Launching the First-time Fundraising Series

“How do I find investors who are a fit for what we’re building?”

“How long do you think it will take me to raise this round?”

“What feedback do you have on my deck?”

“How do I convince an investor to lead our round?” (spoiler: a trick question!)

In our open office hour meetings, founders often have tactical questions about running their first VC fundraising process. Because every situation is different, broadly relevant advice is scarce. That said, there are certain facets of investor psychology and fundraising mechanics that are nearly universal. While many of them are obvious to investors, they are invisible to founders who are new to raising venture capital.

This blog series will not discuss data rooms, term sheet negotiations, Board meetings, or investor relations; there is a wealth of content on these topics already. Instead, we will focus on how to go from considering fundraising to having a term sheet in hand. Hopefully this series will shed some light on how VCs think and how founders can navigate the information asymmetry.

This series has three parts: 

  1. Deciding to raise: When and why is venture capital a good fit for a company? What are the trade-offs of raising? Are all VC firms the same? If venture capital is not right for a company, what are the alternatives?

  2. Running a competitive process: How do you minimize fundraising pain and maximize the odds of successfully raising? How do you find, approach, and impress investors?

  3. Building a compelling deck: What is the goal of a pitch deck? What are investors looking for? How do investors decide to take a meeting? How should a deck be structured? 

If you have any questions, feedback, or ideas for future posts, please let us know via twitter!