Specialized Knowledge in Capital Raising

At a Family Office Club investment pitch prep workshop, Richard C. Wilson responds to an attendee and presents on pitch materials.

Richard C. Wilson speaks about specialized knowledge, investor relationships, and pitch preparation. The video moves from an audience exchange about investor conversations into a workshop session on how founders communicate their opportunities to prospective investors.

In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Workshop presenter)

What they said

1. Investor introductions. Richard says his workshops teach people to find and close investors. He considers that more valuable than handing someone four investor contacts at a quarterly event.
2. Requests to raise capital. Richard says a request to raise capital for an investor may mean the founder is pitching the wrong investors. In his experience, that response happens five to 10% of the time, and he says it should happen no more than 20, 25% of the time at most.
3. Advisory boundaries. Richard says he can offer feedback, strategies, and pointers during a capital raise.
4. Retainer advice. Richard says he has his own full-time job, but can be a resource and save time by helping someone avoid hiring a retainer who will not raise capital for them.
5. What builds investor trust. Richard says a deal often gets done when an investor trusts the leadership, knows the industry, or is local to the opportunity or understands it well. He says founders can make an opportunity more tangible with a recorded walkthrough of a facility, equipment, clinic, or property.
6. Richard on pitch materials. Richard says founders can adjust 15 parts of their pitch materials, rather than focusing only on the pitch deck. For institutional capital, he describes starting with a one pager, then a pitch deck, and possibly a call or short coffee meeting.

In their words

"That's far more valuable than giving you four investors at one of our quarterly events."

"I'm not gonna go and do your pushups for you. I have my own full-time job, right."

Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth

Richard describes real estate conference conversations where sponsors may be trying to sell to each other. He also points to a different possibility: groups with capital that cannot find enough suitable deals may partner with someone who has a deal. That can shift the conversation from pitching an investor to exploring a partnership.