5 Fundraising Lessons From a Startup Founder and Single Mom

I received a great email the other day: “Big news, we just landed a total game changer to head our growth. He was formerly with Facebook and Snapchat.”

The message was from Jillian Darlington, CEO and founder of the MomCo app. Darlington is a 35-year-old single mom who entered the startup world after she was inspired by her own life experiences to create an app to help moms connect.

I myself connected with Darlington after she reached out to me through Twitter, thanking me for one of my articles here on Entrepreneur.com. She was just starting out and completely bootstrapping her startup. Long story short, my company gifted her company with an infographic to help out, and she and I have stayed in touch throughout the years ever since.

When I received Darlington’s email, I was happy to hear things were going well, especially since, historically, the startup world hasn’t always been a female-friendly environment (and, speaking of history, it is Women’s History Month, after all).

So, I jumped on the phone and asked Darlington about her experiences as a female founder in the ultra-competitive world of fund-raising. Here are five key lessons she told me she’s learned along the way.

1. You have to be mentally bulletproof.
Fund-raising is like standing naked in front of a plastic surgeon every day and having every single flaw on your body pointed out and magnified, Darlington says. Investors will point out flaws in you, your idea, your team, your pitch — everything.

That’s why you have to mentally and emotionally prepare yourself to hear about anything and everything that could possibly go wrong.

While the process is excruciating, it can be incredibly helpful if you don’t get defensive. Darlington says she still struggles with these critiques. What’s more, investors want to see if you are coachable, she notes. So she just tells herself to “breathe” and reminds herself that these people are actually trying to help her succeed.

2. You have to know whom to talk to.
When you have a brilliant idea, traction and a strong product market fit, it’s hard to understand why people aren’t just throwing money at you. Darlington says she’s learned that most individual angel investors have a strict checklist they follow when it comes to startups.

If you don’t help them check those boxes, they aren’t going to give you money — plain and simple.

When she is mingling before a presentation, Darlington says she always asks, “So, what kind of companies do you usually invest in?” If they are only interested in life science companies, she says, there is no reason for her to try to sell them on her company, MomCo.

Read the post here.