the different stages when you have raised funding.
Klein: Yeah, so
when we raised our first investment it was obviously a lot harder to raise money.
The company was much smaller and it's a much bigger risk for any investor.
But the reward can be higher.
And so, in that first round, some of the most instrumental people we signed on
were people that were food and beverage investors or
people that had Chicago connections that we could tap into.
And then moving forward, it became easier for us to raise capital because,
as a business kind of goes through its life cycle and continues to grow and
your investors can see that traction, a lot of those investors want to
either reinvest or they know people that want to invest alongside them.
And so we were able to kind of parlay that into raising more funds at a quicker pace,
so that we could kind of raise the funds, move on, and keep running the business.
Parkinson: You think you're going to need to raise capital again?
Klein: I don't think so.
It's something that it really just depends on how fast we grow.
If growth is extremely fast, there may be a need for raising some outside capital.
If it's good growth and we may be able to sustain it ourselves,
then that's what we'll do.
But something where we always kind of keep that window open because
your needs change as a business so quickly.
Parkinson: So, let's come back to the last couple of rounds then.
So, in your first financing, I assume it was you and
your co-founder and a PowerPoint presentation and an interesting concept.
And that's what you used to raise money, is that right?
Klein: Yeah, absolutely.
Parkinson: Okay, and what were you able to accomplish with that?
Klein: So, it was funny we actually held investor presentations
where we had one in the Chicago suburbs and then one in the city of Chicago.
And we brought our employees into the room and we set up the room and
had tastings and different things going on.
And then we did about a half hour presentation, 15 minutes Q&A.
And so, after those 2 presentations, about 3 months after that,
we had raised the full million dollars, which is what we're planning on raising for the round.
And, yeah, it was fantastic.
I mean, it wasn't easy.
Again, it's a big risk for anyone coming into that round but people saw
the upside, they could see through maybe an investment deck that wasn't perfect.
But they saw the passion behind my business partner, Patrick, and I.
And they saw a good team, and they saw a good product, and believed in us.
Parkinson: So, how did your investor presentation change from then
until the most recent time, where I assume you had a lot more traction to show?
Klein: Yeah, it's interesting, it was a lot more detailed as time went on.
And then the investor presentation really became more of, where are you going to go
in the next couple of year? Because at that point you've taken on some financing,
you've established yourself as a business.
And then, what we've been trying in that next investor presentation,
you're almost trying to sell what the next 3 years looks like.
Whereas the first investor presentation, you're trying to say,
here's my original concepts.
And I'm going to make this work and it's going to turn into acts.
It then becomes, okay, you've turned something into something.
It's a real business.
It has revenues, it have profits.