Article · Fundraising Basics
What is fundraising for a company?
Fundraising is trading a piece of your company (equity) — or taking on debt — for the capital to grow faster than revenue alone allows.
The usual path: Pre-Seed (idea + team, often angels and accelerators), Seed (early traction, proving the model), Series A and beyond (repeatable growth, scaling what works). Investors aren't buying your product — they're buying a return, so every raise is a story about how their money multiplies.
Rule of thumb: raise enough for 18-24 months of runway, tied to milestones that unlock the next round.
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How to Raise Startup Funding: Everything You Need to Know
Formation to Series A and beyond — the full funding landscape in one watch.
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Fundraising Fundamentals — Geoff Ralston (YC)
Core principles of raising from one of Y Combinator's leaders.
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Startup Funding Explained: Seed vs Series A
What separates each round — and what investors expect at every stage.
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WatchArticle · Knowing When to Raise
When do you need funds — and how to identify it
Three signals it's time:
1. Runway math: months of cash left = cash in bank / monthly burn. Start raising at 9-12 months of runway — rounds take 3-6 months to close.
2. Growth inflection: you have proof (retention, revenue, waitlists) that more money converts directly into more growth. Capital accelerates what's already working; it doesn't fix what isn't.
3. The plan needs it: a hire, a launch, or a market you can only capture with capital — with a clear 'money in, milestone out' map.
How much: enough for 18 months of runway plus the cost of hitting your next-round milestones. Raise too little and you're fundraising again before you've proven anything.
Video · Knowing When to Raise
How Startup Fundraising Works — YC Startup School
YC's framing of the founder-investor relationship and round timing.
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Y Combinator's Playbook for Raising Money
Timing, process, and running investor conversations in parallel.
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WatchArticle · Pitch & Presentation Skills
Presentation skills for first-time founders
Structure: problem, why now, solution, traction, team, ask. Ten slides, not thirty.
Delivery:
- Rehearse out loud at least 10 times; record yourself once and actually watch it.
- Have a 2-minute version and a 20-minute version — never something in between.
- Say your numbers slowly. Pause after the ask.
- Open with the customer's pain, not with your biography.
Q&A: 'I don't know — I'll follow up by tomorrow' beats bluffing every single time. Write down every hard question you get; it will come up again.
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How to Raise Capital as a YC Startup
Keep the pitch simple, skip the jargon, lead with traction metrics.
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How to Fundraise from Investors
What investors actually listen for, and how to prepare for the room.
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WatchArticle · Unit Economics
Unit economics, explained — with sector examples
Unit economics asks one question: does each unit of your business make money?
Core metrics: CAC (what it costs to win a customer), LTV (the gross profit that customer generates over their lifetime), and contribution margin (revenue per unit minus variable cost per unit). Healthy rule of thumb: LTV at least 3x CAC.
SaaS example: $100/mo subscription, 80% gross margin, average customer stays 24 months. LTV = 100 x 0.8 x 24 = $1,920. If CAC is $500, LTV:CAC is about 3.8 — healthy.
E-commerce example: average order $60; product, shipping, and packaging cost $40, leaving $20 contribution per order. If ads cost $25 per first order, you lose money on order one and need repeat purchases to break even.
Marketplace example: $100 booking at a 15% take rate = $15 revenue per booking. Subtract payment fees and support cost ($5) and you keep $10. CAC must stay well below that times bookings per user per year.
Investors read unit economics as proof that growth compounds instead of scaling losses.
Article · Fundraising Basics
How I Read a Seed Deck
Team, market, traction, ask — in that order.