The Venture Builder

Handbook phase 3

Congratulations on receiving Carbon13’s investment! We are very excited to be working with you in Phase 3 and beyond. Please read through this Handbook to learn about the support available to you throughout Phase 3.

Contents

Showcase

London - Friday 24th January 2025

Berlin - Tuesday 28th January 2025

We will hold sessions in advance of Showcase to prepare you.

Phase 3 Objectives

Phase 3 is designed to help your team accelerate and is primarily focused on 121 support – there will be few of the whole group sessions that we held in Phase 1 and 2.

Through Phase 3, we expect your goals to include:

  • Deeper customer discovery.
  • Getting a pilot/LOIs
  • Building your product/executing on products/LOIs.
  • Preparing for your Pre-Seed raise.

Getting Started and Expectations

Broadly defined, we expect you to have three stages of focus across Phase 3. Below, you can learn about these three stages, what you should be doing in each, and who you can go to for support.

Stage 1 - Traction and Execution

Starting in September, you should be focused on executing against your goals, getting traction in the venture that you can sell to investors later. To get started you should:

September/October

  • Book a call with Puja – set and discuss your goals and milestones together.
  • Book a first meeting with your EiR and set the cadence for your weekly meetings.
  • Book Office Hours with Carbon13’s experts, depending on what you need support with (more information in the Office Hours tab).
  • Use Venture Selfie time to discuss your progress and blockers against your goals, and utilise the cohort’s expertise. Venture Selfies will be fortnightly, starting from Week 2. You can register for a slot with Jack.
  • Complete the Weekly Check-in form to show your progress and any areas that you need support.
  • Execute against your goals – get traction!

October/November

  • Execute!
  • Check-in with your Carbon13 lead in October and November.
  • Continue to use Venture Selfie time to get the support of your cohort.
  • Meet with your EiR weekly.
  • Make use of the Office Hours available with Carbon13 experts.
  • Continue to complete the Weekly Check-in Form.

    Book your check in with Puja.

    Fill in the Weekly Check-in Form to highlight your wins and where you would like support.

    A headshot of Paul Bourne in a blue tshirt smiling at the camera

    Paul Bourne will prepare you for your Showcase pitch.

    Stage 3 - Pitching to Investors

    January

    • Ensure that your Investor Strategy is prepared and ready to execute – you have a pipleline, contacts, an investor newsletter, and your pitch is polished.
    • Pitch at Showcase! You will give a short pitch and network with investors. Be ready to kickstart your raise!

    Stage 2 - Investor Preparation and Honing your Pitch

    Mid-November/December

    • Investor Mentors – You should introduce your venture and prepare for your first meeting, treating it as if you were meeting an investor for your first raise. You can find more information about Investor Mentors in the 121 support section.
    • Book 121 meetings with Paul Bourne to work on your pitch for Showcase.
    • Use Venture Selfies as an opportunity to practice your pitch as well as the usual feedback on progress and blockers.
    • Book Office Hours with Min Dhillon to discuss potential fundraising strategy and Angel Investor contacts in Carbon13’s network.
    • Develop and define your investor pipeline – which VCs will you reach out to and when? Who are your top priorities?

      Dong Zhao, of fungtional.bio, pitches at Berlin Cohort 1’s Showcase.

      1-2-1 Support

      During Phase 3 you will have regular 121 support from a number of mentors. You can learn about the time that you are entitled to below. Your mentor assignments will be made individually.

      EiR

      You will have 1 hour per week with your EiR to support in all aspects of your business.

       

      Carbon13 Lead

      You will meet your Carbon13 lead monthly to check in on your progress.

       

      Programme Account Manager 

      The Programme team, on which Jack will be your primary contact, will continue to facilitate connections to the Domain Expert, Corporate, and Investor Networks.

       

      Investor Mentor

      You will be assigned an investor mentor, with whom you can have 3×30-minute meetings across Phase 3. These experienced investors will help you to develop your fundraising and investor outreach strategy, and to ask some of the questions you will face from investors during your first raise.

       

      Structure:

      • Send a blurb before your first meeting, introducing your venture. Get feedback on this during the first meeting.
      • Meeting 1 – Treat your first meeting as you would a first meeting during your raise – prepare your conversational pitch and get feedback on what went well and what you could improve.
      • Meeting 2 – Present your deck and business model in greater depth, getting feedback on both. At the end of the session, your mentor will provide feedback.
      • Meeting 3 – Outreach strategy. Discuss your fundraising strategy, your planned outreach and investor pipeline. Cover any final points that you have questions on.

      Expert Office Hours

      PR and Marketing - Sara Jones

      Sara Jones is Head of Marketing for Carbon13. She specialises in working with early stage startups in the “messy stage”, hence she was Carbon13’s first employee back in 2020 where the first tasks were building the talent pipeline, community and brand. She is an ex-founder herself, and is a startup mentor, including for Imperial’s student-run pre-accelerator.

      Examples of support she can provide:

      Marketing basics for founders with no time or money

      How to make and build a brand

      Lead capture and growth tactics

      How to build a community/following

      How to do press releases

      You need to book 2 sessions with Sara early in Phase 3 to prepare for the investment announcement. In the first short session you will get to know each other and Sara will explain what you need to prepare for the announcement. In the second session, Sara will help you develop the building blocks that will enable you to develop this.

      Book Here

      Financial Modelling - Paul Hodgson

      Paul Hodgson originally trained as a chartered accountant and started financial modelling in 1993.  Paul is a three-time exited founder and has been a financial projections and pricing mentor and in spreadsheet modelling for more than 20 years helping over 2,000 startups present their projections for pitches and investors that are positive, realistic, and prepared for questions.

      Examples of the support Paul can provide:

      Aid with spreadsheets.

      Financial assumptions validation.

      Feedback on issues with financial models.

      What financial questions to be prepared for.

      Book Here

      HR and Recruiting - Lauren Mustill

      Lauren Mustill works as Carbon13’s Head of People.

      Lauren is a seasoned talent acquisition expert with 20 years of experience in recruitment and people management, specialising in building high-performing teams for both large corporates and startups with a focus on sustainability. She has led recruitment initiatives in ESG and climate tech sectors, helping businesses attract top talent and create purpose-driven cultures.

      Examples of support she can provide:

      Recruitment strategies for early-stage startups: Tailoring talent acquisition for startups with limited resources, focusing on building lean, high-impact teams that can scale.

      Interviewing and Selection techniques (trials, auditions and interviews)

      Building a purpose-driven company culture: Designing and implementing workshops that help startups create a values-driven culture that attracts and retains top talent.

      Leadership coaching for startup founders

      Advising on employee engagement strategies

      Innovative talent attraction methods

      Book Here

      Fundraising and Angel Investors - Min Dhillon

      Min Dhillon is the Head of Capital at Carbon13. He has successfully raised over £5 million for Carbon13’s Funds. This money has been deployed into the ventures emerging from our programmes. With a background in product marketing, he is good at crafting compelling value propositions, developing effective go-to-market strategies, and aligning messaging with market needs.

      Examples of support he can provide:

      Pitch deck preparation

      Investor targeting and outreach

      Investor communications and relationship management

      Networking and partnership development

      Go-to-market strategy, particularly for software products

      Book Here

      Accounting and Tax Setup with PEM

      At PEM, we are dedicated to supporting start-up businesses on
      their journey. We recognise that from the point a new business is
      launched, the pressures on both time and finances are huge. We
      provide a cost effective and efficient solution, covering a broad
      range of accountancy services as follows:

      Bookkeeping, invoice processing and set up of supplier/
      salary payments.
      VAT registration and filing of VAT returns.
      Management information (including monthly/quarterly
      management accounts, cashflow reporting and budget vs
      actual reporting).
      Provision of Xero and associated accounting software.
      Year-end compliance services (statutory accounts,
      corporation tax and personal tax returns).
      Payroll and pensions.
      Company secretarial.

      Book Here

      In addition to regular mentor sessions, you can book time with experts in the Carbon13 team who can support you on other areas of starting your business. Check out the slider below for details of the topics that you can get support on and use the links here to book your office hours with:

      Sara Jones (C6)/Simon Dierks (B2) for support in developing your PR and Marketing strategies.

      Lauren Mustill for support on Recruiting and HR.

      Min Dhillon for support in Fundraising Strategy and accessing Carbon13’s Angel Network.

      Paul Bourne for support on pitching.

      Paul Hodgson for support on Financial Modelling.

      Accounting and Tax Setup with PEM (UK)

      You are entitled to book a 121 session with the PEM team to discuss your accounting setup. These sessions will take plane on the afternoons of Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th of October. Please book your slot above. Check out more about what PEM can offer you in their pamphlet.

      Resources

      You an continue to make use of Carbon13’s Directory to find Domain Experts and other useful contacts. Please message Jack if you need an introduction.

      Check out the Partner Perks page to see what offers you can take advantage of from Carbon13’s partner network.

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