This video should convince you to invest in Plum. But not... if you're a Crowd Investor. Booooo.
I dissect this deal from the perspective of a VC and that of a crowdfunder. And while the odds are good Plum is going to succeed, the main challenge is that it's not the first to market. Far from it, in fact. As such, it needs to cannibalise customers from existing services and find its 'edge'. The big dog upstart in the room is way ahead of them... and the OG in the space has already set the 'ceiling' in terms of peak valuation.
So, as a later-stage VC or angel, this would be a big green flag if you had a large cheque. But it didn't hit the criteria as one of my £1k cheques as an early-stage high-risk investor. In short it didn't fit my thesis.
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Here's the checklist for Plum
1) Is there a novel invention? Meh - but good enough
2) Does it work/change behaviour? Yes
3) Can the founders build the first product themselves? Yes
4) Can I 10x my money? Unlikely
5) Will I chat about it around a dinner table? Yes
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As a wider point, this pitch does demonstrate the value of crowdfunding vs 'fundraising.' Crowdfunding offers a great opportunity to invite your customers into your home (so to speak) and allow them to 'double dip' in value. When that's the goal, crowdfunding is awesome—even with rather low ROIs. but if that's the case, it's important to be honest about it imho.
But me? No. I'm doing this series, in part, to see whether crowdfunding can be a professional investment strategy. Which means the checklist is king.
Good luck to you, Plum! I might become a customer.
Hugs,
