571: Tom Wisniewski | How to Raise Money for Your Ideas

Have you ever had a great idea and wondered how you would ever finance it? In this episode, my guest may just help you find the answer. Tom Wisniewski is the Managing Partner at Newark Venture Partners, a $100M+ venture fund and leader in B2B technology investing. He was also a previous Founder of RosePaul Ventures. 

Tom loves to hear from great tech start-ups with massive investment potential and is an active early-stage investor and adviser to start-ups, venture capital, private equity, and growth-stage companies. 

With such a wealth of experience under his resume, let’s dive into Tom’s expertise and learn how to raise money for your ideas.

Things you will learn in this episode: 
[00:01 - 06:04] Opening Segment 

Sponsored ad  

I introduce today’s guests Tom Wisniewski

NVP

Founder of RosePaul Ventures

Member of the NY Angels

Be sure to check out guestio.com and start booking

Tom gives some background 

Entrepreneur from early one 

Running businesses while in school 

Joined a startup for 7 years 

Became a partner and sold the company 

Introduced to new tech and startups 

Getting into venture capital

[06:05 - 13:30] From Selling a Company to Starting a Business

Tom shares about his experience getting a degree

Not excited about the opportunities 

Getting into investment banking 

From selling a company to starting a business

Thinking through things for a year

Joining an internet incubator 

Going into Angel Investing 

After the .com crash

Who you know or what you know?

Yes - you need both

[13:31 - 24:27] How to Raise Money for Your Ideas

Becoming a better networker and communicator 

Realise who you are and what you have

Learn from everybody

Getting better at things

Introspection 

Practice and repeat

Go DO

The art of pitching your ideas and cultivating connections

Who are the principles that can provide perspective?

Start with your peers

Asking for advice and counsel

Detach yourself from the outcome

Fundraising is hard - but you can get better

The importance of finding the right fit

A word from our sponsor

[24:28 - 32:21] Closing Segment

Where people can start relationships

Lists of investors available 

Be thoughtful about your approach 

Events used to be the best way

ThE RaNdOm RoUnd

How to engage with Tom

Links below

Final words 

Tweetable Quotes: 
“If you communicate but have nothing to communicate or not enough substance of what you know and what you bring you won’t succeed; but if you know a lot of things and you don’t know how to network you’re not gonna get very far.” - Tom Wisniewski

“What you need to do to get better at stuff is be introspective, with what you’re good at, what you’re not good at… figure out how to get better, then go DO.” - Tom Wisniewski

“There could not be something more important than making sure you understand FIT in the world of investing.” - Tom Wisniewski

Resources Mentioned: 

Crunchbase

AngelList

Connect with Tom on LinkedIn, or by emailing [email protected]. Visit https://www.newarkventurepartners.com/ to see if you may be the right fit!

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