The first investor who believed in me was Romi Dhillon. He was the first check into Terkel, and is one of the smartest investors I’ve ever pitched.
I first met Romi through a pickup basketball game, about five years before he invested in my startup. We had played countless basketball games together at 5am on Wednesdays and Fridays in Old Town Scottsdale. Father time eventually caught up to us both, but that time on the hardwood taught us all we needed to know about how each of us played the game outside the game.
Entrepreneurs typically need years of relationship building before securing an investment. It rarely seems to happen from emerging out of nowhere, making a Shark Tank pitch, and sending off wire instructions after the call.
Instead, I’ve found that it’s a longer term process. I’m lucky that I showed up at 5am and played hoops with Romi. But how did other entrepreneurs secure their first investment from an investor?
To find the answers, I turned to Terkel. Here’s how other entrepreneurs got their first investor.
How Do You Get Your First Investor?
From gaining investment capital from friends and family to partnering with a local operator to help bring new investors to their deals, here are three answers to the question, "How did you get your first investor?"
- Pitch Your Business to an Interested Family Friend
- Show a Clear Vision for Your Business
- Leverage LinkedIn to Find New Investors
Pitch Your Business to an Interested Family Friend
My first investor was a family friend who had been following the progress of my startup from the beginning. I pitched him the idea, and I impressed him with the potential of my company. He agreed to invest a check for $25,000 in exchange for equity. This investment gave me the capital to get my business off the ground.
Admir Salcinovic
Co-Founder, PriceListo
Show a Clear Vision for Your Business
I had a clear vision for my business and I knew how to communicate it. That is what I did in the meeting with our first investor. Actually, since that moment, the investor became a co-founder. He was really interested in the business.
The size of the check was small, but it was like a lifesaver for the company. I wanted to grow my business, and this was the capital I needed. The investor also got a reasonable return on their investment. He was happy, and so was I. He didn't just contribute with money, he is an expert in the industry, so he is a great asset to the company and is helping to accomplish our goals.
Luciano Colos
Founder and CEO, PitchGrade
Leverage LinkedIn to Find New Investors
I launched my real estate investment firm shortly after getting laid off from my W-2 in May 2022. I had passively invested pretty heavily in the multifamily space, so I partnered with a local operator to help bring new investors to their deals.
For my initial launch, I hired a VA from Fiverr to message all of my existing LinkedIn connections that I had built over my 25-year career in sales and sales leadership. The message was something like, "I'm not sure if you are aware or not, but I recently left XYZ Company, and I've started a real estate investment firm. Select the link below if you'd like to schedule some time and hear more."
Within a few short months, I had raised over $800,000, and my new business was off the ground. Since then, I've raised over $3.5 million from about 60, and my goal is to help 1,000 investors make their first passive investment in the coming years.
Randy Smith
Founder, Impact Equity LLC
Submit Your Answer
Would you like to submit an alternate answer to the question, "How did you get your first investor? What's the story, and check size?"