, 519 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:18.400 man, that was hard work to have to walk someone through all my logic. 520 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:23.680 And then, you know, and to get kind of tripped up sometimes, like, I would seriously was like, 521 00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:30.240 well, I don't know, like, I can't remember what that assumption was baked into that. 522 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:36.000 And so you really do have to know how you're getting to those projection numbers, 523 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:42.400 even if they change, even if there's unrealistic assumptions based into them, 524 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:47.680 you at least have to know what they are. So you can have that conversation with investors. 525 00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:58.480 All right. Who else? Abina, do you have a question? 526 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:04.880 Hi. Yes. And I really loved hearing about everyone's businesses. It's really, really 527 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:13.360 interesting. So we're Karate. We're actually three sisters who co founded the brand, 528 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:18.880 one who's a board certified dermatologist. And we grew up in Ghana using shea butter. 529 00:34:19.520 --> 00:34:26.159 If you're familiar with raw, unrefined shea butter, it's pretty hard to spread. So we were 530 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:32.159 always sort of buying over the counter creams and everything. Yes, I see your comment from Isis 531 00:34:33.120 --> 00:34:39.120 and trying to mix it to just make it more easily spreadable. And one day we decided, you know, 532 00:34:39.120 --> 00:34:44.320 why can't we make this on our own with limited ingredients, safe for your skin and safe for 533 00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:50.800 pretty much anyone from babies to adults or anyone with really sensitive skin. So took a few years 534 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:56.320 to come up with the right formulation. And of course, having my sisters of dermatologists has 535 00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:59.840 been really helpful. Yeah. And we have three. 536 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:02.760 SKUs that we sell right now. 537 00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:06.760 And part of our mission is also really rooted 538 00:35:06.760 --> 00:35:11.760 in sustainability and working with the Shea Women Farmers 539 00:35:12.200 --> 00:35:14.600 in Ghana who helped pick the nuts. 540 00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:19.440 And I wanted to know like in a pitch deck, 541 00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:24.440 how much should we focus on our sustainability efforts? 542 00:35:25.240 --> 00:35:29.060 Like do, I mean, we care about it a lot, 543 00:35:29.140 --> 00:35:32.660 but we know that some of the money that we would get, 544 00:35:32.660 --> 00:35:37.100 we would want that to help go back to the women 545 00:35:37.100 --> 00:35:41.620 because so far we've done things like giving them hats 546 00:35:41.620 --> 00:35:43.420 and sunscreen, like things that will help them 547 00:35:43.420 --> 00:35:44.820 when they're picking the nuts 548 00:35:44.820 --> 00:35:47.180 because they walk in grass and have snakes 549 00:35:47.180 --> 00:35:49.580 and scorpions and things like that. 550 00:35:49.580 --> 00:35:53.460 And also ideal, we'd love to be able to help provide them 551 00:35:53.460 --> 00:35:57.300 with these certain bikes so they don't have to walk so much 552 00:35:57.300 --> 00:36:01.860 so they can help carry the Shea back to their homes 553 00:36:01.860 --> 00:36:02.740 and things like that. 554 00:36:02.740 --> 00:36:07.740 So I just wonder how much in a slide deck or pitch 555 00:36:07.740 --> 00:36:12.340 we would focus on that portion of the business. 556 00:36:12.340 --> 00:36:16.580 Yeah, I, okay, we have 15 more minutes. 557 00:36:16.580 --> 00:36:19.900 Okay, that's a really good question. 558 00:36:19.900 --> 00:36:22.180 So, and I'll answer it a couple of ways. 559 00:36:22.180 --> 00:36:25.620 I think this is where you really have to think 560 00:36:25.620 --> 00:36:27.500 about your audience. 561 00:36:27.500 --> 00:36:32.500 So, and I might have like a couple of different pitch decks 562 00:36:34.460 --> 00:36:37.020 based on who you're talking to. 563 00:36:37.020 --> 00:36:41.880 If you're talking to a traditional venture capital fund, 564 00:36:42.860 --> 00:36:45.940 I might mention it, but I wouldn't go into detail 565 00:36:45.940 --> 00:36:49.900 because that's just not gonna be a part of their, 566 00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:52.580 for most of them, some of them it might be. 567 00:36:52.580 --> 00:36:56.060 Most of them, it won't be a part of the thesis. 568 00:36:57.500 --> 00:37:01.500 So they might champion it and really like it, 569 00:37:01.500 --> 00:37:06.500 but in terms of who they're picking to invest in, 570 00:37:06.900 --> 00:37:10.420 it may not fit their portfolio now. 571 00:37:10.420 --> 00:37:13.900 But if you can make a case, a business case 572 00:37:13.900 --> 00:37:17.220 for all the traction and all the revenue, 573 00:37:17.220 --> 00:37:18.060 like all the things, 574 00:37:18.060 --> 00:37:21.100 like then that could fit in their portfolio. 575 00:37:21.100 --> 00:37:23.540 And then an extra bonus is like, yeah, 576 00:37:23.540 --> 00:37:26.960 we've got this great kind of double, triple bottom line 577 00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:29.820 in terms of how we're sustainable 578 00:37:29.820 --> 00:37:31.900 and we're helping this community, 579 00:37:31.900 --> 00:37:33.120 but I may not lead with it. 580 00:37:33.120 --> 00:37:34.220 I may just mention it. 581 00:37:36.460 --> 00:37:40.300 But you probably could do really well 582 00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:44.980 with impact investors and there's a whole, 583 00:37:44.980 --> 00:37:46.380 have you thought about that? 584 00:37:47.380 --> 00:37:51.100 Yeah, we're just, now that we're at sort of 585 00:37:51.100 --> 00:37:55.100 this inflection point where we're starting to, 586 00:37:55.100 --> 00:37:59.060 because we also have bootstrapped since we started. 587 00:37:59.060 --> 00:38:04.060 And so we're starting to look at other ways, 588 00:38:05.860 --> 00:38:08.020 grants and things like that. 589 00:38:09.340 --> 00:38:10.180 Yeah. 590 00:38:10.180 --> 00:38:14.940 Yeah, I think, I mean, there's really an emerging 591 00:38:14.940 --> 00:38:18.220 kind of pool of investors that, 592 00:38:18.220 --> 00:38:19.260 over the last 10 years, 593 00:38:19.260 --> 00:38:22.500 it's really grown around impact investing. 594 00:38:22.500 --> 00:38:27.500 And so there's specific funds who are look, 595 00:38:28.220 --> 00:38:29.540 that's their thesis. 596 00:38:29.540 --> 00:38:33.020 Like it has to have sustainability is one of them, 597 00:38:34.900 --> 00:38:36.500 eco-friendly is one that like, 598 00:38:36.500 --> 00:38:39.860 there's a lot of impact investors who are really looking 599 00:38:39.860 --> 00:38:44.260 for very specific companies they wanna invest in 600 00:38:44.260 --> 00:38:46.900 who line up with who they wanna, 601 00:38:46.900 --> 00:38:49.260 what kind of change do they wanna make? 602 00:38:49.260 --> 00:38:53.260 So you would probably do really well with impact investors. 603 00:38:53.260 --> 00:38:54.700 And I think if that were the case, 604 00:38:54.700 --> 00:38:59.700 I would lean much stronger into that story. 605 00:38:59.860 --> 00:39:01.540 And so that's why I say you might wanna have 606 00:39:01.540 --> 00:39:04.740 a couple of pitch decks that you just really think 607 00:39:04.740 --> 00:39:09.740 about your audience and what are they wanting to hear 608 00:39:11.140 --> 00:39:12.980 as they're thinking about investment. 609 00:39:14.500 --> 00:39:15.580 Thank you for that. 610 00:39:15.580 --> 00:39:19.180 And another question I have in terms of, 611 00:39:19.180 --> 00:39:22.260 so I think when we listened to you speak a couple of weeks 612 00:39:22.260 --> 00:39:27.100 ago, you talked about competitors and competition 613 00:39:27.100 --> 00:39:30.020 and sort of having one of the pages in your deck list 614 00:39:30.020 --> 00:39:34.540 that do, should we actually be listing out like three 615 00:39:34.540 --> 00:39:38.580 to five competitors and how much, 616 00:39:38.580 --> 00:39:41.460 yeah, what exactly do we say? 617 00:39:41.460 --> 00:39:42.940 And if we have different pitch decks, 618 00:39:42.940 --> 00:39:45.100 I feel like right now we have a pitch deck mainly 619 00:39:45.100 --> 00:39:49.580 for retail and marketing, sort of like a brand deck, 620 00:39:50.540 --> 00:39:53.980 but I don't know if we necessarily need to speak to that 621 00:39:53.980 --> 00:39:55.340 cause we just sort of list our products. 622 00:39:55.340 --> 00:39:57.700 They just wanna know about what we have, 623 00:39:57.700 --> 00:39:59.980 but if we're going for the impact. 624 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:06.080 investors and whatnot, who, how, how much detail do we need to go into? 625 00:40:06.080 --> 00:40:12.240 Yeah, definitely. For investors, you definitely want at least a slide about your competitors. 626 00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:17.680 Um, like, I just want to know that, you know, they're out there, 627 00:40:17.680 --> 00:40:20.000 and you know, what differentiates you from them. 628 00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:26.960 They're always, there's always going to be competitors. And so it's not I remember, 629 00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:30.480 I used to freak out about like, I can't tell them like these two companies that are doing 630 00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:35.600 the exact same thing that we are. But we know they're companies doing the exact same thing. 631 00:40:35.600 --> 00:40:39.680 But we want to know, like, are they new? Have they been around a long time? 632 00:40:40.960 --> 00:40:46.000 What's their like, competitive edge? Do they were they first to market? Do they do something 633 00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:52.480 different with their product? How are you thinking about this problem in a different way? 634 00:40:52.480 --> 00:41:02.640 Maybe in a fresh way, maybe in a more like profitable way. So I think those are the things. 635 00:41:02.640 --> 00:41:07.600 So to not if you didn't put in a competitor slide, it would it would be a red flag for me. 636 00:41:09.120 --> 00:41:13.120 That you're either you're not aware that they're there, or you don't think they're 637 00:41:13.120 --> 00:41:18.720 important, or you're trying to avoid them with in the conversation. And so that would, 638 00:41:19.680 --> 00:41:21.680 that would probably alarm me a little bit. 639 00:41:23.680 --> 00:41:27.280 But you don't have to say too much either. I think that's the thing like, 640 00:41:30.720 --> 00:41:36.080 just mentioning them, and what are they doing really well? And then maybe how do you feel 641 00:41:36.080 --> 00:41:41.680 like you have an advantage on them? I think those are the things that I would mention. 642 00:41:42.080 --> 00:41:49.280 Okay, that's great. Thank you. You're welcome. We have a few more minutes. If anybody else, 643 00:41:51.040 --> 00:41:57.040 anything about your pitch, if you want to like, share a slide, anything else that you're wondering? 644 00:41:59.920 --> 00:42:06.640 I see that. Oh, nice. Yeah. Oh, you guys are on goop. 645 00:42:11.840 --> 00:42:17.520 That's awesome. All right. Who has any other questions? Yeah. 646 00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:23.600 Oh, thank you for this about Kapoor Capital. I'll look into them. 647 00:42:24.160 --> 00:42:29.440 Yeah, I mean, I don't know, know Kapoor Capital, but they're also based here in the Bay Area, 648 00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:35.120 like in Oakland. So if you want an introduction that's slightly warmer than freezing cold, 649 00:42:35.680 --> 00:42:42.560 I may be able to help. But again, it's not that warm. Okay, thank you. 650 00:42:44.240 --> 00:42:51.040 Yeah, and I'll, my managing partner with me in the Jump Fund, she is also on the board of, 651 00:42:52.640 --> 00:42:56.400 and their name is escaping me right now, I believe they're based in Missouri. 652 00:42:56.720 --> 00:43:04.560 They're an impact investing fund. So if you email me, then I will, I can connect you, 653 00:43:04.560 --> 00:43:09.200 Abina, with that group. Okay, I just can't remember the name of it right now. 654 00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:16.160 Any questions or any other like insights or feedback that you all have for each other? 655 00:43:16.560 --> 00:43:27.200 So I wanted to reach out to a couple people, but I felt kind of, I withheld from doing that because 656 00:43:27.200 --> 00:43:35.520 I was kind of scared that as far as me not giving a pitch before, that it wouldn't, 657 00:43:37.040 --> 00:43:43.440 how they would kind of react to what I was doing. So I'm not sure if I would have done that. 658 00:43:43.440 --> 00:43:48.880 How they would kind of react to what I was asking, would it be too much, you know, 659 00:43:48.880 --> 00:43:53.440 to get in fact, input back from them, without them feeling some type of way. 660 00:43:54.800 --> 00:43:58.720 But I definitely needed some help, but I was scared to kind of reach out. 661 00:43:59.360 --> 00:44:02.480 And are these investors you were talking to, or? 662 00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:04.800 No, just inside the group. 663 00:44:06.720 --> 00:44:09.040 In the group that you all are with together? Yeah. 664 00:44:09.040 --> 00:44:09.680 Yes. 665 00:44:09.680 --> 00:44:15.280 Yeah, I think, I mean, I think Siobhan said something about possibly pairing you all up 666 00:44:15.280 --> 00:44:22.080 or getting some people together to give feedback on each other's pitch, which I think would be 667 00:44:23.280 --> 00:44:29.120 so invaluable for you all in that. And I don't know what part of the country you all are in, 668 00:44:30.560 --> 00:44:37.920 but a lot, there's a lot of accelerators, incubators, startup hubs. 669 00:44:38.880 --> 00:44:44.160 They have office hours. And so you can actually get time with investors. 670 00:44:45.040 --> 00:44:51.280 Like we did office hours a lot. And we would just meet with founders and give them feedback and 671 00:44:51.280 --> 00:44:57.040 give them advice and ask questions and like as an investor might ask. 672 00:44:57.920 --> 00:44:59.840 And so that's really helpful if you have. 673 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:09.200 some kind of hub in your community that you could just do a five-minute pitch and get some feedback 674 00:45:09.200 --> 00:45:16.800 from people. Okay. Are you still open to, Shelly, if we were to send kind of what we have for you 675 00:45:16.800 --> 00:45:21.920 to critique it, are you still open to doing that? Absolutely, yeah. I'm happy to look at your decks 676 00:45:21.920 --> 00:45:27.280 and give some feedback. I actually just got one this week that I'm going to look at over the 677 00:45:27.280 --> 00:45:34.240 weekend. Okay. And it won't be like, you know, earth-shattering, life-changing feedback, but I 678 00:45:34.240 --> 00:45:42.560 think I can point out a few things that just with me looking at a semester with fresh eyes. Okay. 679 00:45:42.560 --> 00:45:47.600 Might be some things that are hard for you to, because you see it all the time. You built it, 680 00:45:47.600 --> 00:45:51.360 you know. Yeah, I'm happy to do that. In fact, I'm gonna, 681 00:45:52.080 --> 00:46:02.240 I'll put my email down here so you all have it. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I think I'm the same 682 00:46:02.240 --> 00:46:15.600 way, Nikita. I have, it's intimidating. Yes. When you are fresh, this is something new to you, 683 00:46:15.600 --> 00:46:18.480 and you, I didn't go to business school. I have a biology degree, 684 00:46:19.200 --> 00:46:28.480 master's in biological sciences. That is not my expertise, but I think the learning aspect 685 00:46:28.480 --> 00:46:37.520 is, can be really intimidating. And coming from different areas, different people are on different 686 00:46:37.520 --> 00:46:44.080 spectrums in their, in their own right. So like, like I said, I'm only, I've only been in business 687 00:46:44.080 --> 00:46:48.480 for two years, while there's others that's probably been in business 10 years, and they have 688 00:46:48.480 --> 00:46:55.120 talked to investors, have different backgrounds, so it can be very intimidating. And this is my 689 00:46:55.120 --> 00:47:00.240 very first elevator pitch as well, so. Yeah, I will say the more you practice, 690 00:47:00.240 --> 00:47:06.160 it truly does get easier. And the more you think about, I'm having a conversation, 691 00:47:07.200 --> 00:47:13.200 not I'm pitching. The people that frame it as a conversation, like they're talking with me about 692 00:47:13.200 --> 00:47:19.200 their business. Like, I love that. Like, that feels, it's informal. There's just like, we're 693 00:47:19.200 --> 00:47:26.160 diving into these topics, this topic together. It's not, it's not some, now some investors make 694 00:47:26.160 --> 00:47:30.640 you work for it, and they're going to make you feel about this thing, and let them. Like, they're 695 00:47:30.640 --> 00:47:34.480 going to have bigger issues in the rest of their life, if that's what they really want to do to 696 00:47:34.480 --> 00:47:40.960 people. But most investors want to have this conversation with you, and really understand 697 00:47:40.960 --> 00:47:44.400 your business. And so, just think about it that way, and practice, practice, practice. 698 00:47:45.200 --> 00:47:48.240 Okay, thank you. This was so helpful. 699 00:47:50.560 --> 00:47:59.440 You're welcome. Any other questions? 700 00:47:59.440 --> 00:48:16.720 Okay. You all have my email in there, and I am happy to, especially this small group, 701 00:48:18.000 --> 00:48:23.680 if you're still like, struggling with some things. I know that I struggled for a while with my 702 00:48:23.680 --> 00:48:30.000 business model slide, and I had to get a lot of eyeballs on it. So, I think things like that, 703 00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.240 this is, you all need to support each other in this, and like, really help each other with fresh 704 00:48:34.240 --> 00:48:40.400 eyes, look at this stuff. And, and you're going to be great. You're, you have, you all have these 705 00:48:40.400 --> 00:48:45.200 little babies that are so precious, and they're, they're beautiful. And so, just be proud of them, 706 00:48:45.200 --> 00:48:50.480 and go out there, and share them. And then, you, you will find the right people. Sharing it with, 707 00:48:51.120 --> 00:48:55.760 put your reps in, gotta kiss a lot of frogs, but you'll find the right people, 708 00:48:55.760 --> 00:48:58.400 who really love what you're doing, and want to support it. 709 00:49:00.960 --> 00:49:06.960 Thank you so much. You're welcome. Absolutely. Thank you, Shelly. I know that the session was 710 00:49:06.960 --> 00:49:11.200 probably really good. It was very intimate, so I'm sure you were able to get your questions. 711 00:49:11.280 --> 00:49:18.160 I hope, I hope you all got some good answers. And so, the other group is still, is still meeting, 712 00:49:18.160 --> 00:49:23.600 and so I wanted to just let you all know that you, I'm going to dismiss you, but if you had any 713 00:49:23.600 --> 00:49:29.680 questions for me, feel free to ask me now. If not, then I just want to say thank you so much, 714 00:49:29.680 --> 00:49:36.320 Shelly, for joining us on this Friday. Always appreciate all of your help and feedback. 715 00:49:36.320 --> 00:49:40.800 And if you ladies don't have anything else, I hope that you enjoy your holiday weekend, 716 00:49:41.360 --> 00:49:46.960 and I will see you on Tuesday. Shelly, if you could stay on just for one second, 717 00:49:46.960 --> 00:49:52.000 once everyone drops off. Yes, absolutely. Thank you, guys. Have a good one. Thanks, everyone. 718 00:49:52.880 --> 00:49:56.800 Thanks, Shelly. You're welcome. Take care. 719 00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:03.000 Awesome. Awesome. How was it? 720 00:50:03.000 --> 00:50:06.000 Great. Good group. Lots of great questions. 721 00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:16.000 I think that you know there's a lot of fear, which I really remember and I know that feeling well like it's intimidating. 722 00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:25.000 Very much. So I think that you mean stop recording. Oh yeah, that's what I was gonna tell you too so when you get a chance you can send that over to me. 723 00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.000 I don't think it saves. I think it saves to your computer.