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. Once you accept you are using CCPS, this is the operator's manual for what that instrument actually carries: 1x... Treelife Article · 18 min read CCPS SAFE Notes in India: Structure, Investor Rights, and Compliance Treelife
  2. This is the cleanest statement of the per-round rule of thumb backed by Carta's data across 1,200+ rounds: roughly 20 percent... SaaStr Article · 6 min read Carta: The Actual, Real Dilution from Series A, B, C and D Rounds Jason Lemkin
  3. Written by EquityList, the India-based cap table platform, so it speaks to founders managing ESOP pools and dematerialised... EquityList Article · 12 min read Founder Ownership by Round: How Equity Dilution Really Works EquityList
  4. This is the honest breakdown of what the equity actually buys, and it lands exactly where we do: you are paying for the... Value Add VC Article · 10 min read What Does Y Combinator Actually Give You: The Real Value Beyond the $500K Check Value Add VC
  5. This is the clean head-to-head for the exact choice an Indian founder faces: Surge or YC. It lays out the tradeoff we care... Ellenox Article · 12 min read Surge (Peak XV) vs Y Combinator: A Guide for Founders Ellenox
  6. This is the one map of the full non-dilutive stack in India, with real names next to every option: RBF providers (GetVantage,... IncorpX Article · 8 min read How to Raise Funds Without Giving Away Equity: Non-Dilutive Funding for Startups in India (2026) IncorpX
  7. The best plain-English guide to when venture debt is a smart accelerant versus a trap. It gives the rules our answer leans on:... Airtree Ventures (Open Source VC) Article · 12 min read Thinking Through Venture Debt: What It Is and How It Works Airtree Ventures
  8. This is the India reality check that stops you anchoring to US numbers. It puts the median Indian seed ticket at roughly $1M... Inc42 Article · 8 min read Indian Startup Funding Jumps 8% YoY To $5.7 Bn In H1 2025 Inc42 Staff
  9. When a term sheet lands and you are tempted to fight over the last point of valuation, this is the essay that reframes the... paulgraham.com Essay · 12 min read The Equity Equation Paul Graham
  10. Written by a VC for early-stage founders, it explains what light-touch seed diligence actually is: at seed the room skews... Airtree Ventures (Open Source VC) Article · 12 min read What to include in your startup's data room Airtree Ventures
  11. This is the India-specific piece the global guides cannot give you: it names the exact ROC and MCA filings investors reconcile... Treelife Article · 18 min read Legal Due Diligence Checklist for Indian Startups: What Investors Actually Check Treelife
  12. This is the canonical case for splitting close to equal, written by a YC group partner. It arms you with the exact four reasons... Y Combinator Essay · 5 min read How to Split Equity Among Founders Michael Seibel
  13. A clean, mechanics-first explainer on why every founder, including you, goes on a 4-year vest with a 1-year cliff. It spells... Rho Article · 9 min read Vesting 101: Structuring Equity for Founders and Employees Pia Mikhael
  14. The India-specific piece that tells you where the split actually gets signed. It separates the founders' agreement (equity,... Treelife Article · 10 min read Founder Vesting in a Shareholders' Agreement: What Startup Founders Must Know Treelife
  15. This is the ranked view of which terms actually bite, grounded in the NVCA model documents that most institutional term sheets... Glencoyne Article · 25 min read NVCA Term Sheet Standards: What Founders Must Know About Economics and Control Glencoyne Legal team
  16. This is the canonical argument for why you line up a lead first: a lead takes at least half the round, negotiates the term... Venture Hacks Article · 9 min read How do I find a lead investor? (Part 1) Nivi
  17. This is the concrete map of where the small cheques actually live in India: Indian Angel Network, Mumbai Angels, LetsVenture,... Inc42 Article · 15 min read From Seed To Success: 15 Active Angel Networks For Indian Startups Inc42 Staff
  18. This is the clearest India-specific explainer of the AIF trick that keeps your cap table clean: a SEBI Category 1 Angel AIF... Inc42 Article · 5 min read LetsVenture Launches Angel AIF, May Enable Funding Worth $135.93 Mn In Next 2 Years Inc42 Staff
  19. When you are deciding between a global program and staying close to your Indian market, this lays the actual terms side by side... Ellenox Article · 15 min read India Startup Accelerators 2026: 26 Programs Compared Ellenox
  20. This is the honest counterweight to YC's own pitch: the hard outcome data on what YC's India bet actually produced and why... Asia Tech Review Article · 8 min read Y Combinator reaps big rewards in India but its future in Asia is long over Jon Russell
  21. Once you decide you have a real reason to incorporate outside India, this is the head-to-head that tells you where. It puts... Treelife Article · 20 min read Foreign Subsidiary Jurisdiction for Indian Startups: Singapore, UAE, UK or US? Treelife
  22. This is the receipt for 'flip later is expensive.' Groww took the standard YC Delaware C-corp in 2016, kept 100% of its revenue... Treelife Article · 12 min read How Groww's $160 Million Delaware Tax Bill Became India's Most Expensive Startup Lesson Treelife
  23. The honest piece on who can raise on team versus who needs revenue. It states plainly that seed now looks like what Series A... CRV Article · 18 min read What Seed Investors Look For in 2026 CRV
  24. This is the playbook for exactly your situation: it tells you to lock down runway before you are desperate, cut burn with a... First Round Review Article · 25 min read The Founder's Field Guide for Navigating a Crisis First Round Review (recession-era founders, investors, and operating CEOs)

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 →