Raising the next round won't save you.

Every startup founder thinks raising the next round will save them. Propel them. But it's not true.

I learned this 23 years ago, we had just been named the ninth fastest growing company in Kansas City. We thought we were a rocket ship, only we weren't. 

Just as one in debt believes that borrowing more will save them, instead it buries them.

- You don't put rocket fuel into a car.
- You put it into a rocket ship.

A rocket ship is equipped to receive the fuel. When it's not equipped, it blows up.

As faith driven investors, we believe there are four ingredients to entering into a state of investor readiness:

#1 - A founder with a developed faith that can move mountains.

#2 - A founder who understands their specific calling, for themselves, and their venture.

#3 - A founder who has developed an experienced revenue team ready to scale.

#4 - A founder who has developed the pitch deck/data room presenting the investor opportunity in a compelling way.

If you don't have all four ingredients in place, you're not a rocket ship.

Without #1 and #2 firmly in place, the entrepreneurial mountain will take you out.

And without #3, you can't have a sustainable and profitable business.

Faith driven founders who are good at #4, but lack numbers 1, 2 and 3 are who crash and burn. They can't survive without another round because they are unhealthy. They need their next fix.

Founders, focus on numbers 1, 2, and 3. Have patience and endurance. Trust God's timing, not yours.

-Gerald