How a 25-year-old Raised $500,000 From Cold Emailing Billionaire Investors
Dhruv Ghulati gained investment from top Silicon Valley investors including Mark Cuban for his AI startup, Factmata.
The reply appeared within minutes, “I would be happy to read whatever you send me, please do send more details about your startup.” Dhruv Ghulati was stunned. He was sat in his bedroom staring at the screen in disbelief. Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, investor and TV star wanted to find out more. About his startup.
Well more truthfully, his startup idea; Ghulati didn’t even have a product built yet. He was living at home with his mum to minimise outgoings. It was a far cry from the billionaire lifestyle he imagined for those he was asking to invest.
Ghulati was committed to his idea. It would make the world a better place. He had even taken out a personal loan to get the business off the ground. But building technology was expensive, especially when he wanted to employ top PHDs to do so. He needed money; to get that he needed investors.
That was 2017. Four years later his startup, Factmata, is using it’s own AI products to combat the spread of fake news. Investors to date include Google and a roll call of Silicon Valley hotshots — Biz Stone, co- founder of Twitter, Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, alongside Mark Cuban.
Factmata wants to solve a big problem — the spread of hate speech and fake news online. Alongside the psychological and physical trauma of this disease of modern life, is the sizeable economic damage it causes. The startup estimates that fake news costs the world $78 billon every year.
Returning to 2017, receiving a reply from Mark Cuban was a life-changing moment for the then 25 year old founder. As the email exchange developed, Ghulati began to get validation that he wasn’t mad, that he was onto something. Cuban often spoke up against fake news, he knew the space inside out and was sent pitches from startups proposing solutions daily. Attracting his attention was a coup.
“Mark’s response accelerated the process. I needed to learn quickly and decide on the route to market for early iteration,” explained Ghulati.
“He was very strong on sales, he’s public on this — sales solves everything. So right from the start that was something I did differently from a lot of deep tech companies — I focused on who’s going to buy this?”
What advice would Factmata’s founder offer to anyone looking to raise investment or send cold emails?
Don’t be afraid of reaching out— most people are. “I was in various accelerators and startup programs focused on building tech. People had this fear of reaching out and would spend all their time on the product.” You can stand out, even amongst smart peers, by having the mettle to pitch people you don’t know.
Build lists and automate outreach. “I would contact 20–50 people per week, that involved creating huge lists and using automation tools when I could.” Dhruv is an advocate of Rocketreach, which he was an early adopter of, in the days when it was a simple tool to find email addresses.
Frame your message as a request for advice — how would you tackle this problem? “Successful people like to mentor, they want to give back. I wanted to get feedback on how they would solve this issue — it’s a great way to make contact. As the conversation develops, if they ask you if you are raising capital you know they are interested.”
Be prepared for rejection. “My attitude was let’s give this a shot and not worry about rejection. Thousands of those emails never received a reply.”
Ghulati does concede that launching a startup tackling a very topical issue was an advantage. Putting that to one side, his story is a stellar example of how resilience and a systematic approach to sales can take you places you didn’t think were possible.
After several iterations, Factmata now offers a software solution for large brands and communications agencies. The startup aims to hit it’s first million dollars of revenue by the end of 2021 and is currently crowdfunding to support sales and marketing efforts.
The ultimate goal for Ghulati is for his tech company to provide the tools that put the power in the hands of the individual to make up their own mind about the veracity of stories they see online.
Tom Hurst is the the founder of Kindred Works, a growth marketing agency, TakePlace, an online venue platform and co-founder of Native Spaces, a venue operator that activates empty commercial property.
