Series A fundraising playbook

This write-up is about raising the post-seed/A round when you already have some initial traction to back your story. That said, most of the ideas below apply to earlier/later fundraising too.

As a founder, you don’t get to fundraise often, maybe just a handful of times throughout the lifetime of your company — it’s hard to become an expert at it. However, the good news is that there’s a straightforward process you can follow as a founder to maximize the efficiency and outcomes of this process.

Here’s my take on this, speaking as someone who’s been on both sides of the table. Keep in mind that every company is different, so not everything may be relevant to your situation. However, based on my experience over the years, I’ve found that most of these elements are. In fact, it’s a good idea to have a handle on all the items outlined in the “pitch” section, even if you’re not currently fundraising. That’s because these elements are fundamental to building a successful business.

There is a detailed step-by-step plan at the end of the write-up.

Here it is (10 min read): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ds9cGQB1uPG_1BOEcM9wS7dCbPpZHHHe7RRLB4CaGgM/edit

To get the most out of this document, copy it and add your notes. Mark things that resonate, remove irrelevant parts, and add missing elements. Edit the step-by-step plan to reflect your situation. Refer back to your annotated version as you go through the fundraising process.

Please let me know in the comments what you think. What parts did you like? What questions do you still have after reading it? What ideas you learned during fundraising that are not covered here — so I can add them.