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Growing Lean
Venturing Into Entrepreneurship: A Journey Into Fundraising and Business Innovation with Michael Spidaliere
Get ready to soak up some invaluable insights from our exceptional guest, Michael Spidalia, the innovative founder and principal of First Time Founder Capital. This episode offers a unique blend of captivating entrepreneurial tales and practical advice. Michael takes us through his fascinating journey, starting with his first venture in the entertainment sector, six months before his college farewell. He also shares the evolution of his consulting business, which eventually steered him into the world of fundraising consulting.
Adaptability is key in the rapidly changing venture industry. Michael presents an honest account of his experiences, shedding light on the metrics he uses to assess his business's performance, and his forthcoming plans for First Time Founder Capital. He also discusses his integral role in the inception of the first cannabis-friendly cafe in the US and his sustainable solution aimed at curbing food wastage. Brace yourselves for an enlightening episode jam-packed with inspiring stories and invaluable insights that are sure to resonate with both budding entrepreneurs and seasoned business magnates.
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Welcome back to the growing lean podcast sponsored by lean discovery group. This is your host, dylan Burke, also known as Dij. I'm happy to be here with Michael Spidalia, founder and principal of first time founder capital, mentor, tech stars, founder institutes and others. Welcome, michael. Thank you so much for having me Amazing. It's our pleasure. So, michael, to get us started, can you give us a bit of a history and background of your you and your business?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah for sure. So I this is my fourth business that I've started. I started my first company six months before college ended. It was in the entertainment space. I kept that going for about four years or so Later to us acting CEO really just got sort of bit by the entrepreneurship bug. I really loved the, the camaraderie and having to wake up and learn something new, put out a new fire every day, just became sort of obsessed with the lifestyle. So as we were closing up shop on that one I was actually. I began working on what was going to be the first cannabis friendly cafe in the US out in Denver, did some some strong work on that for a little while but unfortunately I had to back burner that just due to some some external issues.
Speaker 2:I was asked in the beginning of the pandemic to join an impact startup studio in Denver. The cohort was going to be focused on industries that were hit hardest by COVID, so things like food and supply chain, things that were really sort of demolished by the pandemic. I met my most recent co founder, jason, during that first day of the program and we built a hardware software solution in the food space that was working on cutting into some of the food waste at the delivery level, which was scaling rapidly alongside the delivery market itself. We unfortunately had to close up shop on that. Another issue that that I won't get into but that allowed me to spin up spill their consulting. So I was focused on helping smaller companies, early stage companies, with business development consulting. So things like go to market strategy, new revenue, new revenue stream assessment, sales strategy, audits, all that fun stuff.
Speaker 2:About six months into that I started to realize that a lot of the companies I was speaking with were first and I started watching them make a lot of first time fundraisers, fundraising consulting. I ended up connecting that first client to an investor for my past who closed that client's round, which gave me a bit of an aha realization of that being a massive value add to these clients. So that was sort of the first step into diving head first into the fundraising consulting. I started to pick up a lot of traction and steam with that. So here I am with first time founder capital I made it public about three months ago or so.
Speaker 2:Well, first time founder capital does is I'm brought in by early stage founders, typically pre-seed to series A, to build and fortify a strong foundation for a successful fundraise. So think things as early as you know, helping understand how much they should be raising valuation targets, who their ideal investor is, helping them build out a list to go after, helping them create a data room that tells the right story. Pitch, deck, pitch. You know all the necessary building blocks in order to successfully secure capital. On the other side of the business, I have been building up a network of active investors, sort of spinning off of that first interaction with that first client. I have one on one calls with these investors where I dive into exactly what they're looking to invest in industry focused, typical check size stage, all of that information about their thesis that I would need to know and then I use that data to send along curated and strategic deal flow ie clients of mine when they fit within that funds thesis.
Speaker 1:Okay, amazing that's. That's a lot to take in, but sounds amazing.
Speaker 2:And how did you? It's been a learning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can tell. So at what point of your life did you realize that you wanted to? All that? You knew you were bitten by the entrepreneur by Like, have you always known you wanted to have your own business and run your own business.
Speaker 2:Definitely not.
Speaker 2:So I actually went to film school for a year.
Speaker 2:I took the year off, worked in a rock climbing gym and just spent the year rock climbing and then went to school for music down in Orlando and that's where I met my three co founders on my first company. I ended up moving to Austin for about nine months after school and, you know, worked south by Southwest, did a lot of really fun things there, but I ended up getting a call from the CEO of my first startup, my friend West, saying that we were gaining some traction with the company and he wanted everyone to move up to Colorado. So we ended up. We ended up all four of us moving to his parents' house, which was this really magnificent place, and all four of us were living in this house, sort of like the show Silicon Valley, where we would wake up, we would eat breakfast and play video games and all of that and go out and all that fun stuff, all while talking about business, all while building our company. And I think that's really what began the love of building, operating, you know.
Speaker 1:I love that. It's like straight out of a movie. It's amazing. Yeah it was an exceptional opportunity.
Speaker 2:I definitely think about those times a lot, very, very fun.
Speaker 1:I can imagine how long ago was that.
Speaker 2:Oh, that was about 10 years ago, maybe About then yeah, ok, amazing. And so they're not your partners anymore, your co-founders anymore, no, no, we ended up deciding we hit that sort of classic crux of startups where we needed more investment in order to gain more traction. Yet we needed more traction to gain investment. And we could have kept slogging along and pushing through it, but we all sort of collectively decided that we were young, we wanted to pursue other dreams and goals, so we dissolved the company very amicably, still friends with the lot.
Speaker 1:OK, amazing. Yeah, that's a beautiful story. I love it. And when exactly did you start first time founder capital, what? How long ago was that?
Speaker 2:That was maybe it's tough to say, I lose track of the time I would say somewhere between six and eight months is when I started to really discover the opportunity here. I was working with founders, talking to founders a lot, just because of the network that I've built up over the past 10 years in the space, mentoring for Techstars Founder Institute. All of that, and as soon as I started talking to founders and realizing that this is a need especially, it was sort of coincided perfectly with the sort of terror and gloom that has been investing the top-down terror of the IPO window closing and that bleeding into later stage CDE, and then the idea that it was going to start creeping down all the way to pre-seed and investors were going to close their pocketbooks. It sort of was a great timing.
Speaker 1:OK, amazing, Awesome. So I wanted to ask you how you've adapted to any changes in the industry if there have been any, because it's quite a recent business you've got so have there been any changes or obstacles that you've overcome since you started?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it's been a very hectic 12 months for the venture industry and the startup industry. I mean it's been talked about a lot. I've been following Peter over at CARTA, who posts a bunch on LinkedIn about the industry and the types of investments, the valuations, the closes, all of that within specific industry, and all of those percentages have fallen. It's been a bit of a regroup for the investor side of things, where they aren't giving money away for free as it seemed 18, 24 months ago. That's been an interesting shift to deal with. Coming in sort of in the middle I wasn't there before during the sort of golden times Coming in and seeing the aftermath or the current scenario has been an interesting shift in thinking. I'm talking to all these investors. I'm hearing that they're still allocating capital, but I'm also talking to founders who are telling me it's incredibly difficult to get any investor conversations going. It's been an interesting time to be at that sort of apex the middleman, with one foot in each of the industries.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can imagine it's been a time for startups. I've been following it quite thoroughly. It's good that you're doing well. A question I like to ask founders is at what point of your entrepreneurial journey did it click and you were like wow, I'm actually good at this, I'm going to be a successful business owner.
Speaker 2:I mean a big part of me wants to say that that first business, right. I mean, I was a cocky 21-year-old. I thought that we had the next unicorn and I acted like it. But with each of the companies there have been stages of that. The first company there was definitely a stage and that saw its shift. The second company as well, dealing with jumping from a web CEO to a physical space as CEO, dealing with the cannabis industry and the regulations around that physical spaces, real estate agents, the entire design of the place source and coffee beans is a very different thing, but I saw a lot of positivity in the people around me when I talked about it in Denver. And then with this most recent one, the food one, I had all the high hopes. But I think that's just part of the roller coaster, right, and entrepreneurship is perfectly akin to an absurd roller coaster. You go in for the upseat, you got to be ready for the downs.
Speaker 1:Amazing, and what tools or tactics have you used to help you on this journey, to help you overcome obstacles and challenges?
Speaker 2:With this business specifically, I've used the sort of networking skills that I've built up over the past 10 years to really help me build that investor network. I think that's one of the biggest value ads that I have at First Time Founder is having the investors to make the intros to. I worked a sales job at one point when I was working on that second business and, of course, those tools and tactics that I learned there have been really helpful. Yeah, I mean the mentoring for the different accelerators has been hugely impactful. It's helped me understand where the startup landscape is, where founders are having the most difficulty what to look for in a successful company. So I think that's been hugely helpful as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, amazing. So Do you have any specific metrics that you use, or KPIs, to measure the success of your business, and how is it so? You kind of started within the AI revolution, right? So do you use AI on a regular basis to help measure your metrics and KPIs?
Speaker 2:I will not necessarily at the moment. So as far as the metrics that I focus on, you know that really speak to the success of my business. Investor conversations, so the conversations that I can set up between investors, curated strategic investors for startups, that's definitely an important metric. You know shots on goal is very important in the fundraising game. That conversion of those conversations into capital, of course you know that obviously speaks to success. If I can help these founders get the capital they're looking for and some more, you know intangible ones, like, you know, client happiness. If we end working together and they're happy, that of course is a huge success metric for me. And you know, when a client comes in and they engage, first time founder capital for what I call the foundations package, which doesn't involve me helping shop the deal around their preparedness to raise after working with me is definitely one that I try to focus on as well Getting them, you know, armed to the teeth so that they're prepared and ready to attack that ideal investor list that we built together.
Speaker 1:Okay, great. So do most of your clients end up upselling or up purchasing. So do they start on the low package and then move their way up. Is that a common thing for you?
Speaker 2:No, necessarily common. I mean, it has happened, conversations have happened around that, certainly, and it's always an option when they pick the foundations package. But I've had just as many sign up for the what I call the fractional COO package, then then the foundations package.
Speaker 1:Okay, amazing. So, as a entrepreneur with with couple businesses you've gone through, what are your? What's your next move for, for first time, founder capital? Where do you see yourself in, let's say, five years and maybe 10 years?
Speaker 2:Sorry about that. My video got a little messed up. That's a good question. So there are a couple different avenues that I've been I've been pondering right. I mean, the one of the obvious avenues that has opened up is jumping into the investing side myself. You know, I'm seeing the deal flow, I'm working with investors every day, I'm speaking with new investors all the time. So I think that jumping into the investing game is certainly on, it's certainly on a on my timeline. I think that it's definitely something I want to jump into, whether that be, you know, spvs, a rolling fund of my own, something along those lines. I do think that there is also an opportunity for me to jump into one of the companies that I help Right If they're, if their idea is is interesting enough and I think I can bring enough value and we work really well together. There's there's always that opportunity to sort of jump back into the founder seat and continue to raise and sort of catapult into series A, series B, series C, all of that.
Speaker 1:Okay, great, and it sounds like you've got a lot of opportunities because you're working with these great businesses. It's an awesome networking opportunity, even while you're making money.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, it's been fantastic. You know, I started first time founder with the goal of helping founders because I've struggled through fundraising myself. I've seen a bunch of friends and colleagues struggle through fundraising and that's sort of the. The entire purpose behind this is to give back to the startups the startup ecosystem that you know I fell in love with 10 years ago and that sort of correlates into the mentoring for tech stars and founder Institute and all of those.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. So have you had any strategic partnerships or collaborations that have helped you grow your business, or do you plan on bringing on any partners or collaborators?
Speaker 2:So I have my. The third package that I have to offer isn't necessarily focused solely on startups, but it is what I call the deliverables package, and that comes with a pitch ready deck, a branded website and a personalized data room. So I have some subcontractors that work on the website side and the pitch deck side. I've been building up a services list, essentially, that I offer to clients of mine as well, that has digital marketing services, fractional CROs, sort of anything that your company could need. I've been building up a list of service providers for that. So in a sense, there's certainly a bit of a partnership. I have this wonderful person that I work with on dissecting pitch decks. When a client comes in, we do a run through their pitch deck, her and I, to determine where it needs help, and she's magnificent, and you know there are a couple other people that are in a very similar position as me. That helps startup founders with their fundraising that have been incredibly helpful and very generous with their time as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, amazing, that's awesome to get. So we are running out of a bit of time, but before we go, do you have any advice, firstly for other business owners looking to succeed in this industry and, secondly, for startups to succeed? Do you have any advice for them?
Speaker 2:I think something that I mentioned in a lot of calls with founders and even with investors is this idea that you know I said it in the beginning where people are maybe less so now, but people were terrified that investment dollars were going to be gone.
Speaker 2:But the reality is it is not gone. A lot of capital is still being allocated. Investors still have to allocate capital. It's just a matter of allocating that capital toward better businesses. So if you can put yourself in a position to increase your metrics, to increase traction, increase revenue, whatever metric you really want to focus on and have be your sort of pillar of success when putting yourself in front of investors, beef that up as much as possible, because that's only going to help you get in front of the investors that you want to partner with, that you want on your cap table, and it's going to help you get favorable terms. The days of jumping into an investor call with a black and white pitch deck that just says Web 3 on it and getting a blank check are gone. It's a matter of building businesses that are more de-risked, helping sort of get you to that middle ground where the investor wants to invest and it's not so much of a stranglehold on you 100%.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you sharing that and thanks for being on the show. Michael, it's been a pleasure chatting to you. What would the best way for people to get in touch with Michael Spiridlia? If you have any office for them or they want to reach out for your services or any advice, what would the best way for people to contact you be?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. I have my LinkedIn. Of course, I'm on that far too often, but I also have a website. First that I can send you the link and you can post it in the show notes for people to reach out. Understand what the services look like, all of that. But yeah, please feel free to reach out on LinkedIn. Always happy to chat with founders and investors as well, if you're interested in jumping in and getting some curated strategic deal flow sent your way.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Well, thank you so much again for being on the show.
Speaker 2:I really enjoyed the conversation.
Speaker 1:I did as well.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Keep all.
Speaker 2:Well, do you as well.