Raise money

Whether to raise, from whom, on what terms, and the non-dilutive options.

What founders use for raise money, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. The most quoted essay on the mechanics of fundraising, distilled from YC Demo Day advice. It reframes fundraising as a sales... paulgraham.com Article · 45 min read How to Raise Money Paul Graham In 9 answers
  2. The definitive book on how VC deals really work, written by two Foundry Group VCs. It demystifies the term sheet term-by-term... Wiley Book · book (~300 pages) Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson In 7 answers
  3. The most practical guide to investor updates, from a company that exists purely to help founders send them. Concrete structure... Visible.vc Article · 15 min read How to Write the Perfect Investor Update (Tips and Templates) Visible.vc In 7 answers
  4. This is a working Indian seed VC (Blume backed Unacademy, Purplle, Slice) writing down what it actually looks for, slide by... Blume Ventures Article · 20 min read High Pitched Assessments: the exhaustive list of what makes a good pitch deck Blume Ventures In 7 answers
  5. The reference primer on the metrics and market-sizing logic investors use, including bottom-up market sizing that keeps... a16z Article · ~15 min read 16 Startup Metrics Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) In 4 answers
  6. The canonical, no-nonsense overview of how seed fundraising works, written by a former YC president who has seen thousands of... Y Combinator Startup Library Article · 20 min read A Guide to Seed Fundraising Geoff Ralston In 4 answers
  7. A modern, tactical fundraising and pitch playbook aggregating advice from top operators and investors. Strong on how to build... Lenny's Newsletter Article · 25 min read A Playbook for Fundraising (and building your pitch) Lenny Rachitsky In 4 answers
  8. First Round Review turns storytelling from a buzzword into concrete pitch structure, drawing on a former Pixar CTO's approach.... First Round Review Article · 20 min read Take Your Fundraising Pitch from Mediocre to Memorable with Storytelling First Round Review In 4 answers
  9. YC's answer to what you need before a seed round is not a revenue number, it is a rate: raise once your product is being... Y Combinator Article · 20 min read A Guide to Seed Fundraising Geoff Ralston In 4 answers
  10. A practising senior partner spells out exactly why a raw US SAFE is dangerous for an Indian entity: it can be treated as a... Bar & Bench Article · 10 min read Convertible Notes and SAFE Notes in India: The Dilemma Madhavan Srivatsan In 4 answers
  11. Naval's concept of 'specific knowledge', the thing that feels like play to you and work to everyone else, is the clearest... nav.al Article · ~20 min read How to Get Rich (specific knowledge, leverage & judgment) Naval Ravikant In 3 answers
  12. The single most useful mental model for whether you actually need to raise. Graham's 'default alive vs default dead' framing... paulgraham.com Article · 10 min read Default Alive or Default Dead? Paul Graham In 3 answers
  13. A behind-the-curtain playbook for the partner meeting, from a First Round partner and former founder. It explains the internal... First Round Review Article · 20 min read What You Can Really Expect When Pitching Your Seed-Stage Startup at a VC Partner Meeting Liz Wessel, First Round Review In 3 answers
  14. YC's fundraising library collects the canonical explainers on how SAFEs convert, how caps and discounts work, and how they... Y Combinator Startup Library Article · varies A Guide to SAFEs, Caps, and Discounts (Startup Library) Kirsty Nathoo / Y Combinator In 3 answers
  15. The official source for DPIIT recognition, the free registration that unlocks tax benefits, self-certification, and scheme... startupindia.gov.in Article · Official portal page DPIIT Startup Recognition & Tax Exemption (Startup India) Startup India / DPIIT In 3 answers
  16. This is the actual math you are trading against, straight from the source: $125K for a fixed 7%, plus a $375K uncapped MFN SAFE... Y Combinator Article · 6 min read The Y Combinator Standard Deal Y Combinator In 3 answers
  17. A practical India-specific guide to term sheets and iSAFEs, written by working Indian VCs and startup lawyers (3one4 Capital,... Inc42 Article · 30 min read (guide) Decoding Term Sheets for Early-Stage Startups Siddarth Pai, Roma Priya, Yagnesh Sanghrajka In 2 answers
  18. This is the essay that forces the honest question underneath your idea: are you building a growth company or a good small... Paul Graham Essay · ~20 min read Startup = Growth Paul Graham In 2 answers
  19. This is the clearest side-by-side we found of the actual menu a bootstrapped founder faces: revenue-based financing, venture... Founderpath Article · 20 min read Non-Dilutive Funding for SaaS Founders: 8 Types Compared Founderpath In 2 answers
  20. The Indian mirror to the answer: Kamath built Zerodha to India's largest broker taking zero outside capital, and he is precise... Forbes India Article · 12 min read I wonder why there are only a few businesses like us, built to generate profits and not raise venture capital: Nithin Kamath Nithin Kamath (interviewed) In 2 answers
  21. If a US fund pushes you toward a Delaware structure, this is the India-specific legal and tax manual for what you are actually... Treelife Article · 20 min read Flip Structure for Indian Startups: A Complete Guide Treelife In 2 answers
  22. This is one of the only Indian seed funds that publishes hard numbers for when they want to hear from you, so you can benchmark... Blume Ventures Article · 5 min read Blume Ventures: How to reach us (seed traction benchmarks by model) Blume Ventures In 2 answers
  23. This is the reference point for what a clean deal looks like, written by the people who have watched hundreds of Series A term... Y Combinator Article · 12 min read A Standard and Clean Series A Term Sheet Y Combinator In 2 answers
  24. Feld (co-author of Venture Deals) does the arithmetic most founders never run: on a $5M investment for 50% and a $20M exit, a... Feld Thoughts Essay · 10 min read To Participate or Not (Participating Preferences) Brad Feld In 2 answers

Show the next 24

The questions

Should you raise? VC vs bootstrap 18

Raise only if the fuel buys escape velocity.

Should I raise venture capital or bootstrap my startup? 3 → What kind of businesses are actually a good fit for venture capital? 3 → What do I give up when I take VC money? 3 → Is my startup 'default alive' or 'default dead'? 2 → Can I build a big, profitable company without ever raising money? 2 → All 18 questions in Should you raise? VC vs bootstrap →
Angel & seed fundraising 18

Get your first believers to write cheques.

How does seed fundraising actually work, step by step? 3 → How much money should I raise at seed, and how much equity do I give up? 3 → How do I find and get intros to angel investors and seed funds? 3 → How do I create momentum and FOMO so investors commit instead of stalling? 3 → How is raising a seed round in India different from the US? 3 → All 18 questions in Angel & seed fundraising →
Pitch deck & storytelling 17

Ten slides that make investors lean in.

What slides should my pitch deck have, and in what order? 3 → How do I tell a compelling story instead of just listing features? 3 → What actually happens inside a VC partner meeting when I pitch? 3 → What are the most common mistakes that kill a pitch deck? 3 → How long should my deck be, and what goes in the appendix? 2 → All 17 questions in Pitch deck & storytelling →
Valuation, SAFEs & term sheets 18

Understand the paper before you sign it.

What is a SAFE and how does it actually work? 3 → What's the difference between a valuation cap and a discount on a SAFE? 3 → How is my startup's valuation actually decided at the early stage? 3 → What do the key terms in a term sheet actually mean? 3 → How do SAFEs and term sheets differ in India versus the US? 3 → All 18 questions in Valuation, SAFEs & term sheets →
Investor updates & relations 17

Turn investors into your unfair advantage.

How do I write a great monthly investor update? 3 → What metrics should I actually report to investors? 3 → How do I actually get value out of my investors beyond the cheque? 3 → How do I share bad news with investors without spooking them? 2 → How often should I update investors, and does it help me raise the next round? 3 → All 17 questions in Investor updates & relations →
Grants & non-dilutive funding 21

Free money: schemes, grants, and competitions.

What exactly is non-dilutive funding, and why should an early founder chase it before raising VC? 2 → What is DPIIT / Startup India recognition, and what do I actually get from it? 2 → How do I apply to the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), and how much can I get? 2 → What government schemes and grants can an early Indian startup actually get? 3 → What startup grants and competitions can a student in India apply to? 3 → All 21 questions in Grants & non-dilutive funding →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →