Learning the Fundraising Dance

By Jason Yeh
September 7, 2021
55
min
Listen on Apple Podcasts

Learning the Fundraising Dance

Erin Carpenter grew up focused on becoming an entertainer with classical training as a ballerina. When she went to raise money, she found that the fundraising dance was surprisingly hard to learn.

Episode Summary

Erin Carpenter grew up focused on becoming an entertainer with classical training as a ballerina. Along the way, an embarrassing uniform mishap as a young dancer and continued frustrations throughout her career drove her to embrace an entrepreneurial fire that led to starting Nude Barre.  For this professional dancer, learning the fundraising dance was a struggle. After 10 years of bootstrapping and failing to raise money, she finally figured out the steps and eventually raised Seed capital from the likes of Serena Williams, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Jason Calacanis, and Freestyle Capital.  

Listen to learn what helped her find the way and launch the next phase of growth in her business.

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Topics Discussed

  • Early childhood entrepreneurial instincts
  • Wanting to be an entertainer
  • Her embarrassing moment
  • Seeing an opportunity in her personal problem with dance tights
  • 10 years of bootstrapping
  • Pitching Serena Williams and Whitney Wolfe Herd
  • Joining Jason Calacanis' accelerator
  • Closing funding from Freestyle

Resources Mentioned

Follow Us

Erin Carpenter
Nude Barre
Funded
Jason Yeh (host)
Contact Us / Misc
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Episode Transcript

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