RAISE 🪽 No BS Fundraising Podcast

Nick Katz
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship

RAISE is the No BS fundraising podcast for founders who want sharper stories, cleaner processes and rounds that actually close. Hosted by Nick Katz, founder of RAISE the boutique fundraising advisory, each episode goes inside a real raise: how the deal was framed, what nearly killed it and what finally got investors to yes. If you’re raising now or planning to, this is your unfair advantage.

Episodes

  1. May 6

    £2M RAISE in 2 Weeks to Make Our Brains Better with Daniel Murray @ Heights

    The conversation covers the introduction to Dan's company, focusing on brain health and clinical trials, and the long-term bet on scientific trials. It also delves into the emotional side of fundraising, strategic decisions in fundraising, and the importance of control in fundraising. The decision to raise funds due to running out of growth capital and cash flow challenges is discussed, along with the impact of seasonal sales on funding decisions and planning for growth in January. Additionally, the fundraising strategy and approach, including the narrative and approach to fundraising, handling investor requests, and dealing with analytical angels, are explored. The conversation covers the importance of investor updates, the story of the 2025 raise, the role of angel investors, challenges of crowdfunding, operational details of the raise, and reflections on the raise. It also highlights the amount of work required for crowdfunding and the significance of maintaining investor relationships. Takeaways Long-term thinkingStrategic fundraising decisions Investor updates are crucialCrowdfunding requires a lot of work Chapters 00:00 Fundraising Strategy and Approach22:52 The Importance of Investor Updates28:58 Challenges of Crowdfunding36:04 Operational Details of the Raise

    41 min

  2. Jan 29

    Planting £25M: How a Wonky Tomato Sparked a Fundraising Phenomenon with Deepak Ravindran

    The conversation with Deepak Ravindran from Oddbox covers the origin story of Oddbox, its current state, early days of fundraising, the seed round and crowdfunding, crowdfunding strategies, and the challenges and emotions in fundraising. Deepak shares insights into the impact of crowdfunding, the challenges faced during fundraising, and the strategies used to navigate the early stage funding rounds. Takeaways Fundraising ChallengesImpact of CrowdfundingEarly Stage Funding Rounds Chapters 00:00 Challenges and Emotions in Fundraising

    35 min
  3. RAISED $19.3m → SOLD to ZENDESK: But No One Talks About This Part of Fundraising

    Jan 21

    RAISED $19.3m → SOLD to ZENDESK: But No One Talks About This Part of Fundraising

    In this episode of the No BS Fundraising Podcast, host Nick interviews Martin Kõiva, co-founder of Klaus, a customer support AI platform. Martin shares his journey from the inception of Klaus, which began in 2018, through various fundraising rounds, culminating in a successful exit to Zendesk in 2024. The conversation delves into the emotional aspects of fundraising, the evolution of Klaus's branding, and the strategic decisions that shaped their growth. Martin emphasizes the importance of storytelling in fundraising, illustrating how the clarity of their messaging evolved through iterations and investor feedback.

    38 min
  4. $7.5m RAISE in 2 Weeks to Build Blok: the Lovable for Product Experimentation - with Tom Charman

    11/15/2025

    $7.5m RAISE in 2 Weeks to Build Blok: the Lovable for Product Experimentation - with Tom Charman

    Connect with Tom @ Blokhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/tcharman/https://www.joinblok.co/Protagonist led 2.5m Pre-seedhttps://www.protagonist.co/https://www.linkedin.com/company/protagonist-co/https://x.com/protagonistxyzhttps://www.instagram.com/protagonistxyzhttps://www.crunchbase.com/organization/protagonist-27b9https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/495528-31https://www.vcsheet.com/fund/protagonistHarry Hursthttps://www.protagonist.co/team/harry-hurst/https://www.linkedin.com/in/harryhurst/https://www.instagram.com/harryhur5t/https://twitter.com/harryhurstMaC Venture Capital led 5m Seedhttps://macventurecapital.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/mac-venture-capital/https://x.com/macventurecap?lang=en-GBhttps://www.instagram.com/macventurecap/https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/mac-venture-capitalhttps://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/267599-80https://www.vcsheet.com/fund/mac-venture-capitalMarlon Nicholashttps://macventurecapital.com/team/marlon-nichols/https://www.linkedin.com/in/marloncnichols/https://x.com/marloncnicholshttps://www.instagram.com/marloncnichols/Other Notable InvestorsRyan Hoover @ Weekend Fundhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrhoover/https://www.linkedin.com/company/weekend-fund/Charlie Leggate @ Anorak Ventureshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-leggate-63606384/https://www.linkedin.com/company/anorak-ventures/Kevin Novak @ Rackhouse Venture Capitalhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/novakkm/https://www.linkedin.com/company/rackhouse-venture-capital/Other People to Followhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sumeet-vaidya/https://www.linkedin.com/in/ckneumann/

    47 min
  • 4 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

About

RAISE is the No BS fundraising podcast for founders who want sharper stories, cleaner processes and rounds that actually close. Hosted by Nick Katz, founder of RAISE the boutique fundraising advisory, each episode goes inside a real raise: how the deal was framed, what nearly killed it and what finally got investors to yes. If you’re raising now or planning to, this is your unfair advantage.

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