The Playbook to Investor Relations

The Playbook to Investor Relations

• 1. THE PLAYBOOK TO INVESTOR RELATIONS MANAGING PARTNER ZELKOVA VENTURES @ZELKOVAVC 1 Jay Levy

• 2. Launched in 2008 – 3rd Fund 95+ Investments Wired money over 300x 35+ Exits Invest Early & Follow On B2B SaaS Focused INVEST EARLY & FOLLOW ON

• 3. WHAT IS INVESTOR RELATIONS? Setting your company up for success & Reducing potential conflict ART & SCIENCE The of communicating & managing your investors. WITH THE GOALS OF:

• 4. THE DATA

• 5. 40% 26% 22% 9% 2% < 5 6-10 11-25 26-50 51-99 99+ 40% 26% 22% OF STARTUPS HAVE MORE THAN 6 INVESTORS OF STARTUPS HAVE MORE THAN 26 INVESTORS 60% 13% NUMBER OF INVESTORS STARTUPS

• 6. FOUNDERS FEEL OF THEIR INVESTORS ARE SUFFICIENTLY UPDATED

• 7. YET ONLY OF INVESTORS FEEL THEIR COMPANIES KEEP THEM SUFFICIENTLY UPDATED

• 8. 47% 40% 8% 3% 2% WEEKLY MONTHLY QUARTERLY SEMI-ANNUALLY ANNUALLY 8% 47% 40% OF FOUNDERS PROVIDE MONTHLY UPDATES OF INVESTORS WANT UPDATES MONTHLY 47% 66% UPDATE FREQUENCY UPDATE FREQUENCY UPDATE FREQUENCY

• 9. WHAT'S THE PREFERRED METHOD FOR INVESTORS? 0 60 45 30 15 % of investors EMAI L YOU CHOOSE OTHE R IN PERSON PHON E LESSON LEARNED: INVESTORS DON'T WANT TO TALK ON THE PHONE WHAT'S THE PREFERRED METHOD FOR INVESTORS?

• 10. FOUNDERS FEEL THAT ONLY OF INVESTORS UNDERSTAND THE BUSINESS

• 11. “Managing your investors well is a sign of a very good founder/CEO” - Seed Fund “Keeping up to date on KPIs, financials, key initiatives, and big hires is so helpful to having more substantive conversations rather than starting every conversation with a level-setting update. Transparency pays off.” - Later Stage Venture Investor “Be open! Send updates - good or bad! Ask for help, advice, input 2nd set of eyes…” - Angel Investor “Keep investors up-to-date on a regular basis. When you only hear from a company when they need capital, it is very offputting” - Angel Investor “It needs to be more often and consistent to avoid critical points where investors can be surprised with new data and developments they did not know about.” - Seed Fund WHAT INVESTORS ARE SAYING

• 12. 5 REASONS FOR INVESTOR RELATIONS

• 13. GET MORE OUT OF YOUR INVESTORS OF FOUNDERS SURVEYED FEEL THAT SEED & VENTURE FUNDS ARE IMPORTANT OR INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR COMPANY, EXCLUDING THEIR CAPITAL IF YOU JUST GOT MONEY FORM YOUR EQUITY SALE YOU GOT RIPPED OFF! REASON 1

• 14. UP TO DATE INVESTORS ARE MORE LIKELY TO RE-INVEST! 200% REASON 2

• 15. "There is another really awesome reason to keep your investors updated: they didn’t give you all of their money – they have more! They want to give you more!" - Jason Calcanis, Launch

• 16. TO AVOID TROUBLE REGARDLESS OF HOW BIG OR SMALL, INVESTORS HAVE RIGHTS, ATTORNEYS ARE PLENTIFUL AND LAWSUITS SUCK REASON 3

• 17. UPDATES ARE SELF-SERVING REASON 4 They provide founders an opportunity to reflect on the past, think about the future and be open & honest

• 18. ITS THE RIGHT THING TO DO REASON 5 "THE SUCCESSFUL PERSON PLACES MORE ATTENTION ON DOING THE RIGHT THING RATHER THAN DOING THINGS RIGHT." - PETER DRUCKER

• 19. TOOLS & TIPS 19

• 20. TEMPLATE FOR UPDATES B 50% C 30% A 20% A B C D 3 2 1 0 B 50% C 30% A 20% A B C D E 5 4 3 2 1 0 KPI' S HIGHLIGHTS • Launched v 2.0 of product • No customer churn this month • Closed final piece of funding THE GOOD THE BAD • Bookings miss, 85% of plan • Let go of 2 SDR's • Behind plan on pipeline INVESTOR REQUESTS

• 21. FUNDRAISING TOOLS COMMUNICATION TOOLS CAP TABLE MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR INVESTOR RELATIONS

• 22. LATER STAGE INVESTOR RELATIONS 1 INDUSTRY & MARKET OVERVIEW 2 COMPANY OVER: WHAT WE DO & WE EVOLVED 3 TECHNOLOGY & PRODUCTION DISCUSSION/DEMO 5 SALES & MARKETING UPDATE 6 Q&A FINANCIAL/KPI'S 4 As your company grows your investor relations strategy will need to evolve to handle new challenges: • Different Types of shareholders (i.e ex employees) • Larger pool of investors • More confidential information You may need to develop different strategies based on different stakeholders. • Board Members / Major Investors: Regular communication, updates as usual • Early Investors: Semi Annual updates • Investor Day: Annual Virtual Event covering all aspects of the business INVESTOR DAY FRAMEWORK

• 23. Be a Better Board Member, Investor & Partner 23

• 24. talk to founders and you will hear...

• 25. CHANGE HOW I APPROACH FOUNDER/INVESTOR RELATIONS THESE EMOTIONS LED ME TO...

• 26. BE Identify your strengths & focus on helping in those areas, be self-aware 1 YOU 2 OPEN 3 FLEXIBLE 4 PRESENT 5 HUMBLE Listen to all sides, see it from different perspectives Change is going to happen, figure out how to accept it If it's a priority make an effort to focus and give it your attention Be educated, confident and driven, but do it with class 6 EMPATHETIC How are you? (And F*cking Mean It)! Thanks Jerry! MY 6 B'S

• 27. KEY TAKEAWAYS 27

• 28. Investor relations starts with the first interactions, before the have a process Develop a process in conjunction with your investors and be consistent with it Don't surprise us As your company grows your investor relations strategy will need to evolve to handle new challenges

• 29. THANK YOU MANAGING PARTNER ZELKOVA VENTURES @ZELKOVAVC Jay Levy