Up-to-date Investors Want Social Proof from Startups

Tim Berry
Tim Berry , Founder , Palo Alto Software
3 Dec 2013

I just read Social Proof Is the New Currency on the Social Media Today blog. Author Daniel Lay writes:

Whether you like Mark Zuckerberg’s mug or not, the social web is here to stay, and businesses that can integrate social proof into their marketing efforts seamlessly will join this new “socially rich” class. We mean richness in fans and followers, not number of zeroes in your bank account. Social proof is the new currency of credibility.

I don’t agree completely — I think a fat bank account is a really good thing too — but I do think it summarizes an important truth: All startups looking for investment need to deal with what that post is calling social proof. To me, the underlying reality is that startups and their founders are traceable on social media. There are footprints to track, or — far worse — no footprints.

Take it to the pitch moment, say a startup pitching a group of angel investors, which is a scene I see often. Startup founders will be judged by their social media footprint. The startups themselves, as businesses, will be judged by their social media footprints, alias social proof. A founder basing projections on social media marketing will look good if she has thousands of Facebook likes and Twitter followers, bad if she has none or only a few. The social proof, or lack of it, is evidence. Up-to-date investors understand that.

Social proof can’t be manufactured from one day to the next. It takes time to create a credible footprint. It’s one of the first activities to start as you get rolling. Somebody among the founders should have a stream established from a few years back; and the company itself should have a stream that is at least a few months old, with credible updates, and something to show for itself.

Gust Launch can set your startup right so its investment ready.


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