Fieldcraft
How to actually run the meetings, the asks, and the negotiations
Selection produces the right list. Fieldcraft determines whether anything happens with it. This chapter covers approach, meeting choreography, term-sheet negotiation, and the management of multiple parallel processes without losing leverage.
Three rules of approach
- Lead with additionality, not impact. DFI officers know impact. They cannot move a deal without a clear additionality argument.
- Ask for advice before money. First meetings are diagnostic. The investor decides whether to invest in the relationship before the deal.
- Never run a single-track process. Parallel processes create both leverage and timing options. A solo conversation has no clock.
Term sheet leverage
- The first term sheet is rarely the best term sheet — it is the opening position
- Anchor commitments unlock parallel improvements in commercial terms
- Reporting and covenant burden is negotiable; pricing often is not
- Conditions precedent, more than rate, determine your true cost of capital
Where you stand · fieldcraft
You have never run a structured DFI or foundation process and don’t know what 'good' looks like in a meeting.
Meeting choreography, additionality scripting, and live coaching for the first 3–5 institutional meetings.
First meetings go well; second meetings stall; nobody says no but nobody moves.
A diagnostic on internal blockers (champion strength, IC fit, missing artefacts) and a remediation plan.
You have term sheets but lack benchmarks for pricing, covenants, CPs, and reporting burdens.
Term-sheet benchmarking, redline support, and parallel-process leverage strategy.