268: Michael Cardamone — Creative Ways to Fund Your SaaS Company

Scaling Up Business Podcast

If you are a Founder of a SaaS company then this is an episode you do not want to miss. Today’s guest works directly with SaaS companies and knows the inner workings of how to raise the capital you need in your business.

Michael Cardamone was one of the first 30 employees at Box in a BD role and then later led partnerships at AcademixDirect. After six years of being in operating roles, Michael launched Forum Ventures, a BSB SaaS-Focused Accelerator and Fund based in NYC and Toronto.

Michael is seven years into his company and he’s already on his fourth fund for the accelerator and has worked with over 200 companies. Some of Michael’s entrepreneurs have never even stepped into Silicon Valley and have raised several millions of dollars. The VC landscape is rapidly changing to find companies outside of California and New York.

Michael sees the benefits, too. You want more diversity? Take advantage of the global landscape and hire team members from all over the world to get a different cultural perspective. Countless studies have shown that when a company has more diversity, they are adaptable and more empathic to all different types of users.

One thing that founders don’t think about enough is how will investors value your business? What is their process and how do you fare in that process? A great way to make yourself stand out is to bring data points and market research to the fold to showcase how you’re thinking about your target market differently and the types of risks you foresee in your industry. Investors love to see a bit of legwork being done, even if the memo isn’t all roses and positive.

Interview Links:

Sponsored by: Bit.ly/clariontech

Forumvc.com

Michael on Twitter

Resources:

Scaling Up Workshop: Interested in attending one of our workshops? We have a few $100 discounts for our loyal podcast listeners!Scaling Up for Business Growth Workshop: Take the first step to mastering the Rockefeller Habits by attending one of our workshops.

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

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Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Gazelles Coaching, on how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. My name is Bill Gallagher, host of the Scaling Up Business Podcast and a leading Gazelles Coach. Gazelles is the term we use for fast-growing companies.

We help leadership teams with 4 Decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth success. Scaling Up for Gazelles companies is based on the Rockefeller Habits 2.0 (from Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits).