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Raiser's Edge
Some entrepreneurs fly through fundraising; sailing through VC meetings, converting at high rates, getting to term sheets quickly and successfully. Other founders struggle; wading through hundreds of meetings and calls, reading thousands of online pitch guides, and still only producing a mediocre fundraising round. The very best founders seem to know cheat codes that the rest of the herd just lack, and this quickly creates capital advantage for their companies, allowing them to own their markets and achieve dominance in their industries. So what are these secrets that separate the best from the rest?
It turns out a lot of what these top raisers do is replicable - it’s just not easy to find on the internet or by asking advice from average peers. Raiser’s Edge bridges that very gap, sharing the strategies and philosophies that have separated industry leaders from the pack in order to transform mediocre raisers to excellent ones. Through interviews with outstanding founders who have themselves succeeded in the VC fundraising process, not only will listeners learn how to successfully fund their start-ups, but they will also learn how to raise strong rounds even in down markets, take advantage of VC funding and tailwinds, and impress investors in order to earn outsize capital. Most importantly, listeners will find out how the most skillful CEOs make it through the biggest challenges so that they can increase their own chances of surviving the challenges to come.
Each episode of Raiser’s Edge will interview a founder about the critical fundraising junctures in their company’s growth stage, highlighting stories in which they navigated investor concerns, challenging timelines, and emerging obstacles to raise and deploy funds successfully. By taking a closer look at these entrepreneurs’ paths to success, we’ll also shed a light on their moments of near-failure, self-doubt, and tough calls, and the way these challenges have transformed them into stronger leaders and fundraisers along the way. Through an entertaining, easy-to-follow interview format, this podcast hopes to demystify the fundraising process and serve as an intimate glimpse into the secrets of today’s business all-stars in order to inspire and teach the all-stars to come.
Raiser's Edge
Turning High Stakes Into Supercharged Raises with Yifan Zhang
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On our pilot episode of Raiser’s Edge, host Ben Elowitz sits down with Yifan Zhang—a powerhouse entrepreneur, managing director at the AI2 incubator, and expert fundraiser. Yifan shares her unique journey from launching viral fitness app Gympact straight out of Harvard to building Loftium, a proptech startup that weathered unbelievable storms—including losing 90% of its revenue in just four days when COVID hit. Against the odds, she pivoted the business, raised more capital, and ultimately led Loftium to a successful acquisition.
Throughout the conversation, Yifan gets candid about her love-hate relationship with fundraising (even though she’s exceptional at it), why founders should confidently own their expertise, and why it’s critical to talk about failure, not fear it. She also opens her fundraising playbook, offering tactical advice on running fundraising sprints, picking the right investors, and the power of tracking VC styles for the best possible outcome.
This episode is packed with practical gold and real talk. Plug in and join us for an inside look at what it really takes to survive—and thrive—on the edge.