Hi defties,
how about you do a little time-travel with me?
It’s safe, I promise. We just need to jump back one day because I really needed some sleep yesterday but I also don’t want to destroy a good alliteration when I found one, so here goes: *rewinding clock by 24 hours*
👋 It’s Money Monday, so let’s talk about money!
Actually, I just made that up.
And it seems like a bunch of other people developed that skill before me because apparently, June 14th is also International Bath Day, National Strawberry Shortcake Day (yum!), National Pop Goes the Weasel Day and National Bourbon Day. Who would have thought?!
Anyway, I still wanna talk about money with you. Yup, that’s right. Mo-ney!
Uh oh, I can already picture you sitting there, your intestines getting tight, your face somewhere between blank state and total horror, and your mind racing about what could have possibly possessed me to approach you with such a mood-spoiling topic. On a MONDAY!!!
Here comes the real shocker: It can actually be fun! 🥳
FUN?!
Okay, you’re right, I crossed the line there, that was too much. Money is supposed to be this very serious matter, kinda stiff and a bit soulless. Oh and also super dry.
Talking about dry, let’s look at how Merriam Webster defines the term money: something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment.
Now the much more interesting question is:
What does money mean to you?
I have to say, it’s funny how many people somehow accept that it’s there, they earn it, they spend it, they gift it and donate it, but never once in their life did they answer the question of what money means to them… How odd!
You could note that money is a deeply personal matter and talking about it in public is simply [insert some non-positive adjective here].
Well, thank you actually for providing the very best example that the kind of relationship with money we’ve learned at home, directly carries over into our professional life - how we (don’t) negotiate our salary, we (don’t) invest [because it’s too whatever], we (don’t) calculate bold financial projections for our company and so on.
So I’m asking you again: What does money mean to you - personally and professionally?
Does it represent a way to buy yourself a bit of freedom or free time? Does it feel like you could never have enough (if yes, what do you need the money for)?
Is it something that gives you a headache and you would rather avoid every month when it’s time to do the payroll & accounting for your startup? How do you feel about bootstrapping vs. venture capital? Do you treat borrowed money differently than you do your own? How do you value your own time, do you give it away for free?
Now don’t blame me for asking all these hard questions: You wanted it to be a serious topic and you got serious.
Aaaaand, I got you talking about money, hah! 😁
Your individual relationship with money especially comes into play, when raising funds for your startup. (The same is true for all of your co-founders, so be sure to have the money talk early and often.)
And whether from your own experience or from survey results about the fundraising experience of female founders, it’s gonna be a long and hard journey, so you need to be on top of your game.
Once you decided to go down the VC path (and you checked that you actually have the business model and market size for it too), it’s time to learn the ropes and get familiar with all the different terms. Twitter is a great place to start:
And learning from your fellow female founders, who’ve already gone down the path and are freely sharing their knowledge with you, can feel like finding a gold nugget, i.e. this LinkedIn post by Patricia Russ on fundraising 🌟
The reason I said at the beginning that money can actually be fun is that once you know the rules of the game, it can be quite enjoyable to raise capital for your startup, invest in your team and see your business grow. For an entrepreneurial soul, there’s really nothing more rewarding than this :)
Now go out there, remember you are good with money and get kickin’ 🎉
PS: Girls* is referring to everyone because you simply do not touch such a classic from Cyndi Lauper. And of course, we want much more than just funds ;)
#defty pad
Lilith and her co-founder launched VisualMakers 🎉
It’s the German community for NoCode where you can learn how to build websites & apps without writing a single line of code and boost your business by automating your processes with NoCode tools. VisualMakers is for founders who want to test their idea and get real feedback from real customers and also teams looking to eliminate their repetitive tasks.
This Wednesday, June 16th at 17:00 Berlin time, they offer a webinar on Prototyping with NoCode (in German)!
Programs & Events
Emerge accelerator
SoftBank Vision Fund launched the Emerge accelerator for underrepresented European founders and the program provides the capital, tools and network they need to scale. Emerge is open to European start-ups that have at least one founder who identifies as non-white, female, LGBTQ, disabled and/or is a refugee. Yay 🎉 to creating a more equitable landscape across European VC!!
Duration: 8-week virtual program starting in September
Deadline: July 7th
Apply: www.emergeaccelerator.com
VentureVilla Accelerator
The 100 day pre-seed & seed accelerator for web and software startups has opened the application period for Batch 10. The program is both in German and English, and currently 100% remote.
Deadline: 21st July 2021
Apply here!
Startup Funding in Europe: How to Raise Capital
Do you have a startup that needs funding? Do you want to learn how startup funding works, what you need to do before trying to raise funding, and where you can go to get it? Join this interactive Q&A session with a panel of entrepreneurs who have successfully raised money for their businesses and investors.
When: June 24th, 18:00-19:30
Register here!
CF, IPO, VC – OMG! Gründungsfinanzierung muss nicht kompliziert sein
[In German]
How do I finance my business idea or startup? How much capital do I need? And how have other founders approached their financing?
When: Jul 1st, 14:00 - 17:00 CET
Register here!
Everything About Finances for Startups
Female Founders is teaming up with Tiny CFO Jana, who will translate complex corporate finance and business strategy topics into actionable content for you. This intimate and interactive digital session is perfect for entrepreneurs. Your opportunity to ask any burning questions on topics of financial planning and strategy.
When: July 7th, 14:00 -16:00 CET
Apply here!
Image credits: Preview image - Unsplash