I failed to raise £300,000

Why did I fail to raise £300,000?

Because my idea wasn't good enough? Probably the easy answer but a subjective one and there are plenty of terrible ideas that have raised more money so, no. Was it because I was unlucky? Maybe, although I have experienced my fair share of lucky coincidences, I don't consider myself unlucky. Actually, I am very lucky that I didn't raise £300k, but let me tell you why I was even trying to raise the money in the first place.

For those of you who are loyal, longtime Doppler followers you will have been with me through all these twists and turns. I want to say a HUGE thank you, I wrote this for you (and me) to keep track of the last few years.

The background

I have spent two decades working for tech startups helping them scale for growth. several years ago, in 2015, I experienced an epiphany of sorts.

I decided I needed to change what I was doing because I had no ambition to climb the ladder, I didn't need more money, and I felt every day was a battle. All I wanted was my soul back and to do a good job, doing something I was good at and cared about. I felt like I was doing a crap job. I worked hard but my heart would just give up, I felt sad inside.

Living the dream

So I decided to change it up and write a Sci-Fi novel because it sounded cool and completely meaningless, and no one could stop me. I became a part-time consultant to find the time to write. Instead of writing, I used the new time I had to do whatever I felt like doing, when I got bored of half-drinking myself to death and bored of pottering around I thought perhaps I could do something major, something world-saving. I created a job and lifestyle I loved, helping people find a way to make a living doing what they loved. Coming from a scaleup background it wasn't long before I found a formula that I thought would help scale this idea and it was that I went to raise money for, £300k to build an app and team to help people realise their dreams.

The wonderful Jess looking groovy and working her arse off as usual to do brilliant things. That's a whole other story.

Me giving the team an investor update after a positive update.

Danielle (me) outside our Doppler offices in the vestry of a church in Bristol.

let’s do this

I went out to raise with a small group of lovely people who believed in me and spoke to a number of different investors. Everyone said kind things and referred me to someone else. We got as far as getting on the agenda of a couple of investor committees but we were either, too early, too late, asking for too much or too little. No one knew what category to put us in, no one ever said no but no one ever said yes either. We were only talking to social impact investors and we were a bit wild, naive and undefined. We got pretty close at one point and got a lovely recommendation from an investor chair alas it never turned into cash.

running out of money and runway

Eventually, my money ran out (we were 99% self-funded) and I didn't have the luxury of going to more meetings, I was in debt and needed somewhere to live. I had been earning a wage since I was 16 so it was a shock at 36 to be stone broke.

I realised I needed to earn money, given that most startups don't break even for 10 years, if they are successful at all (9 out of 10 fail) that wasn't an option.

What happened next

Fortunately, I had a consultancy to fall back on and decided to pivot slightly to focus on serving clients trying to solve environmental and social issues, ideally via tech. I took my company through the Bcorp process to ensure I had the integrity to deliver well. I happened to time things well, a global pandemic encouraged growth and investment in impact tech, CICs and climate tech and suddenly found my niche. I adore the work and all my clients, who are loyal and a ton of fun to work with. Plus, I still have buckets of time to do community work, support others starting out and spend time being alive.

The end?

Did I want to be one of those cool female founder success stories who set up a billion-dollar company, yes definitely? had my Forbes interview all ready to go. Did I want to set fire to my mind in order to do it and do whatever it takes? No. Having had a diagnosis of schizophrenia at 23 I had a long journey trying to not let that stand in my way but inevitably it was something I had to come to terms with along the way. Plus the whole 'boss bitch' thing is not really my bag, as an extroverted introvert, I am happy to have a little flash of the limelight and then retreat to the sanctuary of a good book.

So I guess you can make your own mind up as to why I didn't raise £300k but I will say this, if you have ever read Tuesdays with Morrie then you might understand what I got instead of £300k, personally I believe I won the life lottery. I found out I am happy to be unknown. I honestly couldn't tell you all the weird, brilliant and awful things that have happened along the way. The people I have got to hang out with have been worth it alone. I can hardly believe some of the life-changing experiences I have had. I will encourage anyone and everyone with the desire to follow your dreams to do so because if you don't you won't discover anything new, instead you will only wonder.

Good luck with whatever your dream is, remember to try to enjoy it, it is after all the challenge you have set yourself. Come failure or success, there's not much difference between them, outlook and approach are far more important for me. Also thank you to all those investors who generously gave me their time but ultimately gave me a hard pass. I'm pleased I don't owe you anything other than gratitude. 🙏✨

D x