Laurie Fisher had a bold idea: she wanted to protect communities prone to wildfires by building fire safe homes. As an architect based in California, she had seen first hand the devastation that fires can bring to a community. And she was determined to do something about it.
After working with Tubb Fire survivors in Santa Rosa in 2018, she learned that fire survivors are traumatized and they needed a better way to rebuild. Obviously, they wanted homes that wouldn’t burn again, but they also needed a design and build process that was trauma-informed and easier to navigate.
She founded her company, PHNX Development, and for several years Laurie worked on this idea developing her own proprietary technology to design wood-free non-combustible homes. Finally she secured her first client - and built the first Type IA non-combustible home in the US. But she needed funding to scale.
Serving fire survivors is a very particular market; however, it turns out that the materials and methods that Laurie innovated for PHNX are highly desirable for anyone looking to build and/or develop custom homes.
Initially Laurie tried to fund PHNX organically but the margins were too small. Every step was a huge struggle. Laurie felt lost and defeated. She had no idea how to turn her solution into a business that was strong enough to actually compete and address the dysfunction in the current construction market.
When she founded PHNX Development, she had expertise in architecture and home construction but lacked an understanding of business fundamentals needed for scale.
“I was almost to the point where I was going to have to quit. Not only did I not have the skills or the financials [to continue], I physically couldn't. I was lost.”
Then she found Hive.Hive helps founders go beyond their product — teaching them how to build business resilience and increase their investability. Laurie learned how to establish PHNX’s value, structure her company and team, and create a foundation for growth. And most importantly, she learned how to fundraise.
From Initial Sales to Scalable Growth
PHNX had sold their first house, but she had no idea how to position this traction with investors. She didn’t speak the language of business or money. She didn’t understand the mechanics of fundraising. And she didn’t know how to turn these initial commercial wins into real momentum.
Hive’s Investment Readiness Accelerator taught Laurie how to make PHNX investable.
During the program, Laurie built a unique, differentiated business with a strong focus on commercial traction.This approach enabled PHNX to become the first homebuilder pre-qualified for insurance coverage, at a discount - even in high fire hazard areas - a revolutionary step in her industry and a major milestone for the company. Laurie understood at this point that investors are looking for commercial validation to help them manage risk. She understood that with this latest win her business was ready to raise.
And her formula worked! Just two weeks after opening her round, Laurie secured the $130,000 she needed to build her team and take PHNX to the next level.
PHNX is now more than a homebuilder—it’s a movement for fire-resistant living.
The Power of a Clarity
Successfully raising investment requires clarity. As founders, sometimes we know too much and it becomes hard to highlight what is important. This was a huge struggle for Laurie, reflected in her initial investor deck which was over 40 pages long and lacked a clear commercial strategy.
During the Investment Readiness Accelerator, and in collaboration with her Hive mentor, Laurie learned what investors needed to see in her business to make this investment opportunity impossible to pass. Once she was clear within herself, she was able to reflect this clarity in her materials which led to her successful raise.
“One of the biggest values of the Hive experience was their ability to help me figure out what kind of company I wanted to build so I could articulate this to investors. I had the vision but I could not let go of all of the details - which investors do not need to know to decide. Hive taught me how to know what’s important and to highlight that to the right audience - whether these are sales people, customers or investors. I am a better business woman because of Hive. It changed my life”.
Ready to take your raise to the next level?If you, like Laurie, struggle to figure out what information is important to share with investors, then the Investment Readiness Accelerator is the right program for you.
If you're ready to take your startup to the next level, join the next cohort of the Investment Readiness Accelerator. Visit our website or schedule a call to learn more!
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