Latest · The words · 1 min read
Raise less than you think. Then raise it faster.
Most founders ask for a number they can’t defend. Here’s how I size a first round from the milestone backwards.
Read onSecond Tuesday
Second Tuesday
Memos on money, for founders who want to raise less and own more.
The number this week
25%
Why
The buffer I’d add to a runway plan. Not fifty, not a full year. A quarter.
Chapters
The words
Free
Term sheets, dilution, preferences, explained until they stop being scary.
- Raise less than you think. Then raise it faster.
- Liquidation preferences on one napkin
- The pre-seed round I regret
- What a SAFE actually promises
The numbers
Members · $5 a month
The spreadsheets, teardowns and templates behind every memo, plus a monthly Q&A.
- Template: runway, backwards
- Teardown: a real deck, slide by slide
- Cap table: three rounds, simulated
Your deck
Deck review · fixed fee · 90 min
You send the deck and the model. I read both before we talk.
The pitch
By invitation · two places a quarter
For founders from Part III who want me on the cap table.
Second Tuesday
Memos on money, for founders who want to raise less and own more.