Speaker 1: (00:00)
I learned soon that actually push them on it. Ask them what value And don't just settle for like, oh, network. So what I like to do is ask the person I'm speaking to, like what their favorite investment has been. Hopefully they can answer with specifics.
Speaker 2: (00:12)
Welcome to the investment season of how to start up a podcast for anyone starting or scaling a company hosted by me, Juliet Fallowfield, founder of B Corp, certified PR communications and podcasting consultancy, Fallowfield and Mason, where we teach you how to own your PR in-house. Raising investment can be a daunting process, especially if you've never done it before. From knowing how to write pitch deck to what type investment is rightful business, there are so many things to consider. So for our ninth season, you'll hear from successful founders and entrepreneurs on what we should be doing now, next, or never when considering investment. If you have any questions on these topics or more generally on PR and podcasting, I'd love to hear from you at juliet@valleyfieldmason.com. I hope you enjoy the season when raising investment. It's important to present your prospective investors with your financial information as clearly as possible.
Speaker 2: (01:03)
This is where a data room comes into play. In this episode, I speak with Laura Fullerton, the founder and CEO of Monk, creators of the world's first smart ice bath and Coldwater therapy app. After discovering that Ice Bath helped her regain control of her physical and mental health, Laura launched Monk to make cold water therapy more accessible. About to close a 2 million pound round. Laura breaks down what a data room is and what needs to be included in yours to successfully raise investment. Thank you so much for joining. How to start up and talking all things data rooms today. But before we get stuck into that, I would love it if you could give a brief introduction as to who you're, and a bit about the business that you have started.
Speaker 1: (01:41)
Of course. Thank you so much for having me. So I am Laura Fillin and I am the founder and CEO of Monk. And we are a health tech startup that is launching the world's first smart ice bath and cold water therapy app.
Speaker 2: (01:54)
When did you start doing this?
Speaker 1: (01:56)
Uh, about just over two years ago. Yes. We started product development at the beginning of last year and finally there's light at the end of the tunnel. We are getting ready to go into mass production. So yeah, it's a super exciting time.
Speaker 2: (02:08)
Incredible. I think you mentioned when we spoke last that the first prototype is landing in the country this week. Is that
Speaker 1: (02:14)
Right? Yes. Oh yes. I get to see it later today. Oh, no
Speaker 2: (02:17)
Way. Yeah. Oh my goodness, this is hot off the press. That's so exciting. So this is a fantastically beautiful and I've seen designs the most ergonomically delicious bath I've ever seen. But it also does amazing things for your health.
Speaker 1: (02:30)
Indeed. And thank you so much. I'm actually gonna steal that ergonomically beautiful. . or delicious. Sorry. Delicious. Even better. Yeah. Um, but yeah, I mean it's, it's such a phenomenal tool for your, you know, mental, physical and emotional health. Our goal is to teach people how to use it safely and effectively. And actually as of next week you can come down and try it out in real life.
Speaker 2: (02:51)
I cannot wait. I cannot wait 'cause I've, I've observed this development for a while and since we met I think probably a year, year and a half ago in our coworking office. Mm-Hmm , seeing your social, seeing the coverage that you've got on it, it's amazing. But because it looks so beautiful and I think it was the FT that wrote it up was how to spend it that covered it. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So when you see something, how to spend it, you know it's expensive and that's is worth it. But presumably to create something like that, it is a lot of funding needed to get that ready. You have gone through your own startup story and your own investment story, so it'd be wonderful if you could give a brief overview as to what that looked like to get here today.
Speaker 1: (03:30)
Yeah, so yeah, to your point, hardware is capital intensive and so from day one I knew we needed to raise money when it was just an idea in my head I had nothing to show for it. And you know, I've had two previous businesses but I've bootstrapped them both. I've never thought about fundraising before. So to me it was this quite scary new territory and I had no idea how to go about it but I was so fortunate. Um, and we raised a friend and family around at the beginning of last year and I took 485,000 from a cohort of just amazing individuals. We had, you know, multi-billion pound founders and athletes, technologists and people that were just so passionate about what we were doing and really helped us move the needle. And that's really got us through to where we are today and we are currently raising our seeds. So we are raising 2 million, which is going to fully take us to market fuel, a dual launch in the UK and us you know, the current climate. It's been interesting time to fundraise and it's been a very different experience too when I raised our friends and family round. Um, but I'm sure we are, we are gonna get more into that,
Speaker 2: (04:32)
That Yeah, absolutely. And congratulations because it has been the worst economic climate to do anything in. I think anyone in any job anywhere is really struggling at the moment. So the fact that you are raising investment, you are developing this insane product that is just so incredible. Huge congratulations because you are one of the most calm and rational people in our office, and you. I didn't know about that . Um, so when we were chatting about the season around investment, one thing that you pointed out to me, oh, people need to know about data rooms, that's actually really helped us in our process. And I was like, well what's that? So if you could just give your insight into what is a data room when it comes to investment?
Speaker 1: (05:12)
Yeah, so a like a virtual data room is a space where you can share confidential documents with potential investors like your financial model, details around IP contracts with suppliers, your team, your cap table, all sorts of things like that. 'cause you don't really want to be just sharing these documents out and you know, you don't know whose hands they're gonna get into. You kind of wanna have a place to control that. And the beauty of it is, is that it's just really an efficient way to help potential investors see the materials they want to see and make a quicker investment decision, which is what you want, right? You wanna get to yes or no quickly. I also see it as a really powerful tool because yes it enables investors to do their due diligence, but it's also a way to show them that you know what you are doing and to highlight certain things that you really want them to see.
Speaker 2: (05:58)
Presumably security is key in making sure that only the right people see the information. And is it something that once that information is locked in the data room it can't be downloaded or it can't be reshared? Presumably there are hacks around it, but it's one step nearer to being super secure with that very precious ip.
Speaker 1: (06:16)
Yeah, totally. So you can have, you can set different preferences, like people could download it if you want 'em to be able to download it. But the important thing for me was that in one kind of smooth process we could get people to sign an NDA before they enter the data room. We are set up on DocSend at the moment and previously I used a DocuSign and then there was another tool for the data room and I had to manually get people to sign the NDA before I could then give them access and that I was also paying two subscriptions, which I didn't like. Um, so for us doc center has been great 'cause yeah, it's all in one place and it's really handy 'cause you can create different links. So you know, for existing investors and funds, like often funds just don't sign NDAs particularly, you know, when you're talking to an early stage company like us. So I can send a link that basically bypasses that but then to other like prospective investors and individuals, I can send 'em a different link that has that NDA on. So that's been really, really crucial for us.
Speaker 2: (07:08)
Anything a save one step in the process and anything that's super functional. And I think a lot of people kind of laugh at me and previous employees who are still working with other companies, it's like, oh you're so process driven, you're so, you know, you've got all of your systems. It's like you don't understand how precious time is and if it saves one more step and one thing is automated, that's irrespective of investment or anything in running a company is golden. So I love that. Oh
Speaker 1: (07:33)
Yeah, totally agree. Process makes the world go round . Yeah
Speaker 2: (07:37)
And it's not glossy or glamorous but it oh my good god, when it works it's fantastic .
Speaker 1: (07:42)
Yeah, well in that case, on that note, two other things I think you are really like, one would be for the pitch deck, I also have that on doc's end and it's great because it gives me complete version control. So if we have a new version of the deck, I just upload it and it keeps the same link, which is great, but it also tells me what pages investors have land on and what they've spent time on, which is great really. So before, yeah, so before I even speak to an investor, I can look at the page they lands on and see like, okay, they spent loads of time on team and investment, maybe their things that are really important to them. Whereas someone else is maybe really interested in the go to market plan or products. You can kind of just get a sense for where someone's at and what's important to them, which will then help you have a better follow on conversation.
Speaker 2: (08:23)
Absolutely. Well that's really interesting because I was thinking when you started that it sounds like a very secure Google drive and we use Google Drive for all of our documents and we recommend it for a press library for journalists. It's a live link that never dies. We can update the images with new ones, delete old product, but this the dwell time. You've got those analytics about where people are looking and you can get to know the investor better before you have that conversation. So anything to build that relationship faster.
Speaker 1: (08:47)
Totally. That's
Speaker 2: (08:48)
Insanely smart. Yeah. What was the other thing you were gonna say?
Speaker 1: (08:50)
So the other thing was that I, I use Calendly for most things. Oh yes. But ,
Speaker 2: (08:55)
Oh
Speaker 1: (08:56)
Yeah, here's the magic source. . I have a um, a separate or like a meeting set up as uh, investment. But also I just, I have a different schedule for that. 'cause you know, as a early stage founder you have to make yourself available for investors. And particularly if we're talking to people in the US obviously it's a different time zone. You just have to accept that you're gonna have to, you know, have your avail availability set to seven 8:00 PM whatever it is certain nights. And so I have a different schedule for investment and so whenever I send the deck over to someone, I'll always have that Calendly link. So you know, they can choose a time that suits them. 'cause again, to your point, it just makes the process so much smoother. Yeah.
Speaker 2: (09:33)
That back and forth. And sometimes like, well should we have a call to have a call about arranging a call? it's like no, here's a link you work out when you're free. Book it in done. Yeah. But I love the fact you could have one Calendly link that will override another. And same for us with existing clients, they will always come first and we want to make sure that they've got access to us. I mean, not that this conversation should be about hacks and efficiencies, but text auto replacement where you type an acronym and it pre-populates copy game changer for links, email addresses, addresses anything you say more than once you can have your acronyms and everyone's just again rolls their eyes at me. But I absolutely love it. .
Speaker 1: (10:09)
Yes, well you told me about that and I've already set up a couple, but I'm, I would like your help in setting up some more. But yeah, things like that, I, yeah, this is the sad stuff that gets me excited.
Speaker 2: (10:19)
Same, it gives me great joy and the team was saying, we're gonna put you on TikTok with all your hacks. I was like, no, please don't. Please don't. Oh you
Speaker 1: (10:25)
Should . I
Speaker 2: (10:26)
Don't wanna be that person. But anything, anything to be efficient with time. So your time is better spent on things. And this data room for me screams efficiency but also professionalism and investors, you want to have that tone set with them that you know what you are doing, you're in charge of your business, you understand your business, you've organized your business and that your trusted resource for it as well. Just in terms of the other platforms, have you trialed other platforms for data rooms?
Speaker 1: (10:53)
I think we, I tried to use Docusend but I don't think it allowed me to have the NDA and some other things. And some of them as well, they'll have the functionality but you have to be on like an enterprise level accountant. It ends up costing so much. Yeah.
Speaker 2: (11:07)
So in a data room, I've talked to a lot of people about investment. They're saying, oh it's communication with your investors on potential investors. And it's having that level of professionalism and giving them what they need before they even know that they need it. And presumably the efficiencies that come with having a data room and all the documents saved up there comes with that. But what are the key documents do you think that should live in the data room?
Speaker 1: (11:28)
So I'll tell you how I've structured mine, and this I'm sure will be very different to other companies. Like one is more SaaS or tech. They probably have things that I don't have and vice versa. And equally, I'm sure a company raising their series B would be very different to how mine structure at the moment. But I have uh, five different sections. The first is business summary. So at the moment I just have the cap table in there. Then I have financials. So we have our financial model, um, and then we have a product development folder. And really that's where we have images, vectors of the hardware. We have uh, contracts, scope of work with the, you know, hardware, software teams, regulatory reports, all sorts of things like that. Then I have people and contracts um, that will be like full-time and fractional as well. Um, as well as contracts with our board. Because I think one of the things when investors are looking at a business like mine is, you know, they wanna know the management team and how it's set up. So actually just by showing them actually, oh we have a proper board and we have that kind of governance in place, I think is a big tick for us
Speaker 2: (12:27)
And you're not hiding anything either. And they know that the person power behind the business as well of who's actually gonna get this done.
Speaker 1: (12:34)
Yeah. Oh a hundred percent. Um, then we have governance. So we have our articles, EIS, advance assurance, uh, shareholders agreement and also all of my monthly investor updates. 'cause to your point earlier, having that key like consistent communication with investors is, is so important. And actually quite a few who I've been speaking to who have gone through the data and have actually pointed that out and said, I love that you do that. So it really does work in my favor as well.
Speaker 2: (13:00)
And they've got a one-stop link to get what they need. So if they're like, oh, how is that piece of information? They just have to go to that one place and everything is there. There's no hunting in emails. Was it on WhatsApp? Was it a DMM on LinkedIn? It's just there.
Speaker 1: (13:11)
Yeah, that's the thing. It's just, it's all about making it super easy for them. Um, and then my final folder is marketing and pr. So we have copies of all the press articles we've been featured in like, you know, times Telegraph, GQ Financial Times, just everything like that that really helps bring it to life and add some of that excitement so they really understand the brand and business that they're potentially investing in. 'cause otherwise data rooms it's, it's a fairly dry place. So at least if you can bring some of that excitement, I think it, it really helps.
Speaker 2: (13:41)
I think with something like this, obviously you need color and you need to activate and animate the business because investors, they're not just gonna be looking at the numbers. They, and a lot of people have talked to me about the saying, they look at the people, they look at the energy behind the founder, they want to get to know the person and know how passionate they are. But if you can go in with I've got all of this together, super organized. Oh my goodness Laura, you'd be an absolute dream to work with the fact that you are so efficient they would have faith, their faith is built in that. But actually really interesting that you've included the press clippings. 'cause I've asked a few people about this saying, does it matter if there is or isn't press coverage on a business when it comes to investment? And a few people have said, no, no, it's all about the numbers and the people and that will come. And for me thinking about it, if you've had national press coverage on your business, it's that third party validation that it's real and it's actually got buzz. And this is pre-launch. This is, and I'm really impressed from a PR perspective that you've already got coverage on something that isn't actually available to buy yet. Or is it, can people prepurchase
Speaker 1: (14:44)
Nearly, nearly we're gonna be going, yeah, pre-orders will be going live very soon. But yeah, to your point, I think people need to know to know that, you know, this is a consumer product. Having press coverage like that is, it's a huge, like it's a huge point and it's actually one of the things that a lot of investors bring up and they say like, how did you get that? Um, so yeah, I think it's, it's an amazing proof point that absolutely we need to, to shout about.
Speaker 2: (15:06)
Well totally. And it's other people saying that your business is valid and good and there's so much more to come. So you've rounded out the data room, you've got the financials, you've got the people, you've got the plan, you've got all your contracts and it's way more detailed than I actually thought it was gonna be. But there's nothing left. There's no rock for them to unturn. There's no nasty surprises around the corner. They can see everything if they wanna, but even better you can see where they're looking. So it's fascinating how it works. And there anything that you wouldn't put in a data room?
Speaker 1: (15:37)
I don't think there's anything that we've decided not to put in there. I think the challenge for us being at such an early stages, there's probably a lot of things that should go in there that we just don't have yet. So yeah, as you develop and reach new stages as a company, then I'll constantly update it. But right now it's probably fairly basic. But I think at least just showing people, look we've got this structure and not, it's just an insight into how you think if it's like well structured and very logical and just makes their life easy. Yeah. Um, yeah I think it, it just reflects really well.
Speaker 2: (16:07)
It's a hidden gem. It's something I haven't heard about before but I'm fascinated by, I'm now thinking if we can use it for press libraries and PR pitching 'cause press could just go to our data room and find all of the information they need. it can be applicable just outside of investment as well. And then just more generally on your investment story, what do you feel like are the biggest mistakes that founders can make when it comes to investment? A lot of the podcast questions are anchored around what to do now, next and never when starting and scaling a company. So if there's any pitfalls that you'd like to flag to someone, that would be great.
Speaker 1: (16:39)
Yeah, I think probably taking on the wrong investors is the biggest mistake I see. And I, I need to caveat this with, I have been so fortunate . Yeah. Um, I've had the most amazing people that have have come and supported me and backed me and not on this journey with me. But
Speaker 2: (16:54)
No, we've both witnessed people do this and it's heartbreaking. Yeah.
Speaker 1: (16:59)
I think people forget that this is a two-way interview. Like you are thinking about letting someone into your house that you've built that you would live and die for. Like particularly if, if we're talking about early stage companies where you know, the founders are likely the ones still running the business, um, you know, still raising the investment, obviously it's quite red. You'd have an external CEO or someone to come in and do that. It's like you've likely sacrificed everything to bring this thing, this business to life. Like, you know, if you hire the wrong employees it's fairly easy to let them go. But investors like not so much like you are getting into bed with someone or this fund, like you've gotta, you've gotta feel good about it and it's so important to to get it right. 'cause once you do, they're your biggest advocates, your biggest supporters and add so much value beyond capital.
Speaker 2: (17:44)
Yeah and this is something that we covered in one of the previous episodes is how to ask your investor for additional support. Because it shouldn't just be the financial they, it could either become a mentor or they could open their little black book to other people that can help the business because they have an interest in you succeeding that you need to be able to have a good relationship with that person. Same with your team. If you have the wrong people in the business, you can waste so much emotional energy and thought on this. And it's often kept me awake at night of like, well how do I fix this and how do we help this person? And that's just me managing a team investors where it's a long-term relationship and there is no real out is super, super important. So what would you necessarily advise people to do at the beginning when they are looking for investment slash interviewing investors?
Speaker 1: (18:31)
So I would definitely speak to other companies they've invested in. And this has worked really well for me. On two occasions. One time I spoke to someone and they just said run. So that for me was a a hard no. So I politely entered that conversation and then actually it happened recently I got introduced to a fund who were interested and I had heard from two of their portfolio companies that it taking their investment was the worst thing and it completely ruined their business. And they, it said the same thing. They were like, just don't, please do not consider it. And then I also know someone who, who knew them and just said they are the people that give funds a bad name. So you can, you can do a bit of background research but also I think particularly with funds, like so many of them say Hey we add so much value more than just capital, but I learned soon that actually push them on it.
Speaker 1: (19:19)
Like ask them what value and don't just settle for like oh network. So what I like to do is ask the person I'm speaking to, like what their favorite investment has been and then ask what support and value they added there. And hopefully they can answer with specifics. I think also being a solo female founder, you'll have a lot of funds that say like Oh yeah, we support female founders. And so I just ask, oh how many of you invested in this year? And just push it on them. Not in a facetious way, not that you're trying to catch them out, but just in a way that you are just doing your own due diligence.
Speaker 2: (19:49)
Yeah. 'cause it does work both ways. A lot of the conversations we've had with our clients when they're building their relationships with press is setting the tone and setting that level of respect. And the same with us and our clients. We are a partner and it needs to be that equal footing, which a lot of people are sort of surprised about. You have to set that tone really early on. Mm-Hmm. Um, and are there any in terms of what you may do now, next and never again. So something that you look back on and like I will never do that again. I learned the hard way on that.
Speaker 1: (20:18)
Ooh. I mean I
Speaker 2: (20:20)
Do every day there's something that comes up. Oh, another learning. You get very good and be humble about the learning curve because it's steep .
Speaker 1: (20:27)
Oh yeah. Do you know what, this is a really hard one. I always remember someone saying to me with fundraising, like it never stops. And I thought, well that's weird 'cause once you've closed your round then that's it. But actually as soon as you close round you are already talking to investors in, you know, for future rounds. And even if you don't know when you're gonna raise, like you've gotta build those relationships and that network. And I think that has probably been not the biggest learning for me, but I think one of the most valuable things any founder or CEO can have is their network. Mm-Hmm. And so I've spent quite a lot of time, I'm, I'm part of a few members groups. There's one uh, called a Doum in London. There's one in the US called Baby Bath Water. And just being surrounded by incredible entrepreneurs and business leaders, it it's just a great space to be in 'cause good people know good people. So when it actually comes to you needing to raise money or or whatever it is, just having that solid network is the the best foundation you could possibly have. People
Speaker 2: (21:20)
Underestimate how much emotional support you actually need when you're running and starting or scaling a company. You are very vulnerable. You are not behind. For me, I was at these lovely big luxury brands and you had an HR department and a payroll department, you had departments. Whereas when you're in a startup, and that's why I love our coworking office because none of us are in each other's businesses. But we know when someone needs a cup of tea, we know when someone needs to go for a walk. You know when you like how was that thing last week that you were a bit worried about? Everyone's got each other's backs and that for me has been game changing and people are like why don't you work from home? It's like, because I need to be around people that are in the same boat. But also the advice sharing that we've all done with each other.
Speaker 2: (22:01)
And obviously this is where this podcast has been born from. It's just like there's a lot of questions I have that I love to ask intelligent people and surrounding yourself with those people that are on your team and on your side. But equally add value. Like there's never a conversation I have in the office where I don't learn something from someone and hopefully offer something back as well. Um, but with investors that's super crucial in terms of that network, we talked about this in the first episode of the season, but in terms of networking, a lot of people shy away from it and don't like doing it. Is there any hacks that you have around it?
Speaker 1: (22:33)
I think going to the right events, like when you go places and you feel like you are there to network and you are there with a goal, it just doesn't feel the same as when you are there with like a really well curated group of people and you're there just to, to develop relationships and friendships and it just naturally comes up. Like I know someone has a problem, you're like oh I need to connect you with this person. Like I love it when I can actually add value and connects people. I hate it when I feel like I'm somewhere just because I want to find new investors or or something like that. But I think that's why I really lean into a couple of the groups that I'm part of. But also just to add to your point earlier, founders need support and you mentioned like hopefully you can give something back. The conversations we've had have really helped me. You know, when it came to like problems with team or something like it's, it's phenomenal problem
Speaker 2: (23:19)
Shared is a problem halved
Speaker 1: (23:20)
Completely.
Speaker 2: (23:21)
It's interesting 'cause especially with the team, because you are the founder and they're your employees. And I always talk about the fact we're not hierarchical and we have a flat structure but they will never really understand what it's like to build on my side of the fence. As much as I try and be very transparent about our financials and with our B Corp, it's very important to be as transparent as possible. But no disrespect to them, they just can't understand what it's like to be in my seat. And that's why having other people around who are in the similar boats and not too similar as well because it's interesting talking to people in Techstar tops. You know, we have nothing to do with but we can look at it from an external consumer perspective or something like that. It's just, yeah, it's been game changing. So anybody listening probably knows throughout this whole podcast to join soho Works. So something we do with each guest is there's a question from our previous guest that they would like to ask our next guest. And our previous guest was Isha who founded Ruby, the at home beauty appointment booking app. Oh
Speaker 1: (24:18)
I've used it. Yeah.
Speaker 2: (24:19)
It's brilliant isn't it? Yeah. Love
Speaker 1: (24:21)
It. It's great.
Speaker 2: (24:22)
Oh my god, she's fascinating. I have a lot of respect for what she's achieved. Her question for you is what was the one thing that you did for your business that really moved the needle and enabled you to, to get where you wanted to be?
Speaker 1: (24:35)
Ooh, I think the structure around me has been really fantastic. So being a solo founder, like I never wanted to be a solo founder. I would've loved to have a co-founder, but there just wasn't the right person at the right time. And I remember sitting down with Lee, who's now my chairman, and we mapped out like how could I get the right support without actually having a co-founder? And that meant bringing in people kind of as advisors. So for example, one of my investors is also our CFO, one of my other investors is also on the board and he's incredibly strong when it comes to marketing and strategy. So I basically just mapped out the skill sets that we needed to have and I went and found the right people to fill those but also invested in the business. So they're really doubling down and that has been incredible.
Speaker 2: (25:18)
Well also, 'cause you've got that access to the seniority because when you're a startup you don't necessarily have the budget to afford really senior hires full-time and you need access for CFO. Maybe for us it would be three hours a month, which would be fantastic. It's all we really need to have that senior eye. But obviously that probably doesn't work for CFO that's wanting to leave a role and go into the next one. So that's an incredibly clever way of doing it. And what would your question be for our next guest?
Speaker 1: (25:45)
Ooh, I need to figure out what I would ask. That was such a good question.
Speaker 2: (25:49)
Oh, it's really interesting. The one before that was my friend Ed who asked Daisy from the deck, what cartoon character would you be? . And I was like, this is amazing. And I was like, I'm Roadrunner clearly. And she's like, I'm Roadrunner too. And we bonded over the fact that like racing through. But that was the really fun one. And he's like, I'm sure all of the other questions would be super serious. And Michael Tobin, who's an incredible serial entrepreneur, he asked what was the piece of advice given to your younger self that still holds true? And it's really interesting what people want to ask a founder because you a similar thing in terms of sharing advice and coworking place when you are a founder, you've got those questions that you never really sort of sit down and think about of like, God, if I had a magic wand, if somebody could answer me this or Or you're just curious. And it doesn't have to be about investment either.
Speaker 1: (26:37)
Okay, so my question, and this might sound a little dry, but I want to know what does that person do or how do they pull themselves out of a hole when they're having a really bad day?
Speaker 2: (26:48)
Yes, it's such true because Instagram lies, let's be honest, a lot of people are like, oh my God, you're self-employed. You have endless holiday and you are completely free to do whatever you want. I'm like, are you joking? I like, no, that does not happen. And you have bad days and it's weirdly ironic 'cause you have really tough days in a job that you've made up for yourself .
Speaker 1: (27:10)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (27:11)
And it's not fair because it's like, well hang on, I made this job up, why am I, you know? Because we are doing stuff we've never done before. And I think a lot of people don't remember that. And when you only when you're in it and that someone else said this to me is that you'll never get a job for anyone else ever again because a founder knows what it's like to be a founder and they know the freedom that you've afforded yourself and they know that you know . Yeah. Like, oh God, yeah, it works both ways. Um, but yeah, you definitely get tough days, really tough days. Mm-Hmm and it, you feel far more at the cold face and less protected than you'll ever before. But the flip side to that is that you have epic days and more amazing days than you get bad days. But yes, what do you do? Well, what do you do Laura? When you have a tough one? Ice bath presumably
Speaker 1: (27:54)
That genuinely, it really helps. It really helps to reset. I also do breath work and that helps. It's just like a state shift. But one of the things I do and I told one of my friends this, she's not an entrepreneur, she's not a founder. And after I told her, she looked at me and just said, are you okay ? And so what I do is I come home and one of my favorite business books is called The Hard Thing About Hard Things. It's fantastic. And there's a a chapter in it called The Struggle and it lists out like what the struggle is. And somehow it gives me just a little bit of peace knowing that I'm not the only person going through this. And yeah, it somehow just makes me feel slightly more reassured. But I think to someone who isn't a founder and doesn't get it, they would think like, you need help .
Speaker 2: (28:37)
Definitely. I had a conversation last night with a friend and he's saying, oh God, I feel like that all the time. And it's just knowing that you're not alone in this in any way and you are definitely not the first person to have felt like this. You're definitely not the first person to have this problem. You might not know the answer, but that's the beauty of information sharing and the fact that people like to help other people. And is there any last golden nugget pieces of advice you'd like to offer founders when thinking about data?
Speaker 1: (29:02)
Sorry, I thought you were about to say when thinking about dating .
Speaker 2: (29:04)
Well that too, but yeah, that's a whole other podcast series. Yeah,
Speaker 1: (29:08)
You need a separate Calendly link for that. . I think the one thing to think is just make the process as seamless as it you can for you and for the investor.
Speaker 2: (29:18)
Yeah, ideal. Thank you Laura so much. It's been wonderful chatting to you and I've learned a lot.
Speaker 1: (29:23)
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2: (29:26)
If you'd like to contact Laura, you can find all of her details in the show notes along with a recap, the advice that she has so kindly shared. We'd love to hear from any listers on your experience raising investment to include in our next episode. Please email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com. Thank you for listening to How to Start Up. I hope these conversations offer you some confidence, encouragement, and reassurance that you are on the right track. If you can join this podcast, I'd be so appreciative if you were to rate, review and subscribe as it will really help other people starting a company discover it.