Seth Goldstein Michael Simpson – The Secret of Raising Money

You can raise money easily…
You just have to know the rules..

I opened the email and my heart rate skyrocketed. The message read:
“Hey Seth and Michael – I’m in for $200,000. I will sign and wire by Friday. Excited to be on board.” [investor name redacted]

Friday came… and Friday went. But no money showed up in our account…

Days later, the investor who sent the email told us he had to withdraw.

I was stunned. Seth was not…

See, I had assumed that when investors commit in writing, it means you will receive money. Not so. Thus began my education about how fundraising really works, and when I learned for the first time (of many) that “It’s not over until the money’s in the bank…”

My name is Michael Simpson. I’m a co-founder of DJZ and the co-author of The Secret of Raising Money, which I wrote with Seth Goldstein…

Seth has raised $100m over the last twenty years, has sold two companies, co-founded Turntable.fm and was Fred Wilson’s first EIR. So I was lucky to learn fundraising at the heels of the world’s best.
“Seth Goldstein: the master fundraiser”

“Seth Goldstein has been a master fundraiser since I met him in the mid 90s. He has finally gotten around to sharing his secrets with the rest of us”

FRED WILSON, Co-Founder of Union Square Ventures

But we don’t all have the good fortune of working with someone like Seth… Instead, we rely on blogs to help us understand what fundraising is like. But here’s the thing:
Tech Bloggers Create The Illusion That Fundraising Is Easy…

“Payments Startup Clinkle Raises $25 Million Seed Round…”

“Music platform Splice nets $2.75 million…”