GroupMe and Splice founder Steve Martocci: VCs can spot bad startups

GroupMe founder and Splice CEO Steve Martocci has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in capital for his startups.

The fundraising success taught Martocci that venture capitalists know when an entrepreneur truly believes in the company's mission, or if they are just looking to make money, he told Business Insider.

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Steve Martocci knows a thing or two about raising money.

Martocci and his cofounder raised $11.5 million for text-messaging app GroupMe before selling to Skype for $85 million. Splice, a music-creation platform that Martocci currently runs, raised $57.5 million in a Series C funding round earlier this year, bringing the total investment to $107 million.

His private-plane service, Blade, scored $38 million in its Series B round in 2018.

Read more: The cofounder of GroupMe was 27 when the text-messaging platform sold for $85 million just a year after launch. Now, he's raised $107 million for a music startup that could make him even more successful. Here are his lessons for pitching, leading, and building a company.

Martocci said part of the secret to his fundraising success is truly believing in all his ventures. When asked how soon entrepreneurs should think about selling a company, Martocci said thinking only about money could be a recipe for disaster.

If an entrepreneur is just in it for the money, venture capitalists will catch on, Martocci told Business Insider reporter Shana Lebowitz.

Martocci said he aims to build Splice into the most “iconic” company in music history. As both someone who raises funds and angel-invests, Martocci said venture capitalists are turned off by a creator whose primary aim is to sell the company.

“If you're doing venture to be like, 'Oh, I can sell this for a few million bucks,' you're going in wrong,” Martocci told Business Insider. “They'll sniff it out.”

Even though Martocci wasn't just building Splice for the money, he still faced other challenges, like proving to VCs the existence of a market.

“Market is the hardest thing to convince VCs on,” Martocci said. “I think we have some of the best market data about this space, but if you have to convince someone about a market [and] your plan, you are in an uphill battle.”

Read Steve Martocci's full interview with Business Insider about his lessons for pitching, leading, and building a company.

GroupMe创始人兼Splice首席执行官Steve Martocci为其创业公司筹集了数亿美元的资金。筹款成功告诉Martocci风险投资家知道企业家何时真正相信公司的使命，或者如果他们只是想赚钱，他告诉Business Insider。访问Business Insider的主页以获取更多故事。 Steve Martocci知道有关筹集资金的一两件事。 Martocci他的联合创始人为文本消息应用程序GroupMe筹集了1150万美元，然后以8500万美元的价格向Skype出售。 Spocice是Martocci目前运营的音乐创作平台，今年早些时候在C轮融资中筹集了5750万美元，使总投资额达到1.07亿美元。他的私人飞机服务公司Blade在其中获得了3800万美元的收入。 201系列B轮。阅读更多：GroupMe的联合创始人是27岁，当时短信平台在发布一年后以8500万美元的价格售出。现在，他为音乐创业公司筹集了1.07亿美元，这可以让他更加成功。以下是他投球，领导和建立公司的经验教训。 Martocci说他筹款成功的部分秘诀就是真正相信他的所有事业。当被问及企业家应该多久考虑出售一家公司时，Martocci说只考虑金钱可能会导致灾难。 WBocci告诉Business Insider记者Shana Lebowitz，如果一个企业家只是为了这笔钱，风险资本家就会流行起来。 Martocci说他的目标是将Splice打造成音乐史上最“标志性”的公司。作为筹集资金和天使投资的人，Martocci表示风险资本家被一位创始人关闭，他的主要目的是出售公司。“如果你冒昧，'哦，我可以马尔科奇告诉Business Insider说，以几百万美元的价格出售这款产品，”你出错了。“ ”他们会把它嗅出来。“尽管Martocci不仅仅是为了钱而建造Splice，但他仍面临其他挑战，比如provi向市民提供市场的存在。”市场是说服风险投资的最难的事情，“Martocci说。 ”我认为我们拥有一些关于这个空间的最佳市场数据，但如果你必须让某人相信市场[和]你的计划，那么你就是在一场艰苦的战斗中。 阅读Steve Martocci对Business Insider的全面采访，了解他在推销，领导和建立公司方面的经验教训。