Finding money to develop a startup is a difficult task. To do this, it is necessary to study the features and identify who may be interested in such an investment. It is ideal to try to attract investment from a U.S. investor, but to do so, serious efforts must be made.
How to get an investment from a U.S. investor by using a letter
Experienced people, who had to look for money for their own project, know a few tricks. One of them is to start a dialogue with a businessman who can give money. You are advised to start a dialogue with a letter asking you to evaluate your startup’s prospects or recommend people who would be interested in it.
Every year American businessmen invest huge amounts of money in new projects. Last year they helped launch 8,000 startups, investing a total of $84 billion. To meet someone who will share an idea with you and help you realize it is every beginner’s dream.
The easiest way to find investors is through LinkedIn’s social network for professional contacts or by using specialized resources about investments and financing issues from CrunchBase or AngelList. On such portals you can preview potential partners and find out their contact information.
The second way to find the right person is to look at the reports of the funds that invest in start-ups and contact their representatives. This approach worked for Heidi Linwal, who founded the Storygami resource that creates the video. She contacted the 500 Startups company and then received a grant from Richard Branson. In addition, Heidi selected companies based on their mission description, which is usually posted on the official website, and then wrote to their mail.
Of course, an email does not guarantee your cooperation with an investor, but there is always a chance. It should be concise, consisting of 3-5 proposals, which describe your idea and its prospects. It is good if the startup has already started and there are statistics or analysis of its work. Then you can increase it with investment.
But you shouldn’t ask him directly whether he’ll give you money or not, it’s better to veil it with a request for advice. If the investor is interested in the project, he will contact you and offer cooperation.
Participation in conferences, meetings also gives results. The right investor can see you there and get in touch first.
A typical situation is when a big businessman makes an appointment in a cafe, not in an office. It often happens that you have to meet with a company representative first, and then with the head of the company. And in both cases, you need to be ready and worthy to present the product.