How do you convince an investor to lead a round, if others will follow?
The situation is this: we're an early stage startup in a deep tech field (hardware, heavy regulation, etc). We have issued patents in key markets, regulatory approval for early stage testing, and positive data from our first real world testing. A key strategic partner has evaluated our materials and agreed they would follow in a Series A, to the tune of ~$4M. As a rule, they never lead a round. We have some other interested parties that have gone beyond initial talking stages, but until now, nobody has wanted to lead. With a sure-fire follow from a multi-billion dollar company, how would you convince other investors to take the plunge on doing all the due diligence etc? Is there anything we can do to help them along?
they just told you NO. as a fellow founder i can tell you that investors have many polite ways to say no. and they will waste your time. i was in hardware too and ended up bootstrapping. they just invest in whatever is hot right now according to what other investors tell them at their social gatherings. not in what makes sense to invest in.