How to raise money before launch

2. If you are in the Pre-seed stage, the first thing is to go out to raise funds and prove the value of the group. In fact, some of the founders we work with have started lowering the valuations to find the funding they need over the next two to three years. In this case, you just need to raise money and go back to work.

As a founder, the goal then becomes to metaphorically peel each layer of the onion — Each fundraising milestone turning into a set of risks being evaluated and sidelined. The earliest investors become the partners to help figure out what to focus on. Good pre-seed angels and investors are often described as “having taste” for good startups — In tru... See more

As a founder in a world where capital is easy to get, what matters is how to explain yourself, distill the company, and get public markets to understand you in the right way.

For founders who are looking to raise venture money, here’s my best advice: Start by raising a small round from a strategic group of angel investors. This is your opportunity to gain a great set of advisors who have skin in the game. Use that money to search for product-market fit, and pivot as much as needed until you see customers pulling the pro

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The only reason you need venture capital is if (a) the technology is too expensive and you cannot self-fund it or (b) your product is going to catch fire too quickly. If done correctly, crossing the chasm should be inexpensive. Strive for cash-flow-positive and aim to change the value state of your company to attract investors and avoid constant fu... See more

existed thus far, and why I would be able to pull it off. The most important pitch isn’t a polished one, it’s a casual one. Remember, you’re ideally not going through a deck. You’re setting up casual meet-and-greets with investors. At some point in the conversation, they’ll ask you what you do (that’s their job!). Here, you have to absolutely knock

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Founders should decide how much to raise based on how much money they need to reach the next set of milestones. Startups have many layers of risk stacked on top of each other. Leo Polovets, managing partner at Susa Ventures, calls startups a “bundle of risk.”6 These risk layers could be as broad as “product risk,” but ideally the risk layers should

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My best advice for founders is to treat your company as if you are unable to raise VC money. How would you become profitable? How would you build the product in the first place? Founders would do well to follow the GitHub and Atlassian path. Once you are profitable, fundraising will become one of the easiest parts of the journey rather than the har

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