I recently spoke at a morning Coffee Chat about entrepreneurship and fundraising hosted by Khadijah Robinson and Charles Robinson. It was a fun conversation and here were three of my takeaways.

Lines not dots

When I started in my role, the lines not dots principle was one of the first ones I learned. To this day it continues to resonate. You don’t marry someone or invest after one meeting/dot. It takes multiple interactions over a period of time (which creates a line between all those dots) for you to learn about each other and decide you are a good match. I would encourage entrepreneurs to meet investors before you need to raise money to start building relationships. Ask for feedback that would be helpful to your business. Show progress over time through meetings or weekly updates. Then when you need to raise money, you have already built that relationship and trust.

Learn before fundraising

A lot of people reach out to raise money to build an MVP or product. Everyone tells them they want to buy it. That is usually not the case - read The Mom Test. There are many iterations required early in the startup journey to find the right problem, customer, solution, and value proposition. While you are figuring that out, learn on your own dime (see three ways to fund your business without raising money). You will experience far less dilution, as well as it is much easier to fundraise when you have proven those learnings and have passionate, paying customers.

Don’t just check boxes

There are lots of things you can read about that “check the box.” A pitch deck, a MVP, a business plan, attending events, joining an accelerator, reaching out to lots of investors, etc. Yes, while some of those are required and/or helpful, don’t forget an investor cares more about your story. Why are you the right person for this idea? Why is the timing right? What have you learned about potential customers and their problems? What is your unique insight in this space?

I always enjoy these conversations with entrepreneurs. It is a long road filled with many ups and downs, but it is amazing what you can accomplish with a learning mindset, persistence, and the right amount of luck.