Allison Hoffman

@HarryStebbings Lynne Chou O'Keefe of @definevc *Kleiner -> founded early-stage digital health firm *Raised $800 AUM in 5 years *Takes super hands on approach with founders *Insatiable drive *Strong POV on incumbents & disruptors partnering in highly regulated industries *Not on podcasts or X

I am booking new guests for 20VC. Who should I have on the show? I want people who don’t do the podcast tour, who haven’t been on 10 already and have something unique and different to say. Tag them below and I call you out in the show to thank you. X, work your magic.

The Oprah effect

So proud to bring this campaign into the world. Help us change the Face of Finance!!

@lulumeservey Great example and roadmap for fundraising announcements, thanks for sharing! Follow up q - do you think the transparency approach re: down round works just as well for smaller/younger startups who have raised less capital with lower valuations?

One of the top comms questions from startups is: How should we announce our fundraise? If you want a case study of a top-tier fundraising announcement, look at what Ramp did yesterday. The recipe for a successful announcement includes (1) objectives, (2) audience, (3) message, (4) execution, and (5) validation. And Ramp nailed all 5. It’s worth studying, so let’s get specific: 1. OBJECTIVES You need clear goals. Publicity for its own sake is wasted motion; it’s only worthwhile if it helps propel the business forward. A fundraise gives you an opportunity to create an attention spike that you can then use to (a) motivate employees, (b) recruit new talent, (c) build the confidence of customers, and (d) attract new customers. You might have other objectives, but these are the most likely. From what I can see, Ramp’s announcement moved the needle on all of those. 2. AUDIENCE The general public doesn’t matter, so get focused. Your real audience consists of the people who will decide whether you achieve your OBJECTIVES. For Ramp, and for 99% of startups, that means the audience is employees, potential employees, customers, and potential customers. At other times, the audience might include investors or regulators, but not in this instance. 3. MESSAGE The good stuff! This is what you need to tell the AUDIENCE so they’ll help you meet your OBJECTIVES. The biggest mistake for fundraising announcements is to focus on themselves and the funding: “We are excited to announce that we have more money now, thanks for the money, we like it.” That’s boring and self-centered, and it leads to something between indifference and outright hostility. It’s also a huge missed opportunity to talk about what your employees and customers actually care about. Eric’s thread focused on Ramp’s accomplishments and plans instead of the funding amount, and on customers and employees instead of himself. x.com/eglyman/status… You can see the narrative unfolding with each post: he starts with the lede (the raise and marquee names involved), then immediately switches the focus to customers. Next he highlights Ramp’s performance, with concrete metrics, and gives third party validation with Ken Chenault’s quote. Then - importantly - he describes the terms of the deal and addresses head-on the fact that this is a down round. Now it’ll be tired and petty if other people were to point to this; he’s owned it and disarmed potential critics. He immediately adds context: Ramp is far outperforming most other tech companies! All this shows transparency, builds trust, and demonstrates confidence. Then, Eric puts the focus back on customers with a shoutout that simultaneously flatters Ramp customers (they get it and they’re valued) and offers social proof to attract new customers (15,000 businesses already trust Ramp!). Before wrapping up, there’s a recap of the most notable accomplishments, a call to action (if you like this, then here’s how to become a customer or apply for a job), and love and gratitude for employees. Finally, Eric ends the thread how it began: with a focus on customers. 4. EXECUTION Where most comms fail. After crafting your MESSAGE, you have to actually get it out into the wild so your AUDIENCE can see it and be prompted to do the things to meet the OBJECTIVES. First of all, the cofounders shared the news in their own voices, and the CEO stepped up as the chief ambassador for the brand. We’ve already covered Eric’s thread, which was clear and well executed. @karimatiyeh's thread was also authentic and humble, focusing on gratitude toward customers. x.com/karimatiyeh/st… But there’s a lot more to it. “Going direct” doesn’t just mean tweeting. Eric’s first post linked to Ramp’s own blog where they told the story in full, with their own narrative, before it got filtered through anyone else’s agenda. Eric also went on the record to shape the story in the media. Now here’s the elephant in the room: there was a leak last week that broke the news of Ramp’s raise, with emphasis on the fact that it was the down round. (Note: leaks are very common during fundraising talks. Shoutout to investors who coordinate with founders before talking to press. Undermining a portco’s comms strategy hurts your investment!) I noticed Ramp handled this intelligently, in two ways: (a) With timing, Ramp didn’t jump to respond last week when the leak happened or rush something out on Monday. Instead, they had the discipline and savvy to take their time to prepare a thorough and thoughtful announcement. (b) With the narrative, Ramp reset the story by going proactive instead of reacting to the leak. They reset the narrative on their own terms instead of responding while on the back foot. They waited and then came out with a clean, confident narrative that didn’t get sidetracked by answering the claims in the leak. Notably, they still addressed the down round directly, turning the elephant in the room into part of the decor. “Here’s our elephant...everyone else has one too, and ours is actually nicer.” 5. VALIDATION Saying nice things about your own company only goes so far, even with concrete metrics. You need other people to back you up. The most impactful validators are customers, employees, and investors. Ramp had all of these. With employees talking about loving their jobs (including new hires!), customers praising the business, and investors vouching for the founders, there is a surround-sound effect that tells the audience the hype is justified. x.com/m_franceschett… x.com/kaushikktiwari… x.com/deenashakir/st… x.com/andreykovalev2… x.com/mattturck/stat… x.com/zebulgar/statu… You can simply ask people to post something as a favor, but the best is when their statements reflect trust and respect built over years, not days, which shows. It’s also worth noting that Ramp did not ice out the media even after a leak. They worked with @Katie_Roof on a fresh story that focused on the bigger picture. It did include the down round but also quoted investors like @rabois to put the numbers in context. HOW TO USE THIS I’d venture to say 100% of companies announcing a round need the same 5 ingredients: you must have clear goals, know your audience, craft a compelling narrative, execute with excellence, and show third party validation. That said, you don’t have to do it exactly the way Ramp did. They showed one way - not the only way - to pull off a great fundraising announcement. You may have different objectives and audiences, so do what makes sense for you. Use the same ingredients, but make it your own flavor.

Wheel's @MLDavey recently spoke with @JacksonFordyce & @FortuneMagazine as part of their Austin-based founder series. During the conversation, Michelle discusses the inspiration behind Wheel & our mission of putting great care within everyone’s reach. youtube.com/watch?v=IYfPxE…

Remarkable the WSJ printed this drivel. Also...

And they say women are hysterical.

@sstubo How terrible. Hopefully she’ll get clarity soon!

A friend has her deceased grandma’s jewelry in a safe deposit box at SVB. Unclear if/when she’ll be able to access it. I’m sure there are many others - these are the lesser known stories related to the closure.

While it’s heartbreaking to hear stories like this, the last few days have been an interesting lesson/reminder in the personal and emotional ties we all have with our banks.

The maternity leave FOMO is real. Break a leg @MLDavey!

A million times this.

This 🧵 is a masterclass on how to successfully develop and execute a comms strategy. Or in SVB’s case… utterly fail. Identify your key audiences, make sure you reach them (at the appropriate time!) and give them the context and info they need.

🎶 To the grandparents house we go 🎶 Introducing Kahlo to the joy and beauty of driving down Highway 5, cow fields and all. Wish us luck! @jeanXmichel

He’s here ✨ Kahlo Bear Hoffman, welcome to this crazy world. @jeanXmichel and I already can’t imagine life without you.

I'm happy to share the first episode of my video series with @FortuneMagazine where I interview Austin-based founders! I sit down with @MLDavey from @Wheel_Health and discuss Wheel’s trajectory and the best and worst advice received from investors. youtube.com/watch?v=IYfPxE…

Thank you @BusinessInsider & @MissyKras for including Wheel on your list of startups expected to take off. We're excited to continue putting great care within everyone's reach by powering virtual-first care across the broader industry - in 2023 & beyond #wheel-33" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">businessinsider.com/biotech-health…

In full nesting mode. The nursery of my dreams is coming together 😍 @jeanXmichel

Saved the light reading for the baby moon 🤷🏻‍♀️

In all seriousness though, there are few things that fill me up like spending time with my coworkers IRL, seeing first-hand the industry reaction to what we’re building at @Wheel_Health, and running into all my health tech friends. #HLTH2022

Giving myself a pat on the back for making it through three days in Vegas at 32 weeks pregnant. Excited to head home to my husband, my dog, and my couch…which I may not leave for the foreseeable future #HLTH2022