Stop Looking for the Wrong Funding: Raising Capital in Difficult Times [WEBINAR RECORDING]

There aren’t one-size-fits-all solutions to business financing even in the best of times. This is especially true at times like these, when investor wariness is constricting the flow of capital.

The webinar featured insights from Elliot Begoun, Founder of TIG Brands and expert on CPG capitalization. According to Elliot, most CPG brands are not ideally suited for traditional venture capital financing. Yet many founders pursue potential investors with the same strategies as much bigger and well established companies. Most of these young brands are turned down. Those that do get funding find themselves accelerating forward in a way they did not intend, including conditions that may require exiting even if they don’t really want to.

For a capital raise to be successful, It is critical that the founder and funder are aligned. And Elliot provided insights how such an alignment can be accomplished.

Elliot led off the webinar with an information-packed presentation that included a slide deck. With Elliot’s permission and by popular demand, we are sharing the slide deck here.

Jim Slama, Naturally Chicago’s Managing Director, then moderated a panel that included Elliot; William Hayden, Co-founder of Bags — a consulting firm that helps diverse and women entrepreneurs build strong businesses by discovering a better way to manage finances and fund growth — as well as four entrepreneurs who have navigated the choppy waters of financing:

• Tonya Donati of Mother Kombucha, brewing every small batch by hand with the best fair-trade organic teas and a variety of unique ingredients.

• Emily Griffith of Lil Bucks, a fast-growing producer of crunchy, gluten-free snacks made from regeneratively produced sprouted buckwheat.

• Kyle Koehler of Wildway, which makes grain-free granola, planet-friendly oat cereals and organic coconut chips.

• Kelly Perkins of Spinster Sisters, producer of plant-based, natural, clean label personal care items.