How to raise a seed round?
Elizabeth Yin, General Partner
Last updated: 3/27/2022
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I’m a former founder who’s reviewed over 30,000 pitches as a General Partner at Hustle Fund and as a former Partner at 500 Startups.
When I was a founder, I was absolutely clueless about how to fundraise. Hopefully this guide will help you raise a seed round.
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Strategy
* Not everyone should raise VC money
* Different types of capital
* Applying to accelerators
* Should you do an accelerator?
* How to ace the interview
* Should you bootstrap?
* Your idea matters a lot
* What makes for a good idea?
* Why I wouldn’t have invested in my former startup?
* Understanding why investors invest
* You are always pitching
* The hardest thing about fundraising
* You should have 4 fundraising plans
* Generating momentum
* How to raise $1.5m in 48 hours
Preparation
* How to make a collaborative list of investors
* Do they all need to be value-add?
* How to create a pitch deck?
* Pitch decks that stand out
* Where ppl go wrong with pitch decks
* Should you include financials?
* Ideal email deck
* Ideal in-person deck
* How to get in front of investors?
* Tips for cold-emailing investors
* How to write a cold-email
* How to ask for an investor intro
* Who should you ask for an investor intro?
* Pitching friends and family
* When you’re not well connected
* What is a cap table?
* What are SAFEs, convertible notes, and equity?
* A tweetstorm on this
* A blog post on this
* Should you raise on notes or equity?
* To SAFE or not to SAFE?
Meeting with and closing investors
* How to tranche your fundraise
* Why tranche your fundraise
* Honoring commitments
* Why seed rounds are dead
* You need to meet with lots of investors
* Why investors take a long time to decide (and how to shorten that)?
* Establishing trust
* How to think about big investors vs small investors
* Should you take small checks?
* Are you an investment or an option?
* How to close angel investors?
* Video version
* Do you need a lead investor?
* A blog post on lead investors
* 15 Annoying things investors say
* Do VCs fund solo founders?
* What goes into a pitch conversation?
* It’s not really a pitch
* What questions you should ask investors
* What questions an investor will ask you?
* How to follow up?
* Following up with investors who have rejected you before
* How VC partnerships make investment decisions?
* On valuations
* How valuations are determined
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Elizabeth Yin, General Partner
www.hustlefund.vc
@dunkhippo33