数据科学家和哈佛MBA, Erik co-founded a global venture capital fund and has invested in 50 startups that have raised over $500 million, 实现六个出口. 此前，他领导的分析案例包括30亿美元的全球业务重组和M&价值超过100亿美元的交易. 埃里克的工作曾被《欧博体育app下载》、CNBC和《欧博体育app下载》报道. 他会说四种语言，并担任Toptal的首席经济学家, 对人才经济和未来工作的领先分析.
乔治在M&A, 首次公开募股, 和固定收益交易，累计交易价值超过200亿美元的华尔街知名银行，包括所罗门兄弟和摩根士丹利. 富布赖特学者, George is active in the fin科技 startup sector and was on the management committee of Houston’s largest independent bank. 在Toptal, he enjoys refining business models and optimizing financing structures to maximize flexibility and profitability.
融资几乎总是一个复杂的过程, 不管一家公司处于哪个阶段，财务状况有多稳固. 一家初创公司筹集了第一笔100万美元, this guide will walk you through how to find the best fundraising consultants to make your 球场上甲板 bulletproof.
到目前为止，马丁是一个十足的摇滚明星.
His first bit of work produced a tool for us to model and forecast our financials and is far and away worth every penny we paid 和更多的.
我只是想和你分享一下.
Pete Pellizzari，首席执行官
巴德公司.
Erik has been an extremely valuable member of our team who has tremendous breath of experience with start ups in our lifecycle phase. What makes his contribution unique and highly effective is not only his excellent financial modeling skills and knowledge, 还有他在Vault处理每一段关系的情商, 了解我们的团队动态, 并帮助我们有效地应对创业挑战. It is rare to find a part-time consultant who makes you feel like he/she is genuinely invested in the success of your company.
和克里斯一起工作很愉快，他总是能满足我的时间安排. 他的沟通技巧和个性都是10/10. His outputs on the project were top notch and allowed us to develop more efficient forecasting and initiative prioritization frameworks. 我肯定会再次使用克里斯.
Toptal网络中金融人才的素质给我留下了深刻的印象. Our expert's experience was immediately evident through his insightful questions and the speed at which we could move. 从配对到项目的成功完成，Toptal一直处于整个过程的顶端. 我已经向我的朋友推荐了total 金融.
在Toptal, we thoroughly screen our fundraising consultants to ensure we only match you with talent of the highest caliber. 在200多个中,每年有5000人申请加入Toptal网络, 只有不到3%的人能达标. 你将与财务专家(而不是一般的招聘人员或人力资源代表)一起了解你的目标, 技术需求, 团队动力. 最终的结果是:经过专家审查的人才从我们的网络，定制匹配，以满足您的业务需求.
我可以在48小时内通过Toptal聘请筹款顾问吗?
取决于可用性和进度, 你可以在注册后48小时内开始与筹款顾问合作.
道达尔融资顾问的无风险试用期是多长?
We make sure that each engagement between you and your fundraising consultant begins with a trial period of up to two weeks. 这意味着你有时间确认订婚是否成功. 如果你对结果完全满意, 我们会给你开时间单的，你愿意多久我们就多久. 如果您不完全满意，我们不会向您收费. 从那里, 我们要么分道扬镳, 或者我们可以为您提供另一位可能更合适的专家，我们将与他开始第二轮谈判, 无风险试用.
要想筹款成功, 尤其是在种子层面, they must align themselves with the entrepreneur and have an innate ability to present the company in the best light possible. 然而，这个过程始于深入探讨商业模式的坦率对话. 专业的筹款人会以投资者的眼光审视一家公司. 为了给投资者创造一个无懈可击的卖点, 筹款人会做一些战略规划来确定积极和消极的因素, 挑战假设, 进行可行性研究, 并质疑创始人可能珍视的商业惯例. 这对投资者会议上的审查是有价值的准备.
立即设定期望
在付款方面, it is important to decide what payment structure works for your company prior to interviewing candidates for the position. 如果你打算支付成功费, 这意味着他们的薪酬取决于他们能够筹集到的资本, 那么筹款专家必须有执照 美国金融业监管局 作为一个[经纪自营商]http://www.FINRA.org/investors/brokers. 如果他们被雇用为顾问，则不需要此许可证, 这意味着他们可以按工资或小时收费来帮助你进行融资, 就像你在咨询公司做的一样. 简单地说，如果你是基于成功而付费，那么筹款人就需要有执照.
然后，就到了融资专家着手解决你的公司与众不同之处的时候了. 预计将采取以下步骤:
整理一份任务陈述并制作演示文稿.
详细审查筹资文件和核心文件，以检查财务的一致性, 预测, 和统计数据.
创造和完善公司的故事和叙述是种子级投资者需要的——相信企业家和相信公司一样多.
Making sure that the presentation is compelling for the investors (ie- the investors see how they will make their money back 和更多的).
制定准确的基准来指导预测.
确保市场调研在宏观和微观上都做得很好.
每次会议, 融资专家应该能够重申并进一步完善公司的故事, 同时专注于一条关键规则——ABC (Always Be Closing).
The capacity of a fundraising candidate to always remain focused on the ultimate goal can be put to the test in the following way.
It is assumed a good fundraiser should come to the interview with a strong understanding of the company’s history and its successes. 这给他们提供了一个良好的基础，以此为基础进一步调查以下问题.
C系列:在C阶段, the investment deck should emphasize the link between the company’s historical performance to the forecast provided in its financial model. 例如, 它应该提供经常性收入基础的详细信息, 它的留存率和获取客户的成本. 它还应准备突出人口和地理机会. 最后, 演示应该阐明公司将如何与大型和小型竞争对手竞争，以及其营销和定价策略的差异.
B系列到B轮阶段, 该模型必须反映公司准备达到或超过的收入结果. 将更加强调群体细节(获取成本), 留存率)，以及这在这个阶段如何反映在模型中. 最后, the model should reflect margin improvement assumptions that the right consultant can back up with market or operational data.
C系列涨得越多, 尽职调查过程越彻底, 所以在这个阶段, 期待投资者深入进行, 对所有关键部门负责人进行现场评估和面试，了解他们的能力和公司的专业知识. This stage may also involve accounting and legal due diligence to ensure that the company is compliant with all appropriate regulation.
一个成长阶段的筹款人需要能够创建一个动态的模型，突出当前商业模式的优势，并勾勒出一个令投资者兴奋的预测. 同样重要的是, the fundraiser needs to provide a well-articulated and bulletproof explanation of how the company will reach those forecasts.
在这里，一个专业的筹款专家应该在他们的元素. They should provide unique insight into the business model being described and articulate the opportunities with conviction. The story and metrics will likely differ but this should make you confident of how the fundraiser will position and pitch your business.
要么成为专家，要么迅速成为专家
融资招聘人员需要了解你的公司的竞争环境，以便与其他初创企业和老牌企业区分开来. While the burden of explaining how a company’s strategy or 科技nology differentiates itself may fall to the CEO or CTO, 筹款人需要解释该公司的定价策略和成本结构与该领域的成熟公司和初创公司相比如何.
再次测试他们的专业知识是衡量候选人帮助你的能力的有力方法. 例如, if the candidate has experience in an industry that is being affected by the movement from distributor models to direct to consumer models, 他们理解成本结构差异并将其转化为优势的能力很重要.
当公司从a轮融资到B轮融资再到C轮融资时, 投资者可能会变得更加老练，推销内容也需要根据受众进行调整. 早期投资者往往是曾经的企业家，而后期投资者越来越多地不仅包括后期风投基金, 但是对冲基金, 交叉基金, 共同基金和战略投资者. This can result in a different type of chemistry that a fundraiser should be aware of before walking into a pitch. 在更实际的情况下, 这意味着，随着公司的成长和筹集更多资金，推介和随后的尽职调查过程将变得更加激烈.
一个顶级的筹款人应该能够处理各种各样的投资风格. 面试候选人时, ask them who they have successfully pitched in the past to confirm they have had successful experience with various investors. 接着问这些投资者的融资过程有何不同.
问:在不违反事先保密协议的情况下, what main highlights emerged during your experience managing past cap tables with previous fundraising clients?
筹款专业人士应该参考一些领域, 展示了他们处理过的各种情况. 这些可能包括:
优先投资者行使其参股权.
每一轮都需要找到新的领投人.
投资者资金的规模和年限.
Experiences of managing a cap table can serve as a good litmus test for any fundraising expert’s investor-facing skills. 这涉及到很多关系的建立, but also allows them to get to know the dynamic of the funds investing or potentially investing in your company.
而这个团队, 以投资银行家为首, 一定会对公司的投资主张有深入的了解, they likely will not have given the same amount of thought to how that proposition will be conveyed vis a vis an investor presentation. 相应的, 一些贵重物品, 比如行业洞察, 趋势, 机会可能不会出现在招股说明书中.
The particularities of an 首次公开募股 process mean that using traditional “interview questions” when finding a professional is almost unheard of. 然而, the case study below may help companies understand how a potential consultant will address their companies’ needs.
问:你的客户, 一家市值5亿美元、正在考虑首次公开募股的公司, 带你去开会，向你解释他们的审计员已经完成了他们最近的财务报表，并注意到公司国际业务线的盈利能力急剧下降. 首席执行官解释说，这些结果将包括在60天内提交的招股说明书中, leading the management team and board of directors to be concerned about how the investing public will perceive these results. 你会如何回应??
首次公开募股顾问是具有多年资本市场工作经验的资深专业人士. 像这样, the most common practice when interviewing top choice candidates at this level is to have a candid conversation with them. 最重要的是他们能够提供给你的增值战略洞察力的水平. 下一个层次的投资者关系顾问会问一些有挑战性的问题, 通常是从更老练的投资者的角度来看, 这会迫使你去思考之前的假设. 最后, the best consultants will be able to cut through all of the noise to create a narrative that speaks to the quality of the company, 它的管理和对投资者的潜力.
