Simone La Torre
Welcome to Project Raise!
Who am I and why should you care?
Born in Italy. Lived here and there. Resident in Luxembourg.
After my first M.Sc. in Space Engineering and second M.Sc. in Business Management, I decided to dedicate my career to the exciting world of professional negotiations.
I am regularly diving into high-caliber negotiation environments, such as the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Economic Forum (WEF), and I have the privilege to directly represent sovereign Countries and my employer and clients, i.e. large publicly listed companies, numerous Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, Wealth Management companies, and Single Family Offices.
With that exposure, I could not help but noticing how professional negotiators are always around where big money circulates - and that's perfectly normal and it should not change. But I have also seen how many normal-life initiatives and efforts could in fact still benefit - and greatly - from the trained skills of those same professional negotiators.
I believe everything in life is a negotiation and I believe everyone is able to recognize the value of good support and honest help. Therefore I started thinking: who are the people/entities that could get a much better life if they were supported by a professional negotiator?
I did not have to sweat much, before the answer manifested itself:
1. Employees who want to change job to get a higher salary and better quality of life, and
2. Startup founders who are about to jump into the next round of financing for their company.
In short, people who are looking to accomplish more with their lives and who definitely did not settle.
And to support those people I created Project RAISE.
Now tell me,
who are you?
If you are an EMPLOYEE:
1 - What are you up to?
You are here because you are about to start looking for a new job, be it the first one or just a better one. You are making the final tweaks to your CV and you are possibly thinking to reach out to a couple of recruiting firms, hoping to quickly sign for a higher salary. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but then you realize that you do not feel confident about your ability to sell yourself and negotiate the best hiring conditions with your future employer. That's my cue.
2 - What will I do for you?
Let's start with what I will not be doing for you: I will not be looking for a job on your behalf, nor will I do the interviews for you. Nevertheless, I will be helping you to get a higher compensation.
Together we will look at your CV and improve the way you portray your skills.
I will give you some tips about how to shine during the interview process.
I will tell you how to handle uncomfortable questions.
And then, when you receive a job offer, I will be literally dictating to you how to respond to that offer, negotiating with your future employer for you to agree on the highest possible salary.
3 - How does it work?
Everything starts with you getting in touch with me, so we can schedule a 2-hour virtual meeting. The meeting is going to be in English and you will need to make sure to have your CV ready by then.
During that virtual meeting we will look at how to improve your CV, I will give you tips on how to handle the job interviews, and I will train you to say some specific sentences that will give you negotiation leverage in the next steps.
Following the call, you will be sending out your CV to as many companies you like and you will be going through the interview process, keeping in mind our virtual training.
Eventually, you are going to receive a formal job offer. At that point, you will call me and we will analyze the offer together; I will then be preparing for you the reply (or multiple replies) to that offer, word by word, for you to send it out. My text(s) will aim at negotiating to increase your salary and to improve your overall quality of life. I will continue to support you until you are ready to sign the offer and take the job.
4 - How much will it cost you?
1500 EUR, paid in 2 tranches: 500 EUR after our first consulting session + 1000 EUR three months after the start of your new job contract.
Let me be clear, so you can see how I decided to structure my fee:
First of all we will do our 2-hour virtual meeting. If, at the end of that meeting, you will be fully satisfied with the value I will have given you, you will pay me a 500 EUR consulting fee. If, on the contrary, you will not see any value in it, the meeting will cost you nothing and our collaboration will end there.
(Assuming you are satisfied) following our virtual meeting, and throughout the entire negotiation process - with one or even many employers at the same time - I will be working with you to ensure you sign the best possible work contract. When that happens - and within a 3-month window - you'll pay me additional 1000 EUR.
5 - How do we start?
Pretty simple: find me on LinkedIn and drop me a couple of lines. Feel free to follow me there, or to connect even. When I receive your message, we will take it from there.
I will be asking just one question: Are you ready to make a deal TODAY?
Important note: I will not be able to support you if that requires me to negotiate against the companies listed in the home page of this website, as I will not allow for any conflict of interest to happen.
If you are an ENTREPRENEUR:
1 - What are you up to?
You are here because you are the founder of a startup and are about to prepare for a fundraising campaign and you don't want to compromise on the long-term value of your company. And no, I am not referring to crowdfunding and derivatives like that, for which negotiation skills are not really necessary. I am referring to a serious, complex, and demanding investment round, be it seed, post/super seed, or any of the usual Series (A, B, ..., Z). Also, you are here because you understand how important it is in these pivotal moments to be sided by a professional negotiator, who can help you protect and enhance the intrinsic value and potential of your company before professional investors.
2 - What will I do for you?
Let's begin with what I will not do for you: I will not look for investors interested in your company and I will not pitch on your behalf.
I will do something significantly more valuable for you: I will work with you to perfect your pitch deck and to boost the effectiveness of the storytelling in your business plan. I will coach you on how to pitch to investors and how to speak in public in general. And, when the time will come, I will be supporting you and your startup throughout the entire investment negotiation, until the very last day, when you will be able to call the successful closing of the round.
3 - How does it work?
Everything starts with you getting in touch with me, so we can schedule a 4 x 1-hour virtual meetings. The calls are going to be in English and you will need to make sure to have your pitch material ready by then.
In the course of the 4 meetings, we will work on your pitch deck and business plan, we will refine your claims and your valuation, I will provide you with negotiation tactics to be used when pitching to investors, which will be tailored to the size of the round you are looking to raise.
Following these meetings, you will start pitching to various investors and go through typical due diligence phases until interested investors will make you an offer. Rest assured that this offer is not going to be in line with your initial request. At that moment I will be siding with you and we will negotiate together, to ensure that as much as possible of the value of your company is preserved, while as much as possible of the potential of your business model is realized.
4 - How much will it cost you?
The first 4 x 1-hour virtual meetings are going to cost you 1.000 EUR, that you will pay in 4 tranches of 250 EUR at the end of each virtual meeting and only if you are satisfied with the value I was able to bring to you. If, on the contrary, you cannot see any tangible value, you will not pay anything and our relationship will terminate with no expenses from your side.
Following the 4 virtual meetings, if you wish to proceed, the continuation of my collaboration is going to cost you:
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19.000 EUR at completion of the successful negotiation, for a round smaller than 500.000 EUR;
or
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29.000 EUR at completion of the successful negotiation, for a round smaller than 1.500.000 EUR (and greater or equal than 500.000 EUR);
or
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40.000 EUR at completion of the successful negotiation, for a round greater or equal than 1.500.000 EUR.