Will Smelko Shares How to Find Investors that Lead to Strategic Moves Success Unfiltered

111 | Will Smelko Shares How to Find Investors that Lead to Strategic Moves
What value do investors add to your business relationship? And what value do you add?
Will Smelko is the visionary and CEO behind Ora Organic as well as a fervent foodie. Upon graduating from UC Berkeley, he dove headfirst into the world of strategy consulting for Fortune 500 healthcare and pharmaceutical companies but soon realized his calling was elsewhere. Understanding that the most promising solution to climate change involved food, Will began exploring plant-based nutrition. Ora is changing the status-quo by creating nutritional products made directly from food without artificial additives. Ora reflects the values of its co-founders, which is why the company prioritizes organic farming, sustainable harvesting practices, and delicious, plant-based nutrition.
When you’re starting out, it can be very tempting to just accept money from anyone who is offering it, and figure things out after. But, vetting our investors can help us strategically grow our business. 
You started your business because you were passionate about the product you manufacture, or the service that you provide - not solely for the money. That means you want investors who are going to be able to help that business move forward: you know what your business needs, who has the connections and the ability to meet those needs? That’s who you want as an investor.
I know how tempting it is to take money from any investor when you have none. When I started FITzee Foods, I accepted money from any investor who was willing to give. But if I had taken the time and interviewed potential investors to see what value they could bring, and if I had figured out what value I brought to them, it would have completely changed how I approached investors in my business. 
This week’s guest on Success Unfiltered, Will Smelko, started his plant-based nutrition company, and instead of accepting any investor interested in his business, he faced his fears and asked the hard questions.
Are you ready to see how vetting investors strategically can lead to success? You’ll find all that AND MORE in this episode of Success Unfiltered!
Enjoy, and thank you for listening and tuning into Success Unfiltered!
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Here are a few key secrets we talked about in this episode:
Michelle introduces Will Smelko. Will, the Shark Tank veteran of the month, created a plant-based supplement, named Ora Organics to avoid additives in food and supplements. The most NOs that Will heard were in the early days, from investors: there was a long string of NOs! In the beginning, a lot of people said NO because it was a product that had a negative connotation: many people were not interested in supplements. One of the earliest NO’s was overcoming objections through education; helping people see that their supplements weren’t “artificial”; that they were made from plant-based products. Working with investors can be hard because they ask the tough questions: some of which you don’t have answers! Prepare as muc