Bringing investors on board with SAFE agreements

DocSend launched multi-party eSignature just as the Flow team was garnering serious interest from individual investors. As Chris Boncimino, Co-Founder of Flow Networks, puts it, “DocSend came through for us in the nick of time. We were managing investment documents with DocSend data rooms when we realized we were going to need eSignature capabilities to bring investors on board. Right when we needed it most, DocSend released its two-way eSignature feature, which allowed us to do even more with the software we already loved.” By adopting eSignature, Chris and the Flow team knew they’d be deepening their use of DocSend to match the company’s expansion: “DocSend has a natural unfolding of capabilities that has kept pace with our own growth. As we’ve become more sophisticated, so has our use of DocSend.”

We realized we were going to need eSignature capabilities to bring investors on board. When DocSend released its eSignature feature, it allowed us to do even more with software we already loved.

Chris Boncimino

Co-Founder, Flow Networks

During their friends and family raise, Chris and his team positioned eSignature at the endpoint of their investor outreach strategy. As Chris explains, “The friends and family round involves a lot of conversations with a lot of people. We’d schedule 3-4 chats with potential investors, and during the last of these we’d ask if they’d like us to send over additional information, including our SAFE template.” Whenever an investor showed high intent, Chris leaned on DocSend to send and sign an executable, personalized SAFE note with investment terms.

How the Flow team gets SAFEs signed with DocSend

Chris has a well-developed, repeatable process in place to get his SAFEs executed. After an investor says they’re ready to come on board, Chris customizes a SAFE template with the investor’s name, investment amount, and discount rate. Then, Chris uploads that SAFE PDF to DocSend and embeds the necessary fields for each signer using DocSend’s multi-party eSignature capability. “DocSend covers us through the entire fundraising process. Investors view our pitch deck and all financial documents in DocSend, so when it comes time to close our deal, e-signing SAFEs with DocSend allows for a seamless experience.”

From simple presentations, to eSignature, to data rooms, DocSend has transformed the way we interact with investors and VCs who are looking at us.

Chris Boncimino

Co-Founder, Flow Networks

Once the SAFE notes are uploaded and all the fields set, Chris creates a DocSend link and embeds the link in an email template that he personalizes for each investor. Once the SAFE template is executed by all parties, Chris opens Flow’s data room for that investor.

From e-Signing SAFEs to accessing the investor Data Room

As Chris explains, DocSend’s eSignature feature is closely tied to the team’s data room. This is because the Flow team sees eSignature as both a tool for fundraising and for strengthening relationships. “Once we get that signed SAFE note back from an investor, we know they’re now part of the Flow family and we can immediately open our Investor Data Room to them.” The Flow data room contains every document an investor has already seen through the fundraising process, plus materials from quarterly meetings and press about the company. “Our data room brings all investors together in one well-organized place. DocSend’s eSignature tool is the key that unlocks the door to this room.”

Our data room brings all investors together in one well-organized place. DocSend’s eSignature tool is the key that unlocks the door to this room.

Chris Boncimino

Co-Founder, Flow Networks

E-signing beyond fundraising

DocSend’s eSignature feature is more than just a fundraising tool for Flow Networks. When onboarding new hires, for example, Chris and the Flow team use eSignature to sign employment agreements. They also use it for documents that safeguard mission-critical information, such as NDAs. “DocSend’s eSignature feature worked so well for us with SAFEs that we integrated it into other aspects of our business,” explains Chris. From pre- to post-fundraise, the Flow Networks team relies on DocSend as they help a growing number of businesses upgrade their payment experiences.

The post From pitch decks to signing SAFE notes, Flow Networks uses DocSend as its full-circle fundraising platform appeared first on DocSend.

Aquamarine is an investment partnership inspired by the original 1950’s Buffett partnerships, run by Guy Spier, who follows a close replication of the original Buffett partnership rules. Managing millions of dollars in assets, the investment fund is steadily growing and relies on DocSend to securely manage their communications with prospects and other external parties.

The Challenge

Prior to Dropbox and DocSend, David Jud, Finance Manager at Aquamarine, shared that his organization relied on outdated systems to store and internally share files among their global team. Additionally, the team was looking for a more secure way to externally share and track whitepapers with investors, prospects, and other external parties.

The Solution:

David turned to Dropbox’s file sync solution and DocSend’s secure document sharing platform to unify his organization’s content storage, as well as safely distribute communications with prospects and other external parties.

A more seamless way to sync and share files with Dropbox

As part of a fast-paced and globally distributed team that manages an investment fund, David is constantly collaborating with his teammates and communicating with investors, prospects, and other external parties. Initially, Aquamarine was using legacy software to save and backup files. “We were having many issues with our legacy file storage system. We were unable to share files with individuals outside of our company, or view documents that opened in a browser,” David shared. Without a secure document sharing platform, David added, it was “challenging for us to communicate with people outside of our organization.” The team at Aquamarine needed a cloud-based system to sync and store their files from anywhere.

When the organization switched over to Dropbox several years ago, they immediately felt the benefits of a purpose-built system that automatically backed up all of their important documents and investment research. “Someone on our team in the United States could be working on investor research and have a team member in Switzerland make comments on it simultaneously,” David shared. Dropbox has become the team’s go-to file storage platform that makes it easier to work together from anywhere. “We are really happy with Dropbox,” David adds.

Dropbox makes it easier for us to sync important documents to the cloud right from our desktop. No matter where I might be working, I always have access to the most up-to-date file.

David Jud

Finance Manager, Aquamarine

Securely sharing whitepapers in DocSend

David is able to upload documents into DocSend and create protected links for people outside of the organization to access industry whitepapers, reports, and fact sheets. The files in DocSend are secured with an email whitelist, expiration dates, and added password protection, limiting access to accredited individuals. These documents, originally housed in Dropbox for internal collaboration, are then shared externally using DocSend. Before a recipient opens a document, they sign an NDA in DocSend in a single click. Instead of managing multiple documents and links, Aquamarine’s NDA is custom-built into the document viewing experience within DocSend. All of this protection not only provides Aquamarine with peace of mind, but also allows for a frictionless user experience.

DocSend’s NDA lets us share industry research with peers with a single click of a button. Fund managers and investors alike can then access their signed NDAs after completion, making for an easy audit trail.

David Jud

Finance Manager, Aquamarine

Tracking user engagement with thought leadership

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Guy Spier, Managing Partner of Aquamarine, launched a podcast called the Education of a Value Investor. Inspired by his book title of the same name, Spier holds conversations with influential thought leaders, covering everything from investment strategies, mindfulness, machine learning, and more. The podcast has become a cornerstone of how the firm builds awareness and grows its network.

While Spier and his team were producing valuable pieces of content, it was difficult to keep track of individual user engagement among listeners accessing the material on a third-party host.

An innovative way David is solving this challenge is by including podcast transcripts in DocSend within each episode’s description. “DocSend is quite convenient. We upload our podcast transcripts into unique DocSend links and each viewer enters in their email before reading,” David shared. Brand new listeners who engage with the transcripts often become active members of Aquamarine’s network. With DocSend, David can keep track of these potential users and their journeys over time, while also enriching the overall listener experience by allowing access to the podcast in an alternative format. “I can receive notifications if certain episodes are gaining traction and I can see who is interacting with our content,” David shared. DocSend makes the process of gating content intuitive, allowing anyone at the firm to create gated content and track listener engagement over time, regardless of technical marketing background.

DocSend’s intuitive integration with Salesforce

DocSend’s integration with Salesforce simplifies how David tracks user engagement with content. As someone who spends a lot of time in Salesforce, David is pleased that all viewer interactions with investor research housed in DocSend are also reflected on the account level information in Salesforce. “It saves me a ton of time not having to switch back and forth between two softwares. We can see in Salesforce how people are interacting with documents we are sending out.” For David, Salesforce is his single source of truth. DocSend enriches the basic insight he gets from Salesforce, providing “more granular data on how contacts are engaging with our content,” David adds.

Virtual data rooms enrich investor conferences

Guy Spier holds an annual conference with peers to share updates on their investment research. Attendees present their findings and these presentations are confidential, so they need to be housed in a secure virtual environment.

David relies on DocSend’s virtual data rooms to hold conference materials and presentations that are shared with attendees. “It’s much easier for us to use a DocSend data room to hold all the conference presentations, rather than sending out twenty unique links to each attendee,” David shared. Only an approved list of individuals can access the presentations prior to the conference in one easy to access data room.

Through the combined power of Dropbox and DocSend, Aquamarine has a streamlined way to update, manage, and share content, whether with an employee internally or an external individual. “Dropbox and DocSend allow us to be extremely organized, buttoned up, and proactive with all of our content management,” David shared.

The post Aquamarine secures their internal and external investment related communications with Dropbox and DocSend appeared first on DocSend.

The Covid challenge: How to run an LP meeting virtually

However, in 2020 with COVID keeping everyone stranded at home, face-to-face LP meetings are no longer an option and VCs are finding new ways to maintain effective communication with their LPs.

“When COVID hit, it put all travel to a halt so we knew that we needed to explore new digital ways to engage our LPs. Since everyone is used to Zoom, we were able to effectively host our 2020 LP meeting there and securely share our materials ahead of time with DocSend,” says Kevin Pineda, Finance Manager at August Capital.

The benefits of virtual LP meetings

While face-to-face networking interactions are fairly absent from virtual LP meetings, there are some benefits to hosting your meeting virtually: increased attendance.

“The digital format made it easier for people to attend since there was no travel required which also made it more cost-effective for certain LPs,” said Kevin. “Due to the increased accessibility, LPs were more inclined to invite additional team members, especially junior colleagues. As a result, our attendance was roughly twice as large as our last in-person meeting.”

The digital format made it easier for people to attend ... As a result, our attendance was roughly twice as large as our last in-person meeting.

Kevin Pineda

Finance Manager, August Capital

DocSend enables easy and secure sharing of sensitive meeting materials

When it comes to DocSend, August Capital leverages DocSend’s secure virtual data rooms to share all materials ahead of time with their LPs while ensuring that all sensitive information is kept secure. This not only makes all meeting materials more accessible but also allows Kevin to make updates to documents up until the time of the meeting without the need to re-share the files.

Using analytics to drive better LP engagement

In addition, by sharing through DocSend, Kevin receives valuable feedback on how LPs engage with the materials for the meeting. This feedback helps him confirm assumptions on what information LPs find interesting so that he can increase LP engagement in future meetings.

“Before DocSend we based our content strategy mostly on feedback surveys from our previous meetings. That said, I’m a big data guy so being able to understand how each LP is engaging with the information we’ve presented in DocSend helps us more effectively identify ways we can continue to bring insightful content to our investors in the future,” Kevin said.

Being able to understand how each LP is engaging with the information we’ve presented in DocSend helps us more effectively identify ways we can continue to bring insightful content to our investors in the future.

Kevin Pineda

Finance Manager, August Capital

Close communication with LPs while everyone is remote will continue to be top of mind for VC firms throughout 2021 and beyond. The good news is that it is still feasible and there are even some benefits to running your next LP meeting remotely. VC firms who are able to adopt new technologies like Zoom or DocSend will surely be the ones to see the most success as we continue to navigate this new work from home lifestyle. If you’re interested in trying DocSend for your next investor update or LP meeting, click here to start a two-week trial.

The post August Capital Transforms Their LP Meetings with DocSend appeared first on DocSend.

For us to win new clients and effectively demonstrate our unique approach, we need the ability to quickly distribute complex and often dense research to a range of different viewers. We believe that access to knowledge makes the strategic transaction planning process more effective and ultimately demonstrates an important part of the strategic value we bring to clients.

Michael Magruder

Managing Director, Madison Park Group

MPG needed to be able to easily share a library of research with clients, as well as distribute marketing collateral to prospects. Given the unique aspects and needs of each group, laser-focused content is imperative. With hundreds of viewers, and significant amounts of information being shared, it is difficult to understand what content is important to whom, and how to prioritize marketing and research efforts.

DocSend analytics allow MPG to engage new prospects & manage existing customer needs

MPG uses DocSend to host and distribute market research for specific software categories and marketing collateral. This material can include a wide range of content forms and includes everything from one-page company profiles for key industry players to extensive presentations outlining macro-economic analysis and commentary.

With this approach, MPG gained access to analytics that allowed a better understanding of which readers were spending time on what content pieces. On an individual level, this allows them to see specifically who is interacting with which parts of the content and how. This has allowed MPG to better cater to customer needs and more effectively engage new client prospects.

By understanding specific stakeholders’ interests, we are able to gain valuable intelligence on key industry trends and ultimately better advise our clients.

Michael Magruder

Managing Director, Madison Park Group

DocSend gave MPG the granularity they needed to understand what specific readers found valuable in their content. Whether they are speaking to a CEO who is interested in raising investment capital or corporate development professionals who want to learn more about early-stage, market-disrupting companies, MPG walks into each meeting knowing how to tailor the conversation. This results in a more effective marketing and client engagement process for MPG, saving significant time by focusing on how to best serve the client.

Curious how you can do the same? Click here to get started with DocSend for free.

The post Madison Park Group hones their sales content strategy using DocSend appeared first on DocSend.

When it comes to raising capital for its funds, 500 Startups has a particularly complicated set of compliance requirements due to the firm’s global presence. As such, the firm must vet each potential investor to ensure compliance with global fund marketing rules.

This process can be slow and tedious, and it was the source of much friction. Some LP leads were so buried in the process that they gave up trying to access the decks altogether!

Furthermore, 500 Startups lacked visibility into where investors were focusing their attention. Which LPs needed follow-up? Which materials did viewers spend the most time reviewing? Where did they bounce? These are all important data points that, if applied to pitch decks themselves, would make fundraising more efficient and effective for 500 Startups. However, 500 Startups’ ability to control or track investor engagement within particular documents was difficult to track once investors were added to fund data rooms. Moreover, the process of onboarding investors to the fund data room was clunky. Having to create an account to view the data room and having to sign in every time to view fund documents was seen as a hurdle for investors.

Since discovering DocSend, 500 Startups has taken its fundraising process to the next level. DocSend’s seamless yet secure viewing experience immediately removed the login barrier 500 Startups historically associated with sharing assets and materials. Additionally, with DocSend’s premier analytics, the 500 Startups team has a crystal clear picture of which LPs are engaging with the documents they send, and which aren’t. The 500 Startups team even uses DocSend’s secure Spaces to securely house all pertinent fundraising materials in one customizable place.

Let’s take a deeper look.

Increased Fundraising Efficiency with DocSend

500 Startup’s previous compliance requirements led to a number of lost leads—since there was so much initial friction, potential investors would often abandon the process. Using DocSend, 500 Startups can easily share links to fund documents with potential investors via email and can leave tedious sender and viewer experiences in the past without sacrificing security and the ability to track who accesses fund documents.

“DocSend helps 500 Startups remove barriers for investors,” says Sheel Mohnot, Partner at 500 Startups. “Now, it’s a seamless experience for both parties.”

Enhanced Document Engagement Insights

Before DocSend, 500 Startups had limited visibility as to what content within fund materials viewers were focusing on. With DocSend, 500 Startups has access to granular page-by-page analytics for each user who engages with their documents. These analytics define follow-up strategy since they enable the 500 Startups fundraising team to identify who needs follow-up and what is resonating (or not resonating) with each viewer. 500 Startups now has the ability to better structure and quantitatively measure their outreach.

With DocSend, I can see where investors are focusing, and where I am losing investors. Tracking who's seeing the deck and where their attention was focused has been super useful.

Sheel Mohnot

Partner, 500 Startups

DocSend Solves for Version-Control and Dynamic Content

Once a conversation has started with a potential investor, 500 Startups shares a link to a DocSend Space that houses fund documents and provides investors with a single source of truth for all information moving forward. This has enabled 500 Startups to keep investors focused on their business.

Given the number of investors that 500 Startups interacts with, managing document version-control is important. Document updates are made all the time and keeping tabs on who has reviewed what version of what document can be a challenge. By sharing DocSend links, 500 Startups can make changes to documents behind the scenes dynamically. Furthermore, link sharing to updated fund materials on Spaces removes the friction-point of investors having to log into a data room to view the updated documents.

“We have many living documents, like pitch decks, that are changing all the time,” said Mohnot. “With DocSend, it’s not an issue because we can make changes dynamically and viewers always have access to the most updated version.”

In short, link-based access enables 500 Startups to ensure that only those who are supposed to have access to 500 Startups’ assets do. Version control enables 500 Startups to ensure that those who do have access aren’t referencing outdated assets. It’s a winning pair for 500 Startups—one that makes all the difference.

In Conclusion

With DocSend, 500 Startups sends all high-stakes fundraising materials seamlessly, securely, and intelligently. Tracking and analyzing LP engagement enables the team to identify and concentrate on high-engagement leads. DocSend’s Spaces has provided the perfect deal room platform for 500 Startups to keep all the materials pertinent to a given fund organized and (mutually) easily accessible.

In Mohnot’s own words, “DocSend has proven extremely valuable for our internal processes. We now encourage our startups to use DocSend, for fundraising as well as for their sales teams.”

For 500 Startups, the insights, efficiencies, and advantages DocSend provide empower the team to make the most out of their engagements with LPs, investors, portfolio companies, and other start-ups. Curious about how your business can do the same? Click here to get started with DocSend for free.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANY INFORMATION OR CONTENT HEREIN, BE CONSIDERED AS AN OFFER TO SELL OR SOLICITATION OF INTEREST TO PURCHASE ANY SECURITIES ADVISED BY 500 STARTUPS OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES OR REPRESENTATIVES. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANYTHING HEREIN BE CONSTRUED AS FUND MARKETING MATERIALS BY PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS CONSIDERING AN INVESTMENT INTO ANY 500 STARTUPS INVESTMENT FUND NOR  BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL, TAX OR INVESTMENT ADVICE FROM 500 STARTUPS OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES.

The post DocSend Streamlines 500 Startups’ Fundraising Process appeared first on DocSend.

Before DocSend, the MetOx team used individual letters, email, and meetings as well as annual meetings to communicate with both existing and prospective investors.

With DocSend, the MetOx leadership team can quantify investor engagement according to time spent per slide, total time spent in-deck, frequency of access, forwarding activity, and more. They can even receive real-time alerts when a new visitor reviews key documents.

A strategic approach to fundraising

Access to DocSend’s document tracking analytics has revolutionized MetOx’ approach to raising funds. By establishing a well organized, easy to access virtual data room, and uploading and distributing key documents through DocSend Spaces, the MetOx leadership team can quantify investor engagement according to time spent per slide, total time spent in-deck, frequency of access, forwarding activity, and more. They can even receive real-time alerts when a new visitor reviews key documents.

These analytics empower the team to prioritize follow-up with prospective investors who show interest in MetOx and its growth. By identifying trends in investor engagement within the virtual data room, the team can respond by optimizing the contents for best performance.

In the past, every time the team had a new version of a deck, the team had to send out a follow-up email. With DocSend, version control is as simple as clicking “Update”—no delay, no new link, and no permission changes. MetOx can even draw upon engagement data from the original version to follow-up only with those investors who have already viewed the deck.

MetOx can also invite any involve other team members as admin guests. In this way, the management team rolls out the red carpet for new members, and keeps all assets organized, uniform, and updated—without sacrificing the security of our other files.

A modern, data-driven approach to investor relations

MetOx applies a similar data-driven mentality to its investor relations. Our large group of investors are experiencing better communications from MetOx because we can easily send periodic updates that they routinely access.  By using DocSend to upload and distribute all widely distributed materials for existing investors, the team can determine which investors are keeping up with the company, and which aren’t. The MetOx team finds that investors have regularly initiated contact after receiving information.  For those who do not reach out, MetOx can limit follow-up to investors who haven’t engaged with critical company updates.

MetOx can also keep confidential investor materials more secure than they ever have before, with password protection, viewer verification, link-based access, and the option to enable or disable downloading. The ability to send all of their confidential information as a virtual data room link makes their experience even more seamless.

By sending out key announcements through DocSend we have much better engagement from them with each update than we used to have. Then for those that did not reach us, using DocSend saves us time and guesswork to see who is keeping up on our information, and lets us engage where we see a need.

Jim Jewitt

CEO, MetOx

What’s next for MetOx?

As MetOx scales market presence and growth, DocSend becomes more and more useful to the team. Next up: Incorporating DocSend into MetOx’s enterprise sales prospecting processes, so the team can seamlessly and intelligently continue the expansion of their business.

Curious how you can do the same? Click here to get started with DocSend for free.

The post MetOx Thrives with DocSend’s Document Analytics and Control appeared first on DocSend.