If you have been bootstrapping and think you are ready for investors, you need to learn how investors think. First, please study our free Bootstrapping course and Investor Introductions page. Then start looking for entrepreneur – investor fit. Today I introduce you to Gaurav Jain. Gaurav Jain is Managing Partner at Afore Capital, a firm focused on pre-seed investments.
Sramana Mitra: How much total money did the company raise? How much revenue did they do? Gaurav Jain: They raised sub-$10 million. It’s relatively small for a food delivery. Their numbers were not that far off from some of these bigger companies. A big reason for that was because they were based in Winnipeg where
Gaurav Jain: We don’t make a list of what’s been going wrong. The list, unfortunately, is too long. Instead, we look for what can go right. If the founder can accomplish these counter-intuitive things, could this be a massive business? Could this be a massive opportunity? Does the founder have the ability to execute on
Sramana Mitra: For a B2B business, getting to hundred customers is not an easy thing to do. Gaurav Jain: For B2B, if they’re paying you $10 a month, getting 5000 customers is not hard. If you’re charging $10,000, maybe one or two is great. Sramana Mitra: Quickly, what about geography? Are you US-focused? Gaurav Jain:
Sramana Mitra: When you say early, can you put a bit more color around that? Are you willing to do concept financing? Gaurav Jain: The short answer is yes. These days, it has gotten so cheap to build an MVP, especially if you’re building a software product, which is where 80% to 90% of our
Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Gaurav Jain of Afore Capital was recorded in February 2018. Gaurav Jain is Managing Partner at Afore Capital, a firm focused on pre-seed investments. This is an excellent conversation for entrepreneurs looking for insights