I wish there was a cure to all the stress and anxiety entrepreneurs feel during fund-raising season. The truth is we all know the entrepreneurial journey can be an emotional rollercoaster and funding season is another level of pressure and emotional drain.

From the planning involved to get a pitch deck ready, investors lined up and conversations started…to the long wait for decisions to be made – fundraising is nerve-racking. For some businesses, their life cycle will hang on this funding round.

To top it all off, the current economic forecast is looking particularly brutal for entrepreneurs. Earlier this month, Crunchbase revealed that worldwide venture capital funding declined 53% in the first quarter of 2023. With interest rates rising, the war in Ukraine ongoing and Silicon Valley Bank's recent collapse, any company attempting to fundraise is facing an unprecedented macroeconomic environment.

How we – as entrepreneurs but also human beings – manage to cope with the stress and the unpredictability that comes with our day jobs, is critical not only to the success of our businesses, but more importantly, to our wellbeing.

As a founder, I have learned some tips and tricks that have helped me move away from stress paralysis to feeling capable of coping with it.

First, I always accepted this as part of the job. Funding season will always be around the corner. I often say to the founders I work with, ‘after fund-raising is before fund-raising’. It’s bound to be stressful, and there’s no escaping it. But instead of fighting against it, let’s accept it. For this, I adopt a stoic mindset: while I know I cannot control my environment, I can always control how I respond to it.

On that note, I urge my founders to focus on the things they can control. To be perfectly prepared. To plan in advance and to try and predict the questions that will likely come up. For me, it’s about being ready to talk about strategy and being confident in the room.

I’m also of the view that we need to look after ourselves, especially before key meetings. I like to prioritise sleep the night before or choose an outfit that I know will make me feel good. Having positive thoughts is also something I tend to do and tell my founders to think about too. Feeling healthy, rested and looking the part goes a long way to making a positive impression.

At the end of the day, this is all a numbers game. There are so many factors behind an investor’s decision. That’s why I encourage the companies I work with to have as many leads as possible so they can increase their chance of success. I learnt the hard way, that it pays off to front-load work and build access first. But the chances of securing funding from someone we know are much higher than through reaching out cold. That’s why we should always be leveraging our network, and where possible, tap into an investor’s connections.

During my days as a founder, the most valuable support I could ever receive during fund-raising season was by speaking to those going through the same thing. Support groups like the Entrepreneurs’ Organization have been critical in keeping me – and thousands more – sane. I rely on this tightknit community for support, insight and strength when things are challenging. My fellow members may not be able to fix my problem, but we can all rally around to give each other the space and guidance to see a way out of it. 

And finally, we shouldn’t give up. I am a firm believer of the Japanese proverb “nana korobi, ya oki”, meaning ‘fall down seven times, get up eight’. Entrepreneurship is not easy. We will receive several rejections before we land upon a resounding “yes”! There’s no point in dwelling on a loss – this will only fuel negative thoughts. That’s why we need to be ready to accept failures, learn from them, and move on. J.K. Rowling had to pitch for Harry Potter 12 times before Bloomsbury accepted it. Good opportunities take time to find.

We know the founder's journey comes with its challenges, but it is also why it can be so rewarding.

So long as we know how to cope with this pressure, everything else will fall into place.

Now, are we ready to fundraise?