After raising funds, prioritize execution: business plan, reporting, hiring, cash flow, and investor relations.
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Have you just raised funds? Congratulations!
The period following a funding round is usually a time of relief for business leaders. However, this is only the beginning of the journey. In fact, the post-funding follow-up is almost as critical to the company’s growth as the preparation and completion of the round itself. New challenges arise, and new strategic decisions must be made.
Raising money is a means to achieve your goals, not an end in itself—it’s a new phase! So , what should you do after a funding round? What operational practices are needed to ensure the company’s long-term viability? How should you manage relationships with investors? How can you effectively manage cash flow? How should you handle the rapid growth generated by the new funds?
Although this first point may seem obvious, it is nonetheless fundamental. After a fundraising campaign, you cannot simply let the company drift along. Organization and discipline are essential to ensure the operational implementation of the business plan.
Management must uphold the business plan’s innovation strategy and put it into practice. This means considering the actions needed to generate leads and convert them into customers. It also involves following the sales and marketing strategy outlined in the pitch deck presented to investors.
Your credibility with your financial partners is also at stake. You committed to a detailed business development plan and financial projections to convince investors. You must therefore equip yourself with the resources needed to fulfill your commitments and achieve the objectives outlined in the business plan.
After raising capital, it is essential to create a reporting dashboard and update it regularly. The numbers reflect the company’s operations and its financial health.
Reporting thus enables the management team to evaluate how the company is being run, measure the impact of its actions, and make decisions accordingly.
In addition, your financial partners will generally ask you for comprehensive reports on your sales and marketing activities. After all, investors support your project because they believe in its profitability. This financial report is therefore intended to show them your results and reassure them. It also allows them to see how funds are being spent, in the interest of transparency.
The funds raised must be invested to expand the company’s workforce. After a funding round, the startup is experiencing rapid growth. It therefore needs to surround itself with talented and ambitious individuals to support its development.
However, the recruitment process must be handledwith care and planned well in advance. Thecompany’s staffing needsmust have been identifiedand anticipated. The major risk for the company is wasting its capital investment by hiring hastily: hiring too quickly is, in fact, one of the main causes of post-funding failure, accounting for 14% of startup bankruptcies according to RemoFirst.
Poor hiring decisions can have a significant impact on the company’s finances. A hiring mistake is costly: on average, between €20k and €200k, including lost time, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
With this in mind, it makes sense for the company to bring on an HR specialist (in-house or external) if growth accelerates. The founding team generally doesn’t have the time to handle this role on its own, yet the company needs a manager capable of recruiting, onboarding, and building a productive and motivated team.
Managing the company’s finances is certainly one of the most critical issues following a funding round. Indeed, the influx of capital creates new challenges that require strategic decisions.
The risk is that these challenges will not be properly understood by the entrepreneur and their team, and that they will be overwhelmed by the sudden changes brought about by the injection of substantial funds.
For this reason, it is essential to strictly adhere to the strategies outlined in the business plan, surround yourself with competent people, and closely monitor the company’s financial figures. Expenses must be structured and carefully planned to ensure the funds raised are used wisely.
As you can see, raising capital disrupts the company’s internal organization. This is especially true since investors are now shareholders in the company. Even if their equity stake is governed by a shareholders’ agreement, managing relationships with these new financial partners presents another challenge.
Communication and transparency are key to earning investors’ trust and turning them into true partners. The CEO must therefore maintain regular communication with them.
To do this, you can provide additional information—beyond what is required by law—during general meetings. (The scope of this information depends on the company’s legal structure, articles of incorporation, and the shareholders’ agreement, which should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.)
You can also organize conference calls, meetings, and even informal lunches to discuss the company’s current performance, its growth potential, and its short- and medium-term prospects.
Disputes can sometimes arise. They generally result from a loss of investor confidence in the business venture.
In such a situation, it’s important to address the issues head-on. Listening to the investor’s concerns and being transparent with them is the best way to defuse any potential conflict.
Furthermore, it is important to reassure the investor that the innovative company is on track to meet its objectives and is making progress. Whenever possible, strive for an amicable resolution!
It is in your best interest to build a genuine partnership with your shareholders. More than just investors, they can provide valuable advice during strategic committee meetings.
Building a strategic and financial partnership between the founding team and investors is therefore highly advisable.
After raising funds, the challenge isn’t just about having the resources—it’s about executing, measuring results, and maintaining trust.
Start with a 90-day execution plan, simple reporting, and weekly cash flow monitoring.
If you anticipate another funding round or a period of stronger growth, clarify the governance framework and your processes with investors now.
It depends on investor expectations and the terms of the shareholders' agreement. In practice, monthly reporting is common in the early stages, with many companies moving to quarterly reporting once key metrics have stabilized.
A practical minimum includes:
The goal is to provide the information needed to enable timely and informed decision-making.
Investors benefit from statutory information rights under corporate law and, in many cases, additional contractual information rights set out in the shareholders' agreement (often through enhanced information clauses). These provisions may entitle investors to receive regular financial reporting, budget forecasts, and other relevant business performance indicators.
Implement weekly cash monitoring, develop multiple financial scenarios, establish early warning thresholds, and ensure that every significant expense is tied to a measurable business objective.
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