THE SHORTCUT TO YOUR DREAM ROUND

Empowering exceptional Seed and Series A Founders to raise more, faster, and on better terms from top-tier investors.

APPLY TO LEARN MORE

Iskender Dirik, active VC and Fundraising Advisor

SOME FOUNDERS WHO HAVE SUCCESSFULLY RAISED WITH ISKENDER’S COACHING AND THE “3P” FRAMEWORK:

Malte Kosub
Parloa
Series A
AI Platform for Contact Centers
>20M €
(and then >60M €)
Michael Pleuger
Akirolabs
Seed
Supply-Chain-Management SaaS
>4M €
Susant Patro
Vortex IQ
Pre-Seed
AI Ecommerce Automation
1M $
Johannes Salmisaari
Droppe
Seed
Source-to-Order Platform
3.9M €
Patrick Pehmöller
Flowfox
Series A
Container Import Automation
6.9M €
Anna Bojic
Wallet Studio
Seed
Apple & Google Wallet Platform
5M €
Stefan Engl
Deepopinion.ai
Series A
Agentic Process Automation
11M €
Dennis Pfaff
Pauls Job
Seed
Conversational AI HR Tech
2M €

Watch Iskender explaining the FundraisingCOUP program in this video:

The FundraisingCOUP program is based on Iskender’s unique “3P” Framework:

Psychology

Gain exclusive insights from Iskender's 20+ years in Venture Capital and the startup ecosystem. Understand the psychology of investors, hack their brains, and influence and persuade them to achieve the best possible fundraising performance.  

Pitch & Communication

Transform your investor pitch and conversations into powerful, irresistible, and impressive narratives. Your equity story will leave a lasting impression. With our proven frameworks, you'll continuously refine and perfect your investor communication through real-time feedback. 

Process

You will have a clear fundraising strategy to run the most efficient fundraising process. Best-practice tactics will ensure you close your round faster while building healthy, high-performing FOMO among top investors – and saving you a lot of stress.

"The FUNDRAISING COUP is the most comprehensive and impactful coaching program for every founder who wants to successfully raise venture capital."

Jörg Binnenbrücker
Partner at Capnamic Ventures

FundraisingCOUP is the exclusive fundraising coaching program of Iskender Dirik, a former founder and active VC:

You’ll learn how to:

  • Impress investors with your pitch

  • Develop an intriguing storyline

  • Create high-performing FOMO

  • Run a highly-effective process

  • Bring a lot of money home

Join the club of the best VC fundraisers and get an unfair advantage in fundraising now:

WATCH HOW THE FUNDRAISINGCOUP HELPED THIS FOUNDER TO RAISE €20m ONLY 2.5 MONTHS AFTER JOINING THE PROGRAM (update: He then raised another $66M):

Invaluable program. Before entering the FundraisingCOUP, we wanted to raise a €12m Series A. After 2.5 months into the program, we got several offers from top VCs and raised an oversubscribed €20m round. Many VCs said our pitch was the best they have ever seen.

Malte Kosub
Co-Founder/CEO Parloa

Listen to Iskender’s conversation with Johannes Salmisaari, Founder of Droppe, who raised 4m € after joining the FundraisingCOUP Program:

Michael Pleuger

Michael Pleuger, Co-Founder of Akirolabs and former Senior Partner at Roland Berger and KPMG, successfully raised €4.3m (€2.3m Seed Extension + €2m from Seed Round) after joining the FundraisingCOUP Program. In one of the weekly group calls, he stated unsolicitedly:

“I’m super excited to see that we get approached by one VC after another. It’s amazing. After we struggled to be able to raise money for years, now they are throwing money after us, and it’s really super cool, even top VCs like (Name of Top-Tier SaaS VC). It’s amazing. Investors are approaching us. I love it. I like fundraising since I’m in this program.”

Christoph Flöthman

After raising their successful €4.3m round, Christoph Flöthman, Co-Founder of Akirolabs, sent the following mail unsolicitedly to Iskender:

“Dear Iskender, We want to thank you again for our great time at the FundraisingCOUP. We learned an incredible amount and had a lot of fun. Thank you also for your open ear and tips “offline”, which were incredibly helpful.We reviewed the time internally and came up with Iskender’s FundraisingCOUP Triple-C Success Factors in a consulting-like manner - feel free to steal them:

C - Community: It was really incredible how many good ideas were generated by all participants in the Weekly Call. Even with solid, VC-ready pitches, the presenter is bombarded with new ideas within 30 minutes, which takes the pitch to a whole new level. The community leverage is truly unique compared to online sources, YouTube, or 1on1 coaching sessions

C - Content: The content’s breadth and depth is really impressive. Especially the FOMO concept and your link to science/psychology we didn’t know yet, but make the difference because you understand WHY you use the methods, and you become convinced that they MUST work.

C - Craftsmanship: The whole program is really perfectly implemented. The Circle Tool, the structure of the Weekly Call, the Notion Second Brain. But what stands out is the Netflix-like production quality in terms of video and storytelling. It feels like watching a show instead of studying. And that really makes life easier. ”

Susant Patro

Co-Founder/CEO Vortex IQ

“The Fundraising Coup is an outstanding fundraising programme. Iskender's expertise in the field shines through every aspect of the programme, from the comprehensive content to the engaging delivery. Not to mention the least that the "pitch-roasting" session are very helpful to get true feedback from the wider team and an exclusive one from Iskender. His observation skills is one of the finest I have seen my entire life. For a 2 minute pitch he can give a 20 minute feedback on things that could be done better!

The programme not only provides valuable insights into effective fundraising strategies but also empowers participants with practical tools and resources to succeed in their fundraising.Iskender and Louise's passion for helping others achieve fundraising success is evident, making this programme a must-attend for anyone involved fundraising, especially the CEOs/ Co-Founders. It helped us have a very successful oversubscribed $1M pre-seed round.”

Hi Iskender, (...) By the way, I do remember you and your feedback very well. I have had hundreds of interactions with VCs and there are only four people I remember out of all them. You are one of them. I really appreciate the time you took to give me feedback, it gave me a whole new perspective on how you -professional investors- think. Some bits of the feedback were hard to read but necessary. Thank you.

David Padilla
An email from David Padilla, CEO & Co-Founder Kenjo, to Iskender

Fundraising is definitely way less fun than building and growing a company, but it’s an important part of every VC-backed, fast growing startup. The FundraisingCOUP will turn you into a successful fundraiser – and will bring you fun while doing it.

Christian Piechnick
CEO & Co-Founder Wandelbots

Iskender combines profound knowledge and first-hand experience in the tech and VC world with outstanding creativity and storytelling skills. I can’t imagine a better lecturer to up your fundraising game.

Mattias Protzmann
Serial Entrepreneur, Co-Founder Statista

You want to raise Venture Capital? Just go through the Fundraising COUP program. That’s all you need to understand how we VCs think – and how you can convince us to write a check.

Thomas Preuß
Managing Partner DTCP (Growth Fund)

The FundraisingCOUP program is unique: It saves you an unbelievable amount of time as it packages everything you need to raise your VC round into a unique framework. And it is delivered by a practising VC who has worked for some of the biggest tech companies of the world. The FundraisingCOUP course will turn you into a great fundraiser, even if you’ve a highly technical background. I have known Iskender for many years and can’t appreciate his mentorship enough.

Marc Vontobel
CTO-turned-CEO & Co-Founder Starmind

LET ME HELP YOU TO TURN INTO AN OUTSTANDING FUNDRAISER AND MASTER OF PITCHING

Iskender
Dirik

Venture Capitalist, Entrepreneur, Executive
Partner
Venture Partner
Senior Advisor
Managing Director Samsung NEXT Ventures
Managing Director Microsoft ScaleUp
Managing Director
General Manager
Angel Investor and Founder of (far too) many startups
Iskender is (very!) probably the only expert in the world that is a venture capitalist AND has developed a pitching and presentation skills framework!

Iskender was featured in media outlets like:

ISKENDER TRAINING LEADING VC FUNDS & THEIR PORTFOLIO STARTUPS:

THE FUNDRAISING COUP TRANSFORMS YOU INTO A TOP 1% FUNDRAISER - YOUR NEW UNFAIR ADVANTAGE:

THE MODULES: A PEEK INSIDE THE CONTENT OF THE FUNDRAISING COUP ONLINE MASTERCLASS

01

FOR BEGINNERS: VENTURE CAPITAL PRIMER

  • How Venture Capital Works
  • Roles in VC Funds
  • Financing Types
  • Fund Characteristics
  • Multi vs. Single LP VCs

02

PREPARATION

  • When And How Much To Raise
  • Fundraising Team
  • Existing Investors
  • Connecting with VCs

03

FOCUS TOPIC: PITCHING

  • Mindset / Psychology / Neuroscience
  • Elevator Pitch
  • Pitch Deck as Handout
  • Pitch Deck for Spoken Presentation
  • Delivery of Spoken Presentation
  • Remote Pitches
  • Secret Weapon :)
  • COUP Storytelling Plot

04

PROCESS

  • Managing The Process
  • Questions To Ask
  • FOMO & FOLS
  • Secret Tactic(s) :)
  • “No” – Dealing with Declines

05

CLOSING

  • Termsheet Terms
  • Valuation
  • Picking Your VC
  • Due Diligence

06

AFTER ROUND

  • Board Meetings
  • Secret Tactic(s) :)

ASK, LEARN, AND PRACTICE IN LIVE CALLS

FundraisingCOUP Members get access to regular group calls. These live video calls are your opportunity to ask Iskender your questions, to learn from others, and practice to apply the FundraisingCOUP Framework with exercises and virtual presentations. The group calls are your safe environment to hone your skills and test your pitch in front of Iskender – a real VC – and a real audience!

Perfectionate your elevator pitch, deck, and delivery even before you kick off your fundraise and talk to the first VC. A unique program and opportunity.

EVEN VERY EXPERIENCED FOUNDERS TOP THEIR GAME WITH THE FUNDRAISING COUP:

Share of funding stages the FundraisingCOUP Framework was initially used for.

THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL GET OUT OF THE FUNDRAISINGCOUP PrOGRAM

As a master in fundraising, you’ll convince investors of your startup and ideas, and achieve much more.

You and your startup will always be remembered for being outstanding.

You will not only wow investors, but be much more confident – and have a lot of fun every time you pitch.

You’ll be equipped to raise your dream round...
...with less stress and fewer declines, in a shorter time on much better terms.
There are many more benefits, like:

Join once, learn forever: Become a better and better fundraiser thanks to a lifetime access to the FundraisingCOUP framework, videos, and other materials.

Attend exclusive online sessions with top VCs and successful founders that will help you on your journey.

Join the FundraisingCOUP Community: Learn from others entrepreneurs, get valuable feedback, exchange experiences with fellow fundraisers.

YOUR ACCESS INTO THE MINDSET AND PSYCHOLOGY OF VENTURE CAPITALISTS

As a founder, VCs were a mysterious species to me. When I pitched to them, I had no idea about how they think, what they like, what they don’t like, what they are looking for, how they decide, etc. Looking back after having turned into a VC myself, I was beyond naive and wasted a lot of opportunities in my founder life.

The FundraisingCOUP is here to save you from making the same mistakes.

I’ll reveal for you unique insights about the mindset and psychology of Venture Capitalists – from the perspective of a Venture Capitalist.

I’ll provide you with secret tricks, knowing how we VCs think, act, and decide.

My insights and tricks will help you to succeed on that one big goal: Raise the funds you need in minimum time and the maximum outcome.

A chat in the 20VC Podcast between Harry Stebbings and his guest Johan Brenner, General Partner at Creandum (led investments in iZettle, Trade Republic, Klarna, Pleo, Neo4J & more):
Harry Stebbings

Do you think the best entrepreneurs are also the best fundraisers?

Johan Brenner

I think so. (…) It’s about explaining your vision, being a great storyteller, being concise, to the point, listening (…). Being great at fundraising is abolutely the no. 1 trait of great founders.

By the way – this is an event I hosted to help top-notch VCs to negotiate better:
And here is a workshop I hosted to train 100 founders in presenting and pitching:

RAISE YOUR DREAM ROUND. NOW:

Learn more