Finnlay raised 6 million from Accel off "a literal two pager" with "no deck no data room." He sent it to about 10 funds, spoke to "18 funds or less total," and what they were building "perfectly hit a thesis they had internally."
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They "weren't really sure we were going to raise at the beginning" — they had enough traction that "a raise wasn't imperative." The plan was just to "write two pages send it to some VCs and see what happens." Diligence was "12 background calls pretty much just on myself," including a call to his brother — a chippy — while he was on site with "hammers and stuff going in the background."
The Accel process moved fast: a partner meeting, then "another separate partner meeting" within a 24-hour period, then a call "with like 24 partners on the call." Finnlay describes the partners as "so sophisticated in their relationship building," conscious of the deadline but "really trying hard to build a genuine relationship despite the timeline."