Every business leader knows they need to sell more stuff.  And they need to make money.  So leaders invest in sales, marketing, operations and supply chain management.  But actually, after selling more stuff the most important thing every business leader must know how to do is raise money.  Look at Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.  All of them were masters at raising money.  If you like them for their vision, love them for the ability to raise money to make that vision reality.

This podcast explores the many myths about fundraising, and the facts around why every business needs to be skillful at raising money.  Because raising money is a skill just like selling, or operations.  And leaders that can raise money create a new set of competitive tools usable for implementing their strategy.  Raising money lets you test your Value Proposition and Value Delivery System with someone ready to “put skin in the game.”  It lets you build a new source of competitive capabilities to fight competitors.  And it makes sure you have a long-term viable business model.  There is no glory in “going it alone” on “organic funding.”  There is success from using financing as a competitive tool, just like having a better product or distribution are competitive tools.

Thinking Points:

• You dedicate resources to sales and operations.  Do you dedicate resources to fundraising?

• If somebody wanted to give you money, do you have a company overview and offering you can give them?

• If somebody gave you a big chunk of money, do you know how you’d use it to grow your business?

• Do you know who is a better financed competitor that could hurt your business just because they have the resources to do so?

• Do you have a plan for winning against a better financed competitor?  Do you have a plan for winning as the best financed competitor?

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