START.
STRATEGIC EXPERIENCES FOR STARTUPS JUST BEGINNING
THE START EXPERIENCE
RAISE CAPITAL. STRATEGICALLY LAUNCH.
More than 90% of Startups fail with 70% of the cause attributed to not starting with a strategic approach from the beginning. Founders are often eager to obtain funding or jump to growth strategies without setting a healthy and strong foundation that creates sustainable success. Investors and Partners will look for key attributes to your business and the Start Experiences are geared toward helping you establish these. Whether you're looking to secure funding or trying to find your first users, choose from four experiences below based on your goals and where you are in your growth, or connect to explore a custom engagement.
STARTUP LAB
For Founders just starting out in their journey, knowing what you need to be considering and what steps to take can be a challenge to navigate. Understanding the fundraising process, how to identify investors, how to best present yourself to investors and how to gain traction is not a one-size fits all answer, and working with a Consultant who can hep you navigate these processes is invaluable. This 4 Session series addresses your most pressing objectives and sets you on a path to building a healthy startup, covering topics across:
Experience 1
-
Before you are ready to pitch, it is imperative to the funding process that you define your vision for the future and identify your goals and objectives.
-
Once you’ve defined your vision and goals, creating roadmap for getting there will help you identify the right investors and build a strong pitch. Business Planning is focused on mapping your goals to actionable milestones and growth strategies, so your investors will have more confidence in your vision.
-
Many founders think because they’re not yet driving revenue they don’t need to spend time outlining a financial model. This is a grave mistake and is critical to your discussions with investors. I work with you to determine how you should think about your revenue model based on your unique offering and goals, and devise a plan for financial modeling.
-
Now comes the fun part. If you have established your strategic vision, you’re now ready to articulate that vision to investors and customers alike. Together, we’ll discuss what your unique pitch deck should reflect and what types of investors will best help you meet your funding goals, including outlining your CAP Table, Funding Strategy, Pitch Deck and Investor list.
-
As Founders, we try to ‘do it all,’ which always eventually results in burnout. Should you hire? How can you afford quality talent? Which talent should you prioritize at this stage in your growth? These are the types of questions we navigate through coaching sessions.
-
You have a story tell. Being able to attract and convert customers is a blend of art and science and it requires more than paid advertising and having a product. How you tell the story of your brand to customers makes or breaks your success, and a strategic launch can help you hit your growth targets with minimal wasted time, energy and resources.
PITCH PREP
For Startups that are ready to raise, the Pitch Prep experience is key to communicating your business and potential to prospective investors and partners. While investors will want to know the data points, you hook them with the right story. This experience focuses on building a strong pitch deck with a compelling story and preparing you for strategic investor discussions.
Experience 2
-
Unclear about what you’re missing from your deck? Unsure how to best preset your pitch? Our coaching sessions help fill the gaps so you can feel confident approaching your pitches.
-
Your pitch deck is not just about putting traction numbers and product features in front of investors. It is telling the right story in a way that will get them to lean in and ask more. I will work with you closely to understand that story and will create a beautifully designed deck that helps you communicate it.
-
After we have completed your pitch deck, you’ll have the opportunity to walk through presenting that deck to practice telling your story. This is great for instilling confidence and filling any gaps with feedback from Ciara, who is an expert Judge in the space.
THE RAISE
Founders seeking investment often make the mistake of focusing too much on fundraising without addressing key questions that position them for success. The Raise experience focuses on road mapping your funding approach, investor targets, vehicles, and resources, preparing you for the most challenging investor discussions and defining fundraising objectives.
Experience 3
-
We will hold weekly sessions as you navigate core tools and planning. In these sessions, we’ll look at your roadmap and identify the next steps and decisions that make sense for your vision. This gives you clarity and hands on experience working through the process.
-
Fundraising is more than asking investors for money. Over-diluting, under-raising, and improper resourcing can put you and your team in a position of running out of capital or running out of decision power. Avoid the biggest mistakes by roadmapping your inflection milestones, CAP table, and strategy.
-
Targeting the right investors will save you a ton of time and energy. By strategically targeting the right investors, you will gain funding faster.
SIGNATURE STRATEGIES
This Signature Strategy Experience with Ciara delivers a bespoke, high-end Business Plan, Brand Strategy and GTM Marketing Roadmap. In her legacy offering, she collaborates to create an actionable roadmap, answer your most challenging questions, and elevate your brand to position you for growth with sophisticated strategies. In this 1:1 Incubator style experience, Ciara will help you build your business model, create your identity rooted in your ‘why’, and bring it to life through strategic marketing.
Experience 4
-
Your business plan drives every strategic decision you make across operations and marketing. The Business Strategy defines your market opportunity, offering and pricing strategy, growth milestones, operational planning, and financial/revenue modeling.
-
Research supports customers and investors won’t be attracted to your features and product. They are attracted to your purpose and having a connection to it. This high-end, quality experience is thorough and uncovers your brand story. The Brand Strategy include the core components of your mission, vision, visual identity, core messaging and more.
-
Your ability to attract customers means being on the right channels throughout the customer journey. It also requires a strategic approach to those channels to ensure you’re gaining the right return on investment. The Marketing Strategy outlines your channel strategies with a detailed execution roadmap through your first 90 days.
Experience 2
Experience 3
Experience 4
PITCH PREP
For Startups that are ready to raise, the Pitch experience is key to communicating your business and potential to prospective investors and partners. While investors will want to know the data points, you hook them with the right story. This experience focuses on building a strong pitch deck with a compelling story and preparing you for strategic investor discussions.
THE RAISE
Founders seeking funding often make the mistake of focusing too much on fundraising without addressing key questions that position them for success. The Raise experience focuses on road mapping your funding approach, sources, vehicles, and targets, preparing you for the most challenging investor discussions and defining fundraising objectives.
SIGNATURE STRATEGIES
This signature experience with Ciara delivers a bespoke, high-end Business Plan, Brand Strategy and GTM Marketing Roadmap. In her legacy offering, she collaborates to create an actionable roadmap, answer your most challenging questions, and elevates your brand to position you for growth with sophisticated strategies. In this 1:1 Incubator style experience, Ciara will build your business model, create your identity rooted in your ‘why’, and bring it to life through marketing.
STARTUP LAB
For Founders just starting out in their journey, knowing what you need to be considering and what steps to take can be a challenge to navigate. This 4 Session series addresses your most pressing objectives and sets you on a path to building a healthy startup, covering topics across:
Experience 1
-
STARTUP LAB
For Founders just starting out in their journey, knowing what you need to be considering and what steps to take can be a challenge to navigate. This 4 Session series addresses your most pressing objectives and sets you on a path to building a healthy startup, covering topics across:
Strategic Planning
Marketing & Launch Strategy
Business Planning
Revenue Modeling
Team Augmentation
Funding
Journey/Customer Mapping
-
PITCH PREP
For Startups that are ready to raise, the Pitch experience is key to communicating your business and potential to prospective investors and partners. While investors will want to know the data points, you hook them with the right story. This experience focuses on building a strong pitch deck with a compelling story and preparing you for strategic investor discussions.
One (1) Mock Pitch Session with Feedback
Done for you bespoke Pitch Deck Development & StoryArc
Two (2) Pitch Coaching Sessions
-
THE RAISE
Founders seeking funding often make the mistake of focusing too much on fundraising without addressing key questions that position them for success. The Raise experience focuses on road mapping your funding approach, sources, vehicles, and targets, preparing you for the most challenging investor discussions and defining fundraising objectives.
Weekly Sessions
Funding Strategy & Cap Tables
Investor Fit Exercise
Funding Roadmap
Investor Target Building
-
SIGNATURE STRATEGIES
This signature experience with Ciara delivers a bespoke, high-end Business Plan, Brand Strategy, and GTM Marketing Roadmap. In her legacy offering, she collaborates to create an actionable roadmap, answer your most challenging questions, and elevates your brand to position you for growth with sophisticated strategies. In this 1:1 Incubator style experience, Ciara will build your business model, create your identity rooted in your ‘why’, and bring it to life through marketing.
Business Plan and Strategy
Brand Strategy & Identity
Go To Market Marketing Strategy
HOW IT WORKS
NEW CLIENT PROCESS
APPLY
Being part of the right program based on where you are in your growth is important to a successful engagement. As a first step, you will apply to one of Ciara's programs.
DISCOVERY SESSION
Ciara will review your application and schedule a discovery call with you to discuss your goals and confirm which program will be the right fit. You will receive specific program details, timelines, and roadmaps so you know what to expect and feel comfortable with the details of the engagement.
KICK-OFF
Upon alignment and completion of the client agreement, you will kick off your engagement, working directly with Ciara through a smooth, elevated, and stress-free onboarding process.