Fundraising and investor relations

Capital is bought, not received, and the terms matter more than the headline number. So does what happens for the years afterward, which is where most of the relationship actually lives.

Financing terms have legal and tax consequences that vary by structure and jurisdiction. Get qualified counsel and your accountant on any instrument before signing.

Decide the amount from the plan, not from the market

Raise against what the money buys: the milestones that will make the next raise possible, plus enough runway to reach them and to be wrong once. Working back from milestones gives a number you can defend and a story that connects the raise to the outcome.

Raising more than the plan needs is not free — it costs dilution now and sets a valuation you have to grow into. Raising too little is worse, because running out mid-plan is the weakest possible negotiating position and everyone on the other side of the table knows it.

Understand what the terms cost, because valuation is the least of them