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S5 E10 - Unlocking Funding with Karl Dakin
How startups, small businesses, and community projects can craft winning sponsor proposals and connect with the right investors.
Summary:
Have a dream project but not the resources to make it real? Capital coach Karl Dakin shows how to build a 3–5 year capital strategy, reverse-engineer what you truly need, and shrink your cash ask by securing in-kind resources first. We unpack his “Motivated Money” approach—finding investors and sponsors already motivated to benefit from your success—and why customized, strategic offers beat generic pitches every time. We also dig into trust-building (“know → trust → buy”), common founder pitfalls, and practical adjustments for women founders, charities, and community projects.
In this episode you will:
1. Learn Karl’s step-by-step capital strategy: map milestones 3–5 years out, price the resources you need, then reduce cash by negotiating talent, tools, and services in-kind.
2. Apply the “Motivated Money” method to locate funding “soulmates” (partners who need you to win) and tailor proposals that advance their goals as well as yours.
3. Master sponsor/investor alignment: how to quantify brand exposure for corporate donors, avoid generic ROI pitches, and use a multi-step outreach that moves from “know” to “trust” to “buy.”
4. void the big mistakes: chasing the wrong money, failing to ask “Do you have the funds and authority?”, overlooking bias in standard playbooks for women founders, and not customizing offers for charities or rural/community initiatives.
Guest Introduction:
Karl Dakin is an entrepreneur, educator, and capital coach with four decades of experience helping founders turn ideas into funded, thriving ventures. Author of the Motivated Money Method, he teaches entrepreneurs how to find and connect with the investors and sponsors most likely to believe in (and benefit from) their success. Karl publishes the Instant Funding newsletter and hosts a funding show on LinkedIn, sharing practical, no-nonsense guidance on raising capital with confidence. An adjunct professor at the University of Denver, he mentors innovators—especially underrepresented founders—on accessing the relationships and resources they need to grow.
Email: kdakin@dakincapital.com
SM: Capital Coach
