Hey {{first_name|default:there}}, it’s Vadim 👋
Happy summer days!
First, a quick thank you to everyone who filled out the survey last week about what you'd like to see more of in Bio Founder GPS.
It was super helpful to see that fundraising is still top of mind for most of you, with many of you enjoying the deep dives, while some interested in seeing some bite-sized content.
So today I'm going to try to cover both camps.
We'll talk about fundraising, and we'll do it in a format that pairs a little better with your Sunday brunch, whether you're surviving another unpredictable heat wave here in NYC or reading this by a lake or a European beachside enclave.
If you're in that second camp, please do have a tropical beverage on my behalf 🙂
Now, let’s have a heart to heart about your investor list.
This week, I actually wanted to write a simple issue about which life science funds have raised fresh capital over the past 18 months.
The logic seemed straightforward: find the funds that recently closed, figure out what they invest in, and provide you with a list that hopefully could be of use for your upcoming fundraise.
Then I started looking more closely at what my research generated. And I realized that in a long list of funds that seemed like safe bets and good “anchor tenants”, the truth was a lot more nuanced.
And as I started reviewing each fund in earnest, the list grew a lot shorter.
That exercise has turned into something considerably bigger than one issue, and I'll share the full version later this year.
But in the meantime, it left me with a question that I couldn’t quite unsee:
How many investors on your list could realistically invest in your company, in this round, today?
Because that’s a very different question from who invests in “biotech”, and as I’m finding, the gap between the two is wider (and more in flux) than most founders expect - myself included.
So with that in mind, let’s talk about the 5 ways your investor list may be lying to you 👇