One of the reasons I’ve written these resource pages in our Notion instance for technical founders is because selling and fundraising is really, really challenging, and it also requires technical founders to constantly “switch gears” from their sweet spot (eng/tech/product) to selling and fundraising. Growing a business is hard, hard work, and it requires founders to use a skill set that may feel challenging and uncomfortable.
Many of the founders that I work with initially contact me about sales issues, but eventually, they begin asking me about fundraising, either in the form of “when should I fundraise?,” “how much should I raise?,” “how should I set my valuation?” and “what kinds of people should I take (or not take) money from?”
So, I’ve assembled a short list of what I would read if I had to study up rather quickly on corp dev (in 2019 or 2020), especially if I didn’t have an advisor, or a lawyer who was that well-versed in venture deals. I’m trying to deliver, below, what will teach you the most about funding your startup with a minimum time investment.
Most of the founders I meet are under the illusion that corp dev is the hard part. I have found fundraising to be challenging and, at times, difficult, but rarely do I find raising a round an achievement to be cause for great celebration. The real work begins when the wire transfer clears.