“We’re raising at a $10M cap because that’s what we want.” That’s not a negotiation. That’s wishful thinking. If you want to lead the valuation convo, you need reference points. What are other companies raising at? What comps are out there? What early traction do you have to

I don't think founders understand the role "relationship" plays in fundraising. I'm launching a new project tomorrow that will help and provide a different perspective. I'm excited to get everyone's feedback so stay tuned! p.s. high five at the taj mahal ftw :)

Starting a legal office hours in 5 minutes with Startup Lawyer These are the best. A great way for our private community members to get a legal expert and fundraising expert's guidance around what you're up to OFFER: opening up a last second spot to my twitter community.

One of the simplest and most overlooked ways founders get better is just by showing up. Office hours, group coaching, expert sessions… it doesn’t matter if you’re the one getting coached. Just being in the room changes the game. Founders are more isolated than ever. When

a warm introduction to the wrong partner at a firm will likely result in a redirection to the right partner get in where you fit in

Founders spend months chasing product-market fit… but way too many chase it with something they don’t actually care about. It sounds obvious, but it happens more than you think. You take a bet on a trend, a space that might be hot again. Or you jump on something because an

I was super excited to learn that ChatGPT started rolling out limited beta access to integrations with Google Calendar and Gmail! Amazing! Think about all the things i can do! and then I realized Gemini should have much easier and better access. ...great gateway into my

If you don’t have signed docs and money in the bank, it’s not real yet. Investors can be "interested." They can be "in diligence." They can say all the right things. Still… keep pushing. Keep sending intros. Keep warming up your list. Momentum dies when founders assume it's

The hard thing about hard things…

I'm working on updating my fundraising support to be AI first. I'll be sharing insights along the way. My first AI tip has to do with decks. There are a lot of great tools that can help with that. The most popular has been Gamma My experience right now is that

Your customers might just be your best angels. If a doctor is using your product, getting value, and has disposable capital… Why not ask? They already believe.

One founder I’m working with has been replying to every outreach email, researching recipients, and manually DM’ing relevant people who didn’t respond. None of this was part of the formal strategy... but I love it. That’s the mindset of “how can I keep this thing moving?” The

You don’t need to be an AI company. But you do need to understand how your company survives in a world where AI is everywhere. That might mean building a moat around data. Or owning a network. Or nailing user experience in a space that’s getting automated to death. Either way,

You’ve heard the advice to tell a great story and show your numbers when you go out to raise. And if you’re like most founders, you assume these are two separate muscles to flex in your pitch.. like a storytelling section followed by a metrics section. That framing is broken.

Back in 2021, the only thing anyone cared about was how fast you could grow. Today, the question is different: how durable is this business? Founders need to shift their storytelling. It’s no longer just about growth or having an AI angle. The pitch now has to include long-term

a current challenge: fighting the inaccurate programming that "if something is easy, it's not worthwhile" while knowing that some of the most meaningful things in life are trapped behind a wall of discomfort

good representation of how work on decks usually goes VV