How To Close a Soft Commitment

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Founders raising funding often ask for general interest first with no commitment.

A soft commitment is an interest from an investor just short of a commitment.

Investors use this to maintain the dialog with the founder as they learn more about the deal.

Some use this as a bargaining chip to gain more favorable terms.

As a founder, here's how to close a soft commitment.

Create a deadline and start driving investors towards it.

The amount of funds raised should be increasing on a weekly basis.

Show other investors are in the deal and they are moving forward.

List names and show their interest.

Show other investors are circling the deal and they represent a substantial amount of funding, albeit potentially.

Finally, gather enough soft commitments to close the round and then set a priced round for it that is attractive to those investors.

Make clear this valuation is only available for the next 30 days, and then it goes away.

This creates FOMO Fear of Missing Out.

Consider these steps in closing soft commitments for your fundraising round.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_________________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

In this episode of Investor Connect, we welcome Hemanth Sheelvant, former CEO of Bosch Digital Twin Industries, to discuss how digital twins and AI are reshaping industrial operations and why well-funded projects still fail. Hemanth explains the "iceberg problem" in enterprise and AI deployments, where teams focus on the visible technology while underestimating governance, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, integration, and ongoing operations that drive total cost.

He shares how to avoid surprises by starting with customer discovery, aligning early with IT and key decision-makers, defining KPIs and budget for pilot-to-scale upfront, and assessing plant digital maturity through pre-discovery studies. The conversation also covers using AI first as a human-assist system, choosing simpler models when they meet the business outcome, building balanced teams with domain experts, and scaling via modular, deployable "Lego block" solutions and SaaS-friendly business models.

Visit Bosch Digital Twin Industries at www.bosch-digital-twin-industries.com/

Reach out to at www.linkedin.com/company/bosch-digital-twin-industries/

________________________________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https:/_/tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

How To Expand Product Sales

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Startups raising funding must show a growth story.

The best growth story is a revenue curve going up and to the right at a 45-degree angle.

For venture, the growth curve must be at least 50% year over year.

Here are some key steps to take to expand sales:

Increase sales with current customers by selling to more contacts within the account.

This means using referrals from the existing users to find new ones.

Increase the number of products sold to current customers.

This means finding upgrades and additional products to sell to current users.

Find new customers similar to the ones already buying the product.

This means looking for new customers in the same industry or sector as current customers.

Find new customers who are larger than the current customers.

Larger customers can pay a higher price and potentially have a greater capacity for buying more.

Finally, sell additional services that enhance the current product or service, such as payment facilities to help purchase the product, data analytics on customer usage, and artificial intelligence-enhanced features.

Consider these steps in expanding product sales.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_________________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.