What the founders should think about if he is looking to raise the chain c

The founders of startups face the confusing and even contradictory capital market in 2025, according to the Sapphire Ventures Cathy Gao partner. “The capital is not rare. But reaching the capital is more difficult than ever,” she said.

Gao, who spoke at the Techcrunk All Stage in July, said it is possible for startups, especially those in the stage C at a later time, to move in this particular economic environment. And they must start with a realistic examination.

She said that starting, it is important to note that only one person in five startups raises a series of category A that makes them raising the C. and last year, the late late capital lifting tape rose only; Investors are no longer just chasing momentum, as many have been in the past few years – they are chasing certainlyGao said.

“The investors are now asking:” Is this company really a winner in which market they serve? “Said Gao. “The question is not really,” Does this company grow? “The question has turned into,” Is this company on a path where the upcoming upward trend cannot be denied? “

Companies must raise C tours to fulfill certain criteria. For one of them, they are all leaders of the category, according to Gao.

She said, “They define their categories. They have a clear clouds of the market and an undeniable cloud.” “In short, they are growing efficiently, but there is also a traction to show that these are really market leaders in the areas they work.”

Companies looking to raise the chain C must also remember that the scales are not always equal to money. Certainly the standards are important, as well as annual returns and growth and retain them, but if investors are not sold on the idea that the company can really become a leader in their field, they will advance.

“Investors must explain the reason for the company’s victory in the future,” she said. For example, there are companies that do not have amazing standards, but they raised in one way or another appropriate tour C. In one cases, a startup has canceled more than two billion dollars. “They were effectively able to connect the story to investors, why this company will be a leading company over time,” said Gao about the successful increase in the company.

Another rule of Gao: continuity is better than in the short term.

She pointed out that companies are growing faster than investors have seen before. “But often, what is the case, it is high,” said Gao. “So the question is, is this growth sustainable?”

In the C Series, investors are looking for “vehicle rings”, or they see that the company is getting more powerful with its scales.

She asked, “Does your product improve for every new customer you register? Do you decrease or increase CAC (the cost of customer acquisition) for every new user you attend?”

If the answer is yes, the investors “will tend to”, Gao said; If the answer is “no”, it is likely that “investors invest”, even if the company’s standards look very strong.

Finally, she said, the founders must deal with fundraising such as going to the market and seeking to develop relationships with VCS before placing them in the capital. Gao cited her company as an example. Sapphire loves investing in a series at the BS, but they usually know the company for a year or more.

She said: “This means in the series A, although we are not active to try to raise it, we are trying to build a relationship with a company and with the founder.” “We get information and develop a longitudinal image of how this company provides.”

She said that the founders should start building a “lightweight investor”, or a database that manages relations with investors.

She said that investors are writing notes while meeting with the founders, and the founders must do the same. The founders must write the names of the partners, what they want to invest in, and what companies have supported recently. She said that creating a list of distribution and sending periodic updates to investors. “This is an easy way to keep the inventors in the episode.”

Perhaps the most important thing, Gao noticed that the company that is looking to raise the C series should not enter the donations until you receive a signal from multiple companies that it is interested in supporting the tour.

“The last thing you want to do is the time in the market incorrectly,” she said. After all, the timing is everything at the series C. “It is really related to timing and planning forward.”