How to Manifest a Successful Fundraise

👋 Hi my name is Roslyn, I’m a founder and executive coach. I help purpose-led founders scale their impact without burning out. Learn about working 1:1 here.

Reader love: “I could cry, this is so helpful.” 🥺

Hi there,

I’m writing to you from Spain this week! I’m here for a dear friend’s wedding and taking 10 days off to travel around Mallorca and Ibiza. Reply if you have any recommendations!

It’s one of the first times I’ve felt like I don’t NEED a vacation. Of course, I’m incredibly happy to be here, and I fully believe that taking time away from work regularly is necessary for your best work and life.

I just mean that I wasn’t desperately craving this vacation from a place of burnout or needing to escape from my life. I actually felt like I would’ve been content to stay in NYC and keep working on my business because I genuinely am feeling very aligned with my work and life these days.

It’s really cool to recognize that and I can’t help but feel proud, because it hasn’t always been this way. 

Today we’re continuing on our monthly theme of fundraising, and this week, we’re shifting gears to the inner work of raising capital. For the strategic/tactical work, click here.

Today we’re getting into:

• How manifestation and visualization can help you in the fundraising process

• The role of expansion and community when raising capital

• Expert advice from a founder that you won’t want to miss

I’m running a free webinar on May 28th — How to Fundraise with Magnetism and Resilience which goes in depth on both the strategy/tactics and the inner work to fundraise successfully.

I’d love to have you. Reserve your spot here (replay will be shared).

Where we go deep on the outer work or the inner work of building a startup.

Fundraising is as much energetic as it is strategic. 

You can read all of the best practices for fundraising, have the technically strongest pitch and materials ready to go, but can still have things go south if you’re feeling ungrounded, unworthy, anxious or doubting yourself or your company.

When I was raising money for The GIST, I felt well-equipped when it came to our financial model, deck, investor pipeline and investor Q&A. It was my confidence, self-trust and nervous system regulation that was missing. 

We did ultimately successfully raise, but knowing about the inner work I could’ve been doing to help me build self-confidence, magnetism and resilience would have increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the round and improved my own mental wellbeing throughout it.

A few of the tools I wish I’d known about and more actively used are manifesting, visualization, and expansion. In this newsletter we’ll get into why they’re important and how you can leverage them for success in your fundraising activities.

MANIFESTING & VISUALIZATION

Manifesting can be a hugely helpful tool in fundraising and I highly recommend it for any founders who are about to embark on (or midway through) a fundraise.

While manifesting often gets framed as a woo-woo concept, there’s real psychology and neuroscience to support it.

WHY MANIFESTING WORKS

1. Reticular Activating System (RAS)

• The RAS is the brain’s filter—it focuses your attention on what you believe is important.

• When you visualize a goal, your RAS filters information to help you spot opportunities aligned with that goal (e.g. investor intros, pitch angles, creative funding ideas).

• Think of it like tuning your brain’s radio to the frequency of what you want.

2. Neuroplasticity

• Your brain literally rewires itself based on repeated thoughts and beliefs.

• When you affirm a vision (e.g. “I am a confident, well-capitalized founder building something world-changing”), you strengthen neural pathways that make that behavior easier to act on.

• Over time, you shift from fear or imposter syndrome to grounded belief.

3. Behavioral Priming

• What you believe affects how you act—and how others respond to you.

• If you show up with energy that says “I know I’m building something powerful,” you subtly shift investor perception.

• Investors want conviction. When your mindset is aligned, your pitch has more clarity, confidence, and magnetism.

4. Cognitive Dissonance

• When your inner beliefs don’t match your external actions, you subconsciously adjust.

• If you start showing up as if you're the kind of founder who easily raises $5M from aligned VCs, your brain starts bridging the gap between who you are and who you believe you are becoming.

HOW TO MANIFEST

1. Get crystal clear on what you want.

• Vague goals = vague results.

• Define it in specific, sensory detail:

  • What does it look like?

  • What does it feel like emotionally?

  • How will you know you have it?

• Note: I provide a visualization exercise below which encompasses this step!

2. Connect to the emotional state now.

• You need to also feel now what you believe you will feel then: emotionally, the sensations in your body, the state of your nervous system.

• If you think success will feel free, powerful, joyful, expansive, peaceful — practice generating those emotions and those sensations in your body today, even in small ways.

• Practicing those states now allows you to more embody them in the most important moments of your fundraise.

3. Identify and shift limiting beliefs.

• Uncover the hidden beliefs that might block your manifestation

  • "I'm not good enough.”

  • "Investors don’t invest in people like me."

  • “If I don’t raise, my business will fail.”

• In coming newsletters I cover tools that can help with this (or you can access them immediately at these links)

  • “Changing Your Fundraising Story” 

  • “Daily Journaling”, “List of Praises & Success” and “Journaling to Shift Perception” 

4. Visualize — but also embody.

• Daily visualization: Close your eyes and see yourself living the reality you desire — vividly and viscerally (refer to visualization section below).

• Then act from that version of yourself: What decisions would they make? How would they carry themselves?

• Mental rehearsal strengthens the same neural circuits as real-world practice (this is studied heavily in athletes and musicians).

5. Take aligned, bold action.

• Manifestation isn't passive, you need to take aligned action too.

• Small courageous moves toward your goal signal to your subconscious that you are serious, which shifts your energy and behavior.

6. Surrender timing and form.

• Hold the what and why firmly but loosen your grip on the how and when.

• Often, manifestations show up differently (and better) than expected when you stay open.

• I like the mantra “This or something better” to stay rooted in the belief that, if you get a “no” from an investor, something better, more aligned, more in integrity, is coming.

• Letting go reduces stress and allows the prefrontal cortex (your decision-making center) to function better. Anxiety blocks creativity and problem-solving.

7. Stay in the energy of gratitude.

• Focus on what's already working.

• Gratitude raises your emotional baseline and signals to your brain that abundance is the norm. 

• Gratitude practices are linked to higher dopamine and serotonin levels — both associated with motivation, focus, and happiness.

CALLING IN WHAT YOU WANT THROUGH VISUALIZATION

The first step of this manifestation process is to get clear on what it is you want.

What I like to do with my clients for this is to walk them through an ideal fundraising visualization which encompasses:

• The outcomes of an ideal fundraise and how those outcomes feel

• What types of investors they’ve brought on and how those investors support them

• How they’ve shown up in their meetings and throughout the process

I’ve included a 13-minute visualization below that will allow you to tap more into the right side of your brain and feel into the answers from your intuition, versus intellectualizing what you believe your outcomes should be. 

It will also allow you to practice being in the nervous system states associated with a successful raise, which is so important.

FUNDRAISING VISUALIZATION 

Try out this 13-minute visualization and journal on the questions under the “Reflection” section below.

EXPANSION & COMMUNITY

Another important element to successfully calling in your fundraise, is cultivating expanders and mentors to inspire and support you. 

WHAT ARE EXPANDERS & MENTORS?

Expansion involves finding expanders, who are real-life examples of people like you, who have been where you are now, and who have what you want. This process helps your brain normalize bigger realities for yourself. 

Expanders are people that inspire you, that show you what’s possible for yourself, and that mirror back to you what you most desire. 

Mentors are people that have walked the path ahead of you that can offer strategic and emotional support as you go through your raise, and can help you avoid common pitfalls, sharpen your approach and stay aligned with your values while you raise.

In fundraising, it can be incredibly powerful to find role models, mentors and friends that have successfully raised a round, especially people that are similar to you, are operating in a similar industry or have investors you’re seeking. 

Just seeing that they were able to do it successfully can unlock your belief in your own ability to do it. But also seeing their journey, understanding the steps they took, the setbacks they needed to overcome, how they were thinking about things and navigating challenges, can be extremely helpful, inspiring and expansive.

HOW TO INTERACT WITH FUNDRAISING EXPANDERS & MENTORS

While it’s still powerful to have expanders from afar, it's even better if you can directly connect with them.

Maybe it’s someone in your existing network (from school, your community or a friend of a friend) or maybe it’s a stranger that you think might be open to chatting. 

Either way, reach out with a specific ask, e.g. “I’d love to hear how you researched investors for your seed round” or “I’m curious how you negotiated your valuation.”. Ask them specific questions you have about fundraising, why they fundraised, what their process was like, how they navigated specific challenges you’re facing, etc. Check in to see if they’d be open to answering future questions as you progress or perhaps to take a look and provide feedback on your materials.

If you’re currently in conversation with a venture capitalist, ask if you can talk to companies in their portfolio. Ask those founders about their experience fundraising with and being in the portfolio of this investor, and if they have any advice.

At The GIST, we were fortunate to meet an incredible fundraising expander/mentor early on. He took a liking to what we were building (and us as people) and was incredibly generous with his time, advice and opening up his network. It was a massive piece of positive momentum in our earliest fundraising round. 

Don’t underestimate the power of having supportive people in your court, and don’t be shy to ask. 

People love to help founders that are doing interesting, impactful, and brave things in the world.

UP NEXT

In the coming weeks we’ll be continuing to talk about how to manifest a successful fundraise by building nervous system resonance, building unshakeable confidence in the face of no’s, working with limiting beliefs, and tapping into your intuition.

Founder Insight: Suze Mason, Co-founder & COO of Sprout Family

“A key support for my co-founder and me was having friends who helped pressure-test our valuation before VC negotiations. 

Reaching the term sheet stage can feel like you're almost there, making it hard to push back. Personally, I struggled to confidently advocate for a valuation that matched our opportunity. 

That’s where a behind-the-scenes negotiation buddy made a difference. When VCs offered a discounted post-money valuation, I nearly accepted - but my friend reminded me we’d built something valuable and didn’t need to settle. That single pep talk helped us avoid a 25% cut in valuation.”

Suze Mason, Co-Founder & COO of Sprout Family
Raised $1.7M Pre-Seed

VISUALIZE

• Try my 13 minute visualization at the beginning of, or during your fundraising round and journal with the questions under reflection.

Flip forward your calendar to the point at which you successfully raised your round! Journal on…

• How do you feel emotionally in this moment? Pride? Joy? Relief? What sensations do you feel in your body? 

• What images come up when you envision what you’re going to be able to do with this capital? What looks and feels different?

• Who is this version of you that successfully raised? What’s their energy like? How do they hold themselves? Speak? Dress?

Journal on your dream investors…

• What are they like as people? 

• How do you feel in their presence?

• How do they support founders like you?

• In what ways do their values align with yours? 

Imagine you’re in the middle of the fundraising process.

• How are you showing up in meetings? What does your posture look and feel like? Your tone of voice? How do you feel as you talk about your vision and navigate questions from investors with confidence, groundedness, curiosity? 

• How does it feel to embody your deeply rooted belief in your vision?

• What are you most proud of as you speak about your company to investors?

• 1:1 Coaching: If you’d like support with the inner AND outer work of fundraising, or any aspect of building your startup, let’s chat. You can book a free consultation.

• If you’re more of a audio/visual learner I’ve been sharing fundraising content in Instagram reels like this one.

• I’m hosting a free online event on both the outer and inner work of fundraising on May 28th. Reserve your spot.

Finally, tell me how you liked this newsletter. I read every piece of feedback.

Thanks for reading. If you found this information valuable, please share it with a founder who’s fundraising - they’ll thank you!

With love,
Roslyn 💚