Using Amplitude During a Fundraise

It all starts with an audit. Leave no stone unturned as you work through every detail of your business, getting ahead of the investors before they do the same. Understanding your own business is vital when presenting to potential investors.

The next step is preparation: The teaser, email templates, landing pages, business model, and pitch deck must be ready. In truth, this stage doesn’t stop until funding is closed, as it must work as an iterative cycle, making tweaks as necessary as you move forward and learn new things.

Unfortunately, many approach this stage incorrectly, and getting it right is critical.

This is your practice stage. Everything from setting up Zoom calls, inviting guests via email, investing time in outreach, and practicing your presentation should all be repeated during the pre-roadshow.

Your time with investors is short, so you must be sharp. Ensure everyone presenting is at the same level so quality and authority are consistent among all team members.

The final stage of the investment journey is the roadshow itself. Now you’re meeting with potential investors. You’ve done the hard work and reached out to who you need for a fundraiser of this size, and now you can show them everything you’ve got.

Don’t just leave it there – follow-up conversations can retain engagement and give a final push during the decision-making stage.

Your investment package is the core element you must consider when doing an investment round.

• Teaser
• Lead list
• Business plan
• Pitch deck
• VDR

VDR is your virtual data room and is useful for a fundraiser of any size. Even investors for smaller rounds often want access to a VDR, so it’s better to be prepared. Control the experience for investors from the start with planned features like a VDR so they feel confident in your business.

Of course, the most critical is the pitch deck, which comes down to delivering what you want to those you need it from.

Make sure your pitch deck amplifies the story of what you’re selling, dedicating time to make it as good as possible. Avoid boring slides and turn your pitch into an engaging performance. Make it look good with animations and videos where appropriate.

Investors give different time slots, so it’s good to have three variations of your pitch deck: a short one, the main one, and an extended one. You need something that appeals to every investor, from 10 to 20 minutes and up to an hour.

Jamie says he first used Amplitude during fundraising for funnel performance and cohort assessment. Understanding these areas is important for building out a presentation to showcase how the money will be spent.

You can also use Amplitude to create slides about metrics questions that you expect to come up. For example, What's your LTV? What's your payback time? How many customers come back and make a repurchase of the thirty days? You may end up with 10-50 slides that aren’t part of your main deck, but that you can pull up on demand. While you could just pull up Amplitude and show them charts directly, Jamie cautions against that:

“I recommend slides because if you open up Amplitude to savvy investors, they will start asking you questions on the spot. And if you don't really understand how to best answer those questions, it's not a great experience. So control the experience, take the data, put it into slides, and be ready to answer those questions.”