{"id":2257,"date":"2013-10-20T16:32:47","date_gmt":"2013-10-20T23:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/?p=2257"},"modified":"2015-01-28T12:58:39","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T20:58:39","slug":"raising-capital-is-about-fit-and-timing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/raising-capital-is-about-fit-and-timing\/","title":{"rendered":"Raising Capital: About Fit and Timing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I was in New York last week speaking with existing and prospective investors in my <a title=\"Greybull Stewardship Business Investment Fund | Business Financing, Funding Sources\" href=\"http:\/\/greybullstewardship.com\" target=\"_blank\">investment fund, Greybull Stewardship<\/a>.\u00a0 The match-making activity between capital seeking returns and opportunities seeking capital is truly amazing in the United States.\u00a0 Nothing brings this home like New York City with its tremendous variety of people and families and investment styles.<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2263 alignright\" title=\"Raising Capital New\" alt=\"Raising Capital New\" src=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/NYCskyline-300x126.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/NYCskyline-300x126.jpg 300w, https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/NYCskyline-150x63.jpg 150w, https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/NYCskyline.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Capital, on one hand, seems all to be the same &#8212; money looking for a good return.\u00a0 The closer you look, however, the more large variations in types of capital become apparent.\u00a0 It reminds me of a talk Bradley Fisher of <a title=\"Featherstone Holdings - Private Market Investment\" href=\"http:\/\/featherstoneholdings.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Featherstone Holdings, LLC<\/a> made a few weeks ago about family offices.\u00a0 Fisher made the point that families looking to invest capital can be very different.\u00a0 They are all looking for different combinations of things.<\/p>\n<p>A few of the variables that Fisher mentioned:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Operating families versus financial families.\u00a0<\/strong> Some like to be involved in their investments and some do not.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alpha families versus beta families.\u00a0<\/strong> Some are looking to outperform the market and some just want to make sure they don&#8217;t under perform the market.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Private equity families versus liquid families.\u00a0<\/strong> Some do not mind the illiquidity of private companies (or may even prefer it) and some want to be able to move to cash at any time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fund families versus direct families.<\/strong>\u00a0 Some want other people to make the fund allocation decisions and some want to make those decisions themselves.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Control families versus passive families.\u00a0<\/strong> Some want to be involved in the activities of their investments and some want to be an arm-length away.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Generational differences<\/strong>. Some parental generations want different things than the younger generations and sometimes it is vice versa.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Consensus versus majority<\/strong>. Some families want consensus and some don&#8217;t mind a vocal minority.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Align opportunity to money rather than change the money<\/h2>\n<p>To me, this suggests that we often get distracted while raising capital about whether our idea\/project\/company is good enough. I find that the more important thing is to get yourself in front of enough people to allow the appropriate capital to become aligned with your opportunity.\u00a0 It is often more about finding the right fit. \u00a0How can my opportunity find its best capital?\u00a0 Someone&#8217;s outlook on investing won&#8217;t change very often, so it&#8217;s more important to find the best match.<\/p>\n<p>This suggests doing a few things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Spread the word widely.\u00a0<\/strong> You need a big enough sample set to allow you to find the best fit.\u00a0 In many ways, it is more of a numbers game than anything.\u00a0 Or, in a circumstance of raising capital from venture capitalists, it pays to be smart about finding the firms and partners that are predisposed to your type of company and opportunity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Give yourself time.<\/strong>\u00a0 It takes time and serendipity and many conversations to find a good match.\u00a0 You may be lucky and find the right match right away, but it&#8217;s better to give yourself time and let the match-making take its course.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be clear on what you are looking for.<\/strong>\u00a0 Give capital enough information to find you.\u00a0 This helps the capital to self-select to you or away from you in a smaller amount of time.\u00a0 Written information or web information that capital can use before any meeting is key. \u00a0 I have also found that the more clear you are about what you are looking for, the more that people can help you find it (and they want to help you if it&#8217;s not too difficult to help).\u00a0 In a way, the world seems predisposed to guide you to the right match &#8212; like grandmothers match-making their grandchildren.\u00a0 If what you are doing or what you need is not clear, it doesn&#8217;t give people enough information to make referrals and help you find the right capital.<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2264\" title=\"raising capital like match making\" alt=\"Raising Capital is Like Match Making\" src=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/raising-capital-like-match-making-300x206.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"206\" srcset=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/raising-capital-like-match-making-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/raising-capital-like-match-making-150x103.jpg 150w, https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/raising-capital-like-match-making.jpg 579w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/li>\n<li><strong>Focus on the &#8220;what&#8221; characteristics you need; \u00a0do not focus too much on the &#8220;whom.&#8221;\u00a0<\/strong> Focus on getting internal conviction and clarity about the characteristics in the capital you are looking for &#8212; not necessarily the whom.\u00a0 Our minds sometimes jump ahead and look for the personal &#8220;whom&#8221; &#8212; foisting our desired characteristics on people we imagine to have the characteristics we are looking for.\u00a0 This is sometimes true, but often not.\u00a0 We cannot know what affects someone&#8217;s ability to participate in or have an interest in our opportunity.\u00a0 Focus on the characteristics of the capital first, and let the people follow.\u00a0 You may be surprised who comes forward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Raising capital seems more like &#8220;discovering alignment&#8221; rather than &#8220;selling.&#8221; \u00a0There are plenty of capitalists in this world &#8212; we just need to find the match-making capital which is looking for the opportunities we offer.<\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_7_2_1_1381935072147_85064\">\n<div><strong>Related Posts:<\/strong><\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Business Financing And Funding, Business Investment | BCG Study - Superior Investment Returns | Business Blog\" href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/family-business-financing-investment-returns\/\">Family culture raises its capital<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Myths About Timing When Raising Capital For Your Business | Venture Capital Funding\" href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/raising-capital-investment-funding-financing\/\">Ideal time to raise capital<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Financing And Funding - Financial Strategy | Mason Myers Business Blog for Owners, Investors\" href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/investor-alignment\/\">Capital alignment<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"postmeta_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"postmeta classifications small\"><span class=\"post_categories\">Categories:<a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/category\/financing-funding\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Business Financing &amp; Funding<\/a><\/span><br \/><span class=\"post_tags\">Tags:<a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/capital\/\" rel=\"tag\">Capital<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/equity-investor\/\" rel=\"tag\">Equity Investor<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/financial-strategy\/\" rel=\"tag\">Financial Strategy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/financing\/\" rel=\"tag\">Financing<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/greybull-stewardship\/\" rel=\"tag\">Greybull Stewardship<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/investment\/\" rel=\"tag\">Investment<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/investment-strategy\/\" rel=\"tag\">Investment Strategy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/private-equity\/\" rel=\"tag\">Private Equity<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/raising-capital\/\" rel=\"tag\">Raising Capital<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/tag\/venture-capital\/\" rel=\"tag\">Venture Capital<\/a><br \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was in New York last week speaking with existing and prospective investors in my investment fund, Greybull Stewardship.\u00a0 The match-making activity between capital seeking returns and opportunities seeking capital is truly amazing in the United States.\u00a0 Nothing brings this home like New York City&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/raising-capital-is-about-fit-and-timing\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[232,85,84,47,13,86,121,16,46,15],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Raising Capital Requires The Right Fit and Timing | How To Raise Capital<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you raising capital for your business? 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