Introduction to the Investment Landscape in the UK for SaaS Startups

Elevator Pitch - 30 seconds

1. Hook: Start with the problem
2. Who you are
3. What problem you solve
4. Why your solution is special
5. What is the goal of each elevator pitch? Did I get it?
   
   AI generate template: "[Target customer] struggles with [problem], which costs them [$ / hours / risk]. I'm [name], founder of [company], and I [credibility]. We [solution], so they [key benefit]. Unlike [current alternative], we [differentiator]. We already have [traction]. I'd love to [specific ask]."

Product/Market Fit

You're in a good market with a product that meets its needs. Customers pull the product from you instead of you pushing it on them.  Have data that proves the business will work. Aim to be the best-in-class solution; attracting paying customers without advertising is ideal.  

Investors Looking for:

1. Size of the business; how quickly can the product/business get there.
2. Is AI a threat to the business,
3. People's needs/wants - do they need this going forward, will they?  Move up the Maslow hierarchy of needs chain.
4. Cloud native, API-centric, data-centric, AI, ML, security, 
   
5. Show the roadmap, it must be clear: how will finance be used?
6. They don't want capital-intensive businesses
   

Investment Stages

1. Idea,
2. Secure Founders,
3. MVP,
4. Seed (Angels, & Early VCs),
5. Scale (Series A)
6. Exit - Sell or IPO, average 7 years.

Capitalisation Table (who owns what in the business)

e.g. 50% ordinary shares to both founders
e.g. 35% each to both founders, Angel 20%, VC 10% at year 2.

Angels invest their own money; attractive to Angels get favourable tax breaks (SEIS/EIS)
Angel syndicates: groups of angels who invest; tools such as Odin/Funderbeam/FundMyPitch.
Venture Capitalist (VS) - Use "Risk and Reward" to decide on investing.  Seed VCs, focus on sectors or tax efficiency (EIS funds)

Ways to raise Funding:

1. Bootstrapping (self-funding and/or customer financing thru revenue) 
2. Equity (Pre-seed valuation typically £0.5-£1.5m, Seed with Revenue typically £1.5-£3m with Monthly Recurring Revenue MRR)
3. Crowd Funding (can be a good fit but generally tougher than most think)
4. Grants
5. Debt funding

Tip: Don't let it drag on - get it done fast, 3- 6 months max.
Tip: Raise investment as late as possible.  
Tip: Build my investment strategy before looking for investors.
Tip: The investor must fit with the startup
Tip: UKPostbox.com apparently offer good services for registered offices.

"Delaware flip" is how a startup can switch to being incorporated in Delaware. Delaware company owns the original company.

IP: Business & IP Centre

General Business Readiness (Business plan including project financials and GTM): 

1. Roadmap/Map your Journey
2. Where is the startup on the journey
3. Prove/show what has been done on the roadmap - Proof Points
4. Client validation
5. Differentiator
6. Scale Potential
7. Team

Recommended to me:

Zero to One by Blake Masters & Peter Thiel book