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How To Engage Investors - Innovators Can Laugh
In this episode of Innovators Can Laugh, I chat with Linda Klunder, co-founder of Kumasi Drinks - a delicious tropical cocoa fruit juice made from the flesh surrounding a cocoa bean. Previously the outside of the cocoa bean was never used. It was just thrown away. But Linda and the team at Kumasi took something that normally goes to waste and made it into a soft drink while also helping cocoa farmers earn a little extra income.
In this conversation we talk about:
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grant writing and securing funding
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the role of storytelling and team presentation in attracting investors
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identifying overlooked resources and transforming them into valuable products
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showcasing the team's capabilities to gain the trust and support of potential investors
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creatively addressing inefficiencies in industries, potentially uncovering new revenue streams
🎙️📺 Catch the interview on Spotify, Apple, or other platform.
Pretend we don’t notice
3 Reasons You Have a Hard Time Building Rapport
1. You don’t know how to start a conversation
2. You don’t know how to make people receptive to chatting with you
3. You don’t know how to follow up when you receive a one word answer
Here’s how to fix that:
1/ Practice conversation openers.
Example, if you were at an industry conference or a networking event, you can say “Hey, I don’t think I’ve met you yet, I’m (name)?” when standing or sitting next to someone.
This approach feels more natural and implies you are social and you know a lot of people at the venue 🙂
2/ If you know something about the person and what profession they are in, you can ask “Can I bounce a few thoughts off you?”
Your ask makes you vulnerable in the interaction thus making them receptive to chatting with you
3/ If a person gives you a short answer and doesn’t add any more details, you can follow up with asking something hypothetical.
Example:
you: "What do you do?"
them: “I’m an engineer”
you: "Well, if you had 100 million dollars, and you could do anything you want, what would you do instead?"
This makes them open up and share their values. (and you can decide if you want to continue the conversation with them)
Overheard on LinkedIn
📩 Stefan Conic’s go-to tool stack for outbound email marketing.
🗞️ Why newsletters like The Hustle, Morning Brew, and The Milk Road are being acquired by non-media companies by Wilfred Alfred
💲 A breakdown of a founder’s salary at different stages by Ivan Hoo
🖥️ Lessons from 800 website audits by Casey Hill
😃 Want to Be Featured in This Section?
Share the Innovators Can Laugh newsletter with your friends/audience (forward it or post it online), and I’ll include you in a future issue of the newsletter.
Just take a screenshot of your post or email forward (how you shared it) and send it to me at eric(at)innovatorscanlaugh(dot)com.
The End
Here’s me and James at Dino Park last week. We had a great time last weekend as we had a family reunion which consisted of lots of drinking, bar-b-que, and late night futbol action between the parents and kiddos. I’m also the best in the family when it comes to ping pong. 😄🏓
I released our Innovators Can Laugh Podcast & Newsletter Media network page. You can check it out here. The official launch date won’t be for another few weeks as I’m finalizing the podcasts that will be part of the network.
Okay, one more week until the kids go back to school. I’ve been having to wake up at 5am to try and get some work done because once they are up, it’s coloring, computer games, mobility exercises, park, play dates, etc.
To kickin some butt!
Eric M.
Ps Don’t forget. You have a chance to win this cool wacky inflatable guy when you help me out and answer this one question. It only takes 10 seconds.
