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.
Rounds
How much to raise, when, and from whom.
The pre-seed round I regret
I invested in a round that was too big. Here is what it did to a good company.
Newsletter ·
A valuation is a story with a number in it
Investors buy the story first and argue about the number later.
Newsletter ·
Notes from forty pitch meetings
Jana and I sat through forty pitches this autumn. Here is what the good ones had in common.
Teardown: a real deck, slide by slide
Twelve slides, my notes on each, shared with the founder’s permission.