Steven Plappert, the CEO and co-founder of Forecastr, an online financial projection tool, may be a numbers guy but he’s all about the human aspect when it comes to business.

“People are really, at the end of the day, where so much of the value lies and you really need to get out there and talk to people.” 

He argues that investor, employee, and customer relationships are all based on trust, and the best way to build that is to be intentional. 

Check out his conversation with Austin to hear how the ‘power of people’ is what allowed him to accomplish his funding goals in record time.

Takeaways: 

• Getting out there and connecting with people creates value in serendipitous ways
• Evangelize hard and early to lay the groundwork of future opportunities 
• All business relationships are based on trust – build that up any way you can

Things to Listen For:

• [01:34] The story of Steven’s first startup
• [02:47] Recognizing a problem that needed a product to solve it
• [04:22] What is Forecastr
• [04:41] Forecastr’s current stage 
• [05:53] The power of people
• [08:30] The power of evangelizing 
• [10:04] What makes for a great fundraiser
• [10:42] How Steven laid the groundwork for a seed round
• [11:48] Intentionality on how and when you meet with investors
• [13:13] Do you need a lead for a pre-seed round?
• [13:38] Raising money without early traction
• [16:07] How and why Forecastr had customers before their beta launch
• [18:29] Selling investors on a pre-sale
• [20:51] Who needs Forecastr
• [22:59] Speaking to investors in their language