Building Resilience Through Rejection

Apply a Sales Mindset to Your Startup

Beginning with his first job at J&J after college and continuing through various roles in the medical device industry, Eric carried the bag in sales for most of his career. “Sales people make the best early-stage CEOs,” he says. This is primarily because it takes perseverance to follow through a sales cycle and see a project through to success. 

Eric’s sales experience helped him understand the full process of taking something from concept to acceptance, and he applies this same mindset to fundraising, product development, team leadership, and managing investor relationships. He shares, “Those of us who sold understand that there's a cycle that you have to go through,” pointing to the practical benefits of sales knowledge in managing a company’s growth and strategy—where it’s paramount to build a step-by-step process.

In sales, “99% of the time, you hear ‘no’,” he shares. However, constant rejection builds your ability to persevere. He says, “As an early-stage CEO, there are many types of CEOs, and one of them is going out and raising funds. But a lot of times, as an early-stage CEO, you're put in a position where not only are you fundraising, but you're also running a process to develop a product. You're leading the team and helping that aspect of it. Maybe you have early shareholders or investors. Now you have to manage them. So now you have public relations in there. All of those tie back to the sales cycle experience: running that process at different stages, being able to address people's concerns and gripes.”

Running a company is no different. Most aspects of a sales cycle is transferable to fundraising. Working with investors, especially non-VC investors, requires patience and the ability to explain things simply, a skill honed by years of managing varied client perspectives. At the end of the day, what you’re selling is an idea.

Your Fundraising Rounds Aren’t Always Clear-Cut

Although having a step-by-step approach is useful, it’s important that you remember early-stage fundraising doesn’t always follow a neat, structured path like “seed,” “Series A,” and so on. It's often a combination of funds from different sources, like friends, family, high-net-worth individuals, and family offices. Each of these comes with its own challenges and timeline.

“When you get a lot of investors at different levels, small checks versus medium checks to big checks, it's hard to get shareholders to a point where they understand where you're going and where you need to be,” says Eric. That’s why his advice is to focus on securing the right type and amount of funding for each stage rather than getting tied to traditional round labels.

Eric chooses between VCs versus other options based on the amount of capital he needs. For larger raises in the range of $50 to $150 million, especially for multibillion-dollar markets, venture capital is often the best route. However, for smaller raises, you’ll need to get creative. “The sources are out there, but you have to dig deep to find them.”

For example, if you only need $500,000 for early animal testing, don’t go collecting 50 small checks. Eric suggests, “Try to find that one angel investor who can fully fund it or combine it with non-dilutive funding. It’s going to be a lot easier to manage.”

He also notes that for smaller-scale projects with a more limited pathway—say, raising around $10 million for a specific technology—you're likely better off targeting angel groups or family offices instead of VCs.

For non-VC investors like angels or family offices, Eric suggests keeping explanations simple, as these investors may not have medtech backgrounds. Patience is key with non-VCs, as they often require more hand-holding to understand the tech. Also, securing a lead investor early on—someone who can provide continuous support through multiple rounds—is always beneficial.

To survive the fundraising cycle, Eric’s strategy is to plan each funding round with the next one in mind—raising capital is an ongoing cycle—guide investors through this process, and secure their commitment in a methodical fashion.