2 months ago
- Only raise money if you want it and it wants you; avoid fundraising if you don't need it or can't convince investors.
- Be in fundraising mode or not—focus entirely on fundraising when you do it, and avoid distractions from investors when not.
- Get introductions to investors, preferably from well-known investors or founders, and use platforms like AngelList as auxiliary sources.
- Treat investors as saying no until they make a definite, unconditional offer; avoid being misled by vague commitments.
- Use breadth-first search weighted by expected value: talk to investors in parallel, prioritizing those with higher likelihood and impact.
- Know where you stand by asking what happens next and tracking progress; never leave a meeting without clarity on next steps.
- Get the first commitment as it's the hardest part; close committed money quickly to avoid buyer's remorse.
- Avoid investors who won't 'lead' (i.e., only invest after others); they are worthless initially.
- Have multiple plans depending on how much you can raise, and underestimate your desired amount to build momentum.
- Be profitable if possible (Type A fundraising) to negotiate from strength; don't optimize for valuation—focus on getting the money and good investors.
- Accept offers greedily (take acceptable offers immediately) and avoid complex optimizations; don't sell more than 25% in phase 2.
- Have one founder handle fundraising, keep growth going, and stop fundraising when it stops working; don't get addicted to the process.