# Fundraising — Expanded Workflow Notes

This file expands the steps in `../SKILL.md` with practical heuristics. Treat all external fundraising advice as context; always adapt to the user’s constraints.

## A) The “venture treadmill” decision (raise vs don’t)

Use the Raise Decision Memo to make the trade-offs explicit:

- **Raising VC buys speed** (and time) but creates expectations: growth, outcomes, and a future financing path.
- **Not raising** can preserve optionality (control, pace), but may constrain speed or hiring.

Common decision criteria:

- Can the business reach meaningful milestones without VC? (revenue path, distribution path, founder runway)
- Is the market “winner-take-most” or timing-sensitive enough to justify VC speed?
- Does the team have a credible plan to use capital efficiently (specific milestone + hires)?

## B) Round design without pretending to be counsel

Focus on fundable clarity, not legal correctness:

- **Amount range:** “minimum viable raise” (keeps you alive) vs “plan A raise” (buys milestone) vs “maximal” (tempting, but riskier).
- **Milestone framing:** what must be true by the end of the runway to make the next round (or profitability) plausible.
- **Use of funds story:** headcount + key bets + buffers, tied to the milestone.

Avoid giving legal advice; instead:

- List **questions for counsel** (instrument, jurisdiction, investor rights).
- Keep numbers as ranges unless the user provides exact figures.

## C) Pitch narrative: first slide + first impression

The pitch “job” is to earn the next meeting. Build assets in this order:

1. **One-liner** (what, for whom, outcome)
2. **Slide 1** (strongest point)
3. **Narrative arc** (why now → why you → why win)
4. **Proof** (traction, customer quotes, demo, benchmarks, credible proxies)

Slide 1 heuristics (must pass in ~10 seconds):

- A specific category: “AI workflow automation for X”
- A clear ICP: “for Y teams at Z-sized companies”
- A concrete outcome: “reduces A by B%” (or proxy)

## D) Pipeline math + “100 no’s”

Treat fundraising like a sales funnel:

- Define a weekly outreach target (e.g., 10–20 new contacts/week) based on time budget.
- Track outcomes: intro requested, intro sent, meeting booked, meeting done, second meeting, partner meeting, diligence, term sheet.

When the user hears lots of “no”:

- Log the stated reason and categorize it (timing, market, traction, team, thesis mismatch).
- Look for **repeatable patterns** and adjust (target list, story, proof, pricing, wedge).

## E) Meeting + follow-up system

Standardize the meeting:

- Open: what you do + hook
- Problem: why it’s painful + why now
- Solution: wedge + demo
- Proof: traction/proxies
- Ask: round design (how much, by when, what milestone)
- Close: next step + timeline

Follow-up within 24 hours:

- Short recap
- Any promised artifacts (deck, metrics, memo)
- Clear CTA (next meeting, partner intro, diligence request)

## F) Diligence prep (lightweight data room)

You don’t need a perfect data room early, but you do need:

- Clean story that matches the numbers
- Basic financial model (even simple)
- Customer evidence (quotes, case studies, pilots)
- Product demo/roadmap clarity

Use the data-room checklist in [TEMPLATES.md](TEMPLATES.md) to avoid missing obvious asks.
