The Retail X Series Podcast
Are you an early stage founder revolutionizing the future of retail? Then you’re in the right place. My name is Sapna Shah and I’m an angel investor investing at the preseed stage in retail tech, ecommerce, marketplaces and consumer. I’m also the founder of Retail X Series, an ecosystem to help early-stage founders in the retail sector. Retail X Series includes events, a YouTube channel, a Slack community, resources for founders, and this podcast. In this podcast, I interview founders, investors and experts in the retail space, and we dig deep into the tactics around key topics that early-stage founders want to hear about. Welcome to the Retail X podcast.
The Retail X Series Podcast
How to Raise a Preseed Round, Featuring Ann Wehren Founder & CEO of In-seam
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Sapna Shah
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Episode 37
Fundraising at the early stages is hard, and it’s been especially difficult over the last year or so – and even more so for a solo founder. This episode features Ann Wehren of In-seam, a private marketplace and sourcing toolkit for connectors whose relationships power the luxury fashion industry. She walks us through her step-by-step guide to raising a pre-seed round from VCs, from how she found warm intros, dealt with all the no’s, confirmed a lead investor and filled out her round. Note: this episode was recorded in November 2023.
Topics:
- How Ann launched her company with friends and family funding
- Why she decided to raise outside capital versus bootstrapping – and managing timing
- Why the financial models she built were critical in her decision-making
- How Ann prepared for the fundraising process as a solo founder
- How she built a list of 250 warm intros and how she sent them out
- How Ann managed the process (including the no’s) with investors to gauge interest
- How she secured the lead investor she wanted - not the first one that offered terms
- What Ann did to keep herself motivated through the process
- Resources Ann recommends:
- Class Rebel: Fundraising 101 ($99)
- Kelly Nyland’s How to Fundraise (free)
- Financial modeling help (hire someone if you don’t have the excel skills)
Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com
Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.