LATEST EPISODE

How Brian Sheng Closed a $112M Round for Aquaria (Brian Sheng / Aquaria - Ep 55)

Raising money isn’t just about convincing investors—it’s about surviving long enough to do it. Brian Sheng, founder of Aquaria, bootstrapped millions of his own dollars, ran relentless product-market fit experiments, and faced rejection after rejection before securing a $112M round to scale his breakthrough water technology. We dive into the toughest moments of his fundraising journey, the insight that finally got investors on board, and the mindset that kept him pushing forward. If you’re a founder struggling to raise capital, this episode is a must-listen.

Latest Episodes -

Check out our latest chats with awesome founders.

TBC: Importance of CRM Systems When Fundraising

One of the hard truths of fundraising is that most founders don't have nearly enough investors added to their target lists. Some stop at 20, others even less. In all reality, you should AT LEAST be targeting 100. And if you're going to be targeting that many, one of the things you are going to need is a CRM system. Having a database for tracking your communications is one of the best ways to run a tight process and stay organized when meeting with investors. In this episode, Jason dives into the details of using CRM systems when going out to fundraise. Give it a listen & look out for weekly insights around fundraising, brought to you by The Back Channel.

TBC: Pre-seed vs. Seed - What's the difference?

Pre-seed vs. seed. It seems there are more and more terms coming out, but no one fully knows what they mean. My guess is even most investors don't actually know the difference. Nevertheless, it's good to get an overall understanding of what the world of venture capital means by these two closely associated terms. In this episode, Jason outlines the key differences between seed and pre-seed while also explaining how to answer this seemingly hard question from investors: "Are you raising seed or pre-seed?". Give it a listen & look out for weekly insights around fundraising, brought to you by The Back Channel.

TBC: How to Handle Investor Rejection

Rejection. It's a fundamental part of the game, even for the biggest success stories like Airbnb. Rejection is tough, but it's also a chance to learn. Don't let it drag you down; build a packed calendar for pitches, boost your confidence, and remember that every "no" is a step closer to a "yes." Rejection is your path to funding success. Believe it!

TBC: Preparing to Fundraise in a Down Market

We are in new times. Raising money has become harder than it used to be. Impressing VCs has started to feel like it's impossible. Because I work with founders on a daily basis, I know the struggle. So, I made this episode where I'll be going over the top things to be prepared for before going out to raise. Founders, it's time to take notes!

TBC: Build Your Reputation First

A few months ago I had a fireside chat with a successful venture backed founder and friend of mine, Daniel Hatkoff.I wanted to bring him on is because like myself, he has also gotten to wear both hats as a VC and founder, so he's got a ton of valuable information around raising venture capital.During our chat there was this reoccurring theme of reputation, and how building his ultimately led to a successful $30M round for his company Pitzi.In this episode, I go over the key takeaways from our conversation around building a great company and reputation. Tune in 

Down by 20? Down But Not Out... (Curastory)

Let me get something straight: fundraising is tough. You will be challenged. You will be knocked down. But if you have true grit and passion for your company, not even the hardest of blows can keep you down. For Tiffany Kelly, CEO and founder of Curastory - she knows all too well what it's like to take a hit. And less than two months ago, she experienced what I call a founder's worst nightmare. In today's episode, you get to hear an unfiltered version of what it's like being a founder raising multiple rounds of capital in a difficult market. Huge shoutout to Tiffany for keeping the conversation so real and authentic. This is why I love these conversations. I love creating opportunities for founders to see all that went into those million dollar round you see on social media. Granted not all are as difficult as Tiffany's was, but they're definitely no walk in the park either. Give this episode a listen to see how one tiny move by a VC firm almost destroyed Curastory.

TBC: Insights From My Trip to Brazil

Depending on how long you've followed me or stayed in touch with what I'm up to, some of you might not know that I fly down to Brazil at least a few times a year. One reason being I have a good friend who runs a company down there called Colbi. I had no idea that he would connect with me the founder of an organization that I still partner with till this day called Latitud. If I had to sum up what Latitud is, I'd say it's now the YC of LATAM. Since then, I've fallen in love with the startup ecosystem in Brazil that only seems to be speeding up. In this episode, I talk about the different things I noticed around the startup/vc space during my last trip back in July. If you're from LATAM or curious about the opportunity growing there, this episodes for you!

TBC: Work / Life Balance

<p id="">This is a fantastic episode covering one of the most important insights around fundraising</p>

Becoming the Pepsi to Indeed's Coke (Talent.com)

It's becoming more and more common for people to get through college and realize they still have no idea what they want out of life. On top of that, majority of the time we're too scared to do anything about it. Next thing we know time has passed and we feel suffocated in a job we don't even like. We put our dreams on the back burner, sacrificing creativity for stability. For today's guest Lucas Martinez - Co-founder and CEO of Talent.com - he knew right away that the corporate world wasn't for him. Because of this, he knew he had to act on it - fast. This decision let him to start his company with two of his closest friends. It was a messy start, but once they got the ball rolling they were able to land around $1M CAD from angel investors alone. Because of that raise they were able to become pretty profitable. Great, right? But after some time the investors were ready to pull out, and it was time to run a process. In this episode, Lucas talks about what it was like trying to create a business of quality while at the same time scaling it. He talks about mindset, the benefits of working with VC's, the ups and downs of raising, learning to plan, and how passion was the key to Talent.com's success. If you're a founder looking to understand all that goes into scaling and raising for your company, give this episode a listen

Featured Episodes -