In this episode, Hall welcomes Grant Newlin of Newlin Ventures. Grant started his career as a management consultant at UI, before moving to investment banking, M&A, financial planning, and eventually working in food tech with Kraft Heinz. He ultimately started working with New Stack Ventures doing angel deals, before founding his firm, Newlin Ventures.

Grant talks about how the angel and VC investment worlds have changed in recent years, and what excites him about the food tech space, whether it is in CPG, agricultural, restaurants, or software. He explains how food tech differs from other traditional tech businesses, particularly when it comes to fixed costs and volume. Grant also talks about how funding for food tech companies often follows a different roadmap than other startups, and how getting positive gross margin in the beginning is key. He touches on how the food tech space has evolved, and what role the larger CPG giants and small startups are playing. Grant discusses his investment thesis in the food tech space, and some of the technical and regulatory challenges to expect. Finally, Grant advises would-be startups and investors in food tech to five some consideration to building in-house to ensure product control.

Every day I ask entrepreneurs how much they are raising.

Most begin with the big number--the full and complete raise they anticipate to run. This ranges usually between $1m and $10M.

It’s good to have the big picture in mind.

Some actually consider raising it all at once because “they want to get the fundraising out of the way.” I remind them that raising too much money on a round will cost you equity that you don’t have to give up.

Your valuation is low at the beginning. It’s best to raise only the funding you need to reach the next milestone, and no more. As you grow the business, your valuation will go up and you’ll give away less equity.

Consider breaking your fundraise into tranches. It will save you time and make each fundraise easier.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!