What Investors Really Look For w/ Mike Sherbakov

Many founders have a killer product, a passionate team, and traction, but they don't realize that investors are really betting on THEM. The truth is, your projections don't need to be perfect, your deck doesn't need to be perfect. But you need to do the things that most people won't do to stand out. You need to show that you are strategic, thoughtful, and aligned with your growth narrative. In this episode, we dive into what actually matters to investors and how early-stage companies can use financial storytelling to build trust and get funded. I'm joined by Mike Sherbakov, former Marine, serial entrepreneur, and General Partner at The Veteran Fund, an early-stage venture firm investing in founders from the military community. We talk about how founders should approach pitching investors at the seed stage, how different industries require different metrics, and why, at the end of the day, investors are betting on the founder, not just the numbers. Topics Covered: Why veterans make great founders   How The Veteran Fund evaluates early-stage opportunities How to project your financials without a finance background Why entrepreneurship isn't for everyone (and how to know it's for you) Top tools and resources for startup benchmarks   Guest Bio Mike Sherbakov is the CEO of Greatness Ventures, supporting impact-driven leaders and brands. He has led the business accelerator to thousands of investor members and hundreds of companies in their impact portfolio. Their venture philanthropy arm has built homes in underdeveloped communities since 2014 and continues to lead impact trips open for the community to join. He serves as General Partner at The Veteran Fund, a pre-seed venture capital fund in Silicon Valley, and Director of San Diego's Founder Institute, the largest early-stage startup accelerator in the world. Mike has previously founded three startups (HMS Fitness, Karuna Towels, Greatness Media), helped grow two companies from 0 to $ 20 M+ valuations (Wildfire and NurishMe), and consulted with large companies including Fitbit, lululemon athletica, Equinox, and Qualcomm. He served on active duty as a United States Marine, graduated Magna Cum Laude from San Diego State University, has traveled to 58 countries and counting, and believes that our greatness is not what we have but what we give. To learn more, visit https://veteran.fund/.  Resources  fi.co/benchmarks  https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterjameswalker/   About Your Host Jayla Siciliano, Shark Tank entrepreneur turned real estate investor, excels in building brands, teams, and products. CEO of a bi-coastal luxury short-term rental company, she also hosts the Seed Money Podcast where she's on a mission to help early-stage entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality!    Connect: Website: https://seedmoneypodcast.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaylasiciliano/ Subscribe and watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@seedmoneypodcast/    Please rate, follow, and review the podcast on https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seed-money/id1740815877 and https://open.spotify.com/show/0VkQECosb1spTFsUhu6uFY?si=5417351fb73a4ea1/! Hearing your comments and questions helps me come up with the best topics for the show!   The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice.