A few days ago, I was at the W24 Y Combinator Demo Day Reception. It was strange for me as I was there this time as an investor (Angel) and not as a startup. Last summer, I was the one presenting and was shocked to discover we only had... 1 minute. No more. They even cut you off if you exceed this timing.

So, how do you convince investors who are investing on average 2-4 million (total investment) in just 1 minute?

Well... I'll explain to you, below:

How to convince investors in 1 minute:

1. Start by having a script: It might sound unnatural, but having a script helps you to gather your ideas and what you really want them to take away from you.

2. Time yourself: You want to express the big picture and how you achieve it within 60 seconds. The best way to do this is to time yourself practicing your script.

3. Smile: I know... you're in your living room, probably alone with your camera, and you know others are looking at you thinking: is this the next billion-dollar company? Smiling while you speak (even if you have to force it) helps you get better at presenting and makes the presentation warmer.

4. Speak slowly if possible: I'm a French native, so I need to speak slowly to ensure people understand me. But also, rhythm is important; the slower you speak, the more confident you'll appear (think about politicians haha).

5. Start big, explain how, finish with an open remark:

   • Every minute, $1m is lost in unpaid invoices in the US ($824b market).

   • At Respaid, we collect 50% of accounts receivable within 20 days.

   • We signed major customers (Flexport, Deel...) helping us become the US #1 leader.

How to leverage Demo Day?

Demo Day is a great way to set a deadline. Not only for you but also for investors. Think of a timeline that everybody needs to follow and is forced to because it's set by something neutral: YC. Thanks to this deadline, investors know that at a specific date you'll be public to all other investors. Here's my way to use it to create momentum and expedite the fundraising process:

• For investors reaching out to me asking about investing, I usually said I'd wait for Demo Day (or eventually 1 week before).

• For investor meetings, I'd say, now we're public, we've received a lot of interest, so I tend not to take too much of my time as I prefer to focus on product improvement and chatting with customers.

How was S23 vs W24 Demo Day?

For several batches, because of COVID, there were no in-person events around Demo Day. Even for us, at Respaid (YC S23), everything was over Zoom. This year, W24 startups were lucky to have an investor reception. And I can tell... you can feel the energy! Not only from startups but also from investors.

Even if my batch was amazing, W24 is really powerful. It's not only about AI but building concrete products that you can use right now. I discovered tools that we're already implementing at Respaid: providing amazing analytics to our users powered by AI (e.g., how much was collected this month and who hasn't paid?)

I also met a group partner who helped me last summer launch in the US and make the right decisions (e.g., focus on Enterprise only). See some pictures below.

• Funding 3000+ startups, including 30+ unicorns (and counting) 

• Funding founders from 90+ countries around the world 

• Funding 1000 companies with underrepresented founders (women, Hispanic, Black)

• Demo Days that now produce nearly half a billion dollars of funding per batch 

• 10x increase in YC applications

• Recruiting 8 current YC Group Partners and 20+ current and former Visiting YC Group Partners 

• Transforming YC into an entirely remote experience during COVID

• Returning to an entirely new in-person program with new offices in San Francisco

• Investing $500k in each YC startup with our new standard deal

• A YC Deals database featuring over $1m of free credits and discounts per YC startup

• An investor database with reviews of thousands of VC firms

• Powerful alumni directory to connect all 10,000 YC alumni 

• An expanded user manual with over 350 articles of advice on startups

• Work at a Startup, a hiring platform exclusively for YC startups

• A platform for launching YC startups and public websites for every YC company

• A large library of startup content available for all future YC founders on Youtube

// this was taken from a YC Communication you can find here

Michael has recently created District, the most selective community for cryptos lover and founder/investors interested to raise a next generation of community in San Francisco.
When Joe Montana started his $25 million seed fund in 2015, he tapped Ma to be one of his two founding general partners. Michael previously sold his Y Combinator backed startup TalkBin to Google in 2011, where he held various roles including lead mobile product manager for Google My Business.

As always: YC anticipate everything.
Demo Day was on multiple level and to not disadvantage startups and randomise traffic, they were organised by name. Simple but efficient.

I plan to write more post about what’s like to be a YC founder, eventually a YC dad? (I have 4 kids under 4) Let me know your thought to share insightful and more important useful post 🙂 (my email)

Excuse: The client, ABC Manufacturing, claims they are currently experiencing cash flow problems.

Response: Express understanding and offer a payment plan limited in time.

Subject: Flexible Payment Options for Invoice #78910 

Dear John Doe, 

We understand that businesses may face cash flow challenges from time to time. 
To assist ABC Manufacturing during this period, we're open to discussing a flexible payment plan for Invoice #78910. 
Please find a payment link where you'll be to pay in 4 time: click here. 

PS: the offer is valid for 2 business days as it required an approval from my leadership.

Best regards, 
Jane Smith Accounts Receivable Manager XYZ Solutions

It’s really important to have a frictionless payment.
By offering a payment link (e.g. you can do this on Stripe), you avoid several emails and it feels there is no negociations possible.
Also: think about limiting this to 2 business days and send follow-up 4 hours before offer ends.

2. "Our CFO Just Left, and We're in the Process of Hiring a New One"

Excuse: The client, Tech Innovations, indicates that they currently do not have a Chief Financial Officer to approve payments.

Response: Offer to work with an interim contact and suggest a timeline for payment. For example:

Subject: Coordination for Invoice #78910 Payment 

Dear Lisa Green, 

I understand that Tech Innovations is currently without a CFO. To ensure a smooth payment process for Invoice #78910, could you please direct us to an interim contact who can assist with payment approval? 
We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to your prompt response to facilitate timely payment to avoid any escalation.

Best regards, 
Jane Smith Accounts Receivable Manager XYZ Solutions

Usually decision maker doesn’t matter if it’s about approval a payment. By asking to be redirected to someone else you help to avoid the excuse + finish your message by mentioning “avoid escalation”.

3. "We're Waiting on Some Big Payments from Our Clients"

Excuse: The client, Creative Designs, is waiting for their own clients to pay them before they can settle their invoice.

Response: Acknowledge their situation and propose a partial payment or a specific payment date. For example:

Subject: Proposed "Pay Later" Payment for Invoice #78910 

Dear Mike Johnson, 
We understand that Creative Designs is awaiting payments from your clients. 
To help manage cash flow for both our businesses, we propose a  payment for Invoice #78910, with the balance to be paid by [specific date] using this [payment link]. 
To benefit this offer, you still have to add your card to the payment link, but be assured you won't be debited today but one [date].
I let you proceed?

Best regards, 

Jane Smith Accounts Receivable Manager XYZ Solutions

Pay Later is a great trick. Once you got the card on file, you’re not only able to charge whenever you want but you can also chance amount to get charged. It’s a kind of warranty you give to yourself in case customer would again ask to pay once they got themselves pay. You can also use Stripe Payment Link on this.

Of course there is some situations where it’s not in the playbook.
Remember to always condition flexible payment to a deadline.
Otherwise, people see your offer as a weakness and later ghost you :/

Here is a breakdown of how chargeback works:

• You have 45 days to “fight” disputes

• Stripe dispute fees are $15, whether you win or not.

• You’re supposed to gather docs + proof of usage: hardest part

• Most US companies hire workers in Philippines for this

• The best chargeback startups (YC) have maximum 60% success rate

Solution: lost disputes collection by AI+Lawyer

It’s so easy to request a chargeback that customers don’t expect a lawyer reaching out asking them to pay back (after all, the bank said “you won” the dispute, right?)
How do we get 50% collection rate within 20 days on lost disputes?

1. “Hi [customer], I’m [brand]’s lawyer and reach out regarding…”
   Very customised and officially it’s your lawyer speaking

2. 73% people read text within 2 minutes
   Our AI predicts the perfect timing, channel, and wording.

3. Easy payment: card, apple pay, paypal or via your dashboard…
   People fears scam, best way to avoid it: offer direct payment

(Stripe Dashboard - Export Lost Disputes)

The key: collect disputes with respect

Being too hard on people: they’ll not take it seriously or very badly.
Being too soft and people won’t react.
The right balance: we always assume the brand (you) can do a mistake.
How to avoid bad reviews: leave possible to stop collection easily (your customer can explain why they disagree through a form or mention they’re in financial trouble and get a payment plan)

That’s how we got a NPS score of 93 for debtors (they’re happy to pay/dispute).

Does it really work? (a bit of background)

At Respaid, we launched 3 years ago, we’re profitable, 457 customers including 17 unicorns (2 top YC companies like: Clipboard Health W17).
We even created a dedicated page for this new feature: https://en.respaid.com/stripe-chargeback

My ask:

1. If you have chargebacks:
We offer a trial for all YC companies, export your lost disputes and you’ll pay only if it works (starting 10.9%).
You can book a call with me or directly signup (use code: YCHARGEBACK)

2. If you don’t have chargebacks but know someone
Introduce with him/her, here is my email: j@respaid.com
Ideally you can use this blurb: Here's John, the founder of Respaid (YC S23). They've just released a feature to collect lost disputes and have achieved a 50% collection rate within 20 days. Ideally, he's looking for a 20-minute chat to see how you handle such situations.

• Evidence of the transaction

• Communication with the customer regarding the transaction

• Terms and conditions of the transaction

• Any relevant policies and procedures

• Contact information for the customer

• Any relevant receipts or invoices

The Dilemma for Businesses: To Fight or Not to Fight Disputes

But why has Stripe made this change? According to Stripe, disputes are costly and time-consuming for everyone involved. By increasing the dispute fee, Stripe hopes to deter frivolous disputes and encourage customers to work out issues with the merchant directly. However, this change also means that businesses are now faced with a difficult decision: is it worth it to fight a dispute?

The answer, unfortunately, is not clear-cut. Winning a dispute is already a difficult task, and with the increased fee, it becomes even more challenging. For example, let's say a customer disputes a charge of $100. If you want to fight the dispute, you must pay $15 upfront, even if you win. If you lose, you not only lose the $100 charge but also the $15 fee. And even if you win, the time and resources spent fighting the dispute may not be worth the effort.

Dispute win rate is only 20%

To make matters worse, winning a dispute is almost impossible. According to recent data, the average dispute win rate is only 20%. That means that for every five disputes, you are likely to lose four of them. And with the increased fee, losing a dispute is now even more costly.

How we used Y Combinator to get 50% collection rate

So what can businesses do in this situation? At Respaid (YC S23), we have decided to focus on collecting lost disputes instead of fighting them. We have developed a system that uses AI, a respectful approach, and a lawyer's brand voice to collect lost disputes on behalf of our clients. In our first experiments with Y Combinator startups in the S23 batch, we achieved a 50% collection rate within 20 days.

If you are a business facing chargebacks and want to learn more about our approach, we would love to hear from you. We are offering a trial in return for data analytics and insights into the chargeback process. Contact us today to learn more.

In conclusion, the increased dispute fee by Stripe is a challenge for businesses that accept payments online. Winning a dispute is already difficult, and with the increased fee, it becomes even more challenging. Instead of fighting disputes, businesses can focus on collecting lost disputes using innovative approaches like the one we offer at Respaid.

The first 10 readers to reach me (my email), will get a trial to collect their lost disputes.
All we need is: an excel file (no invoices or contrat required).
In return: I want to be able to feature you at Demo Day (Batch ends in 30 days…)
Sounds a deal? Email me: j@respaid.com or book a call.