Secrets of the Findaway Diligence Process Revealed!

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Where Your Pitch Deck goes after You Press “Send.”

When it comes to how we at Findaway Adventures perform diligence on companies in which we are considering making an investment, we want to be as transparent as possible. This goes against the grain of industry norms, as I understand them, which tend to favor mystery and opaqueness. But we have always believed that the more clearly startups understand our process, timelines, and criteria for choosing to work with a company, the better job they can do putting together an application or deciding whether to submit an application in the first place. 

In that spirit, the following is a description of our process, timelines, and criteria that make up our diligence. If you're a visual thinker like me, you may want to refer to the diligence flowchart at the very bottom of this page.

Process

Every pitch deck that comes into Findaway Adventures lands on my associate Eric Davis’ desk. Eric, a recent MBA graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, reviews each deck against our investment criteria (which can be found on our home page). If it stacks up to our initial criteria, he will then write the founder back with a link to our Intake Form, which asks for a deeper list of materials and thoughts from the founder. It takes about 15-20 minutes to fill out. 

In the spirit of even deeper transparency, a sample of our Term Sheet is included at the top of the Intake Form so you can consider those terms before taking the time to fill out the Intake Form. If there is a term you don’t like, just ask us; if we like your brand we may negotiate it, but it is important to know where we start on all our deals! We also provide an NDA there for anyone so inclined.

Once Eric and I quickly review the Intake Form, if we decide to pass on a company, Eric will write to them and tell them why. He will also invite them to take part in Findaway Adventures’ “Nail Your Strategy” program; an eight-week, online course that we offer to young companies to help them develop a strategic playbook they will need to be successful in scaling their companies. In fact, as you can see from the diagram, “Nail Your Strategy” is available (and highly recommended) for any company that runs into a roadblock during any stage of diligence. 

The added benefit of taking “Nail Your Strategy” is that graduates become eligible to participate in a Pitch Slam that Findaway and Netrush offer three times a year. Live and online, each Pitch Slam provides opportunities for live deals with companies we love!

The next step in evaluation involves Eric putting together a report card on each company that he and I review together. We use a 1-3 scoring system. Companies that score under 2.25 are informed about their report card, and taking the “Nail Your Strategy” course if offered. They will have to tighten things up and then resubmit a deck with their updated plans. For companies that score at 2.25 and above, Eric builds a complete “investment packet,” including the deck, intake form, our report card, and Eric’s recommended terms sheet for review by me. At this point, I will either conclude that your company is not quite ready to work with us, in which case we will inform you and recommend “Nail Your Strategy,” or I will take it one more step up the ladder for review at our Partner Committee approval meeting, which includes Findaway founding partners Brian Gonsalves and Chris Marantette (who also happen to be the founders of Netrush - more on that company below).

Companies that pass muster during the Partner Committee stage and love us as much as we love them become Findaway Adventures investment companies. They also get the opportunity to be fast-tracked into the Liftoff Accelerator, in which Findaway combines forces with Netrush to accelerate the brand on Amazon and direct-to-consumer.

The Liftoff Accelerator and focus on Amazon is not a requirement for Findaway investment companies, but we have found for seed level companies it can provide a true toe-hold with cash flow and deeper consumer and marketplace understanding.

Timelines

This is easily the least understood and hence most frustrating part of pitching a brand to investors. When pitching to Findaway Adventures, the key timeline to remember is that the decision whether to invest or not is made at the Partner Committee approval meeting (see Box 6). This meeting takes place punctually and with lots of good coffee on the second Friday of each month. At no other time are investment decisions made. 

What does this mean for you? It means that if your “packet” misses that meeting, you will not get a decision until the following month. It doesn’t matter why your packet missed out. It could be that we were unable to connect in the weeks leading up to the second Friday. Or, it could simply mean there were lots of other companies in line ahead of you. By now, you are probably realizing that there are relatively few of us making these decisions: basically, two of us full-time at Findaway, the Findaway Partners, and a handful of people at Netrush; and working with prospective investment companies is only a part of what we do. We also loop in our Findaway Sherpas as much as we can; they are invaluable in helping us evaluate great, change-the-world brands.

So, you have to be patient . . . or at least more patient than you might expect.

Beat the System!

There is one, and only one, way to beat the system, which is to participate in one of the three pitch slams we are holding each year. How does doing this allow you to try to beat the system, you ask? The pitch slam is the only time, other than the second Friday of each month, that the august Partner Committee has agreed to make investment decisions! That’s right: Brian, Chris, and I will all be judges (along with other industry experts) at all Pitch Slams, where we will come armed with virtual pen and paper to ink deals on the spot. 

And even if you don’t succeed in attracting an offer during the Pitch Slam, we’re still not going to cut you completely loose. Findaway Adventures also operates The Findaway Club Mastermind, which is for change-the-world founders who have nailed their strategy and are ready to join a tribe of like-minded entrepreneurs to focus on the other, critical elements needed to scale their brand. The Mastermind is by invitation only, and the easiest way to get an invite is to attend . . . you guessed it, the “Nail Your Strategy” Course.

I so love it when everything comes together nicely like this. But seriously, if we have met before, I hope this short explanation makes sense to you. And, if we haven’t met before, I hope it emboldens you to reach out for a conversation. Findaway exists to support risk-taking, change-the-world founders just like you with money, strategy, and retail expertise to help accelerate you past the rock outcroppings and muddied waters that hinder you.

It’s why we exist. 

I had promised at the beginning of this article to cover “criteria for becoming a Findaway investment,” which largely concerns our Report Card. I feel like I’ve gone on long enough, however, so I’ll write about the Findaway Report Card in my next post.

Thanks, everyone. Write info@findawayadventures.com with questions. 

Sincerely,

Robert U. Craven

Managing Director, Findaway Adventures