Keep trying after a VC says no, says Tonkean CEO on TechCrunch Live
On this week’s TechCrunch Live, I spoke with CEO and co-founder of Tonkean, Sagi Eliyahu, and Foundation Capital partner, Joanne Chen. Tonkean started in 2015 as a no-code development platform, and added Joanne to its board of directors when it raised its seed round in 2019.
I don’t want to ruin the story, but I think you know where this is going. The fundraising didn’t end after one pitch. He pitched Tonkinn to Joann Chen at Foundation Capital, and she said no. But Sagi kept in contact and six months later Foundation lead Tonkean’s seed round, and joined the company’s board. Sagi And then the company raised two more rounds, adding a Raviraj Jain from Lightspeed and Miles Clements from Accel.
As Sagi explains, founders should realign their expectations around fundraising. This will result in better preparation and success when seeking additional capital.
Topics:
- The best ways for founders to work with their board of directors
- Why you can’t have compliance without adoption
- Addressing blind spots in leadership
- What you should look for when structuring a pitch deck
TechCrunch Live records live each Wednesday, at noon Pacific. I hope you can join the next event. I’m very excited about it. We’re hosting a conversation with David Blumberg of Blumberg Capital, and Tanis Jorge, co-founder of Trulioo, on the importance of finding the right co-founders. You can register here.
