Finance: Fundraising & VC
Showing 79 articles for Finance: Fundraising & VC.
How Neil Patel manages wealth, family office structure, and angel investing
Neil Patel
May 1, 2023
Fundraising & VC
8
Investing strategy
8
Long-term planning
6
- Money managers preserve capital — they won't make you rich
- Co-invest alongside experienced operators to avoid early mistakes
- Concentrate in what you know; hold long-term and beat the managers
How startup fundraising actually works: seven myths debunked
Y Combinator
March 29, 2023
Fundraising & VC
9
Pivoting
5
- Fundraising is coffee chats and Zoom calls, not Shark Tank pitches.
- SAFEs let founders raise millions in days with no lawyers or lost control.
- Rejection is universal — Whatnot raised less than hoped, then hit $3.7B.
Markel: Insurance, investing, and compounding through values
Business Breakdowns
March 22, 2023
Fundraising & VC
9
Business models
8
Culture building
5
- Why Markel's durable values matter more than its business model
- Profitable insurance underwriting creates permanent, negative-cost capital
- Small investment teams with patience outperform large analytical ones
Gary Vaynerchuk's 2023 takes on investing and building businesses
GaryVee
February 24, 2023
Fundraising & VC
9
Content marketing
5
- Co-CEOs are the single worst structure in any business
- Insecurity as a fuel source collapses in the final stretch
- Most AI startups 3–5 years ago were fake — the real wave is now
Revenue-based financing as a non-dilutive growth path for SaaS founders
TK Kader
February 10, 2023
Fundraising & VC
9
Bootstrapping
7
Long-term planning
6
- Skip early funding rounds and keep 40%+ more equity
- Repay with a revenue royalty — no board seat, no dilution
- Best entry point: $2–15M ARR with improving unit economics
TinySeed accelerator Q&A: application criteria, funding terms, and program value
Startups For the Rest of Us
February 9, 2023
Fundraising & VC
9
Business models
6
- Acceptance rate is ~2–3% — more selective than Harvard
- The money ranks third or fourth; mentors and community are the real value
- Profitable operation for a decade is a valid outcome — VCs would never allow it
Raising money from customers or strategic investors: three risks to know
Dan Martell
February 6, 2023
Fundraising & VC
9
Contracts & agreements
6
- Customer-investors can leak your financials to their competitors
- Taking investment often turns you into a cheap custom dev shop
- Strategic investors can quietly block your future acquisition
Lessons from Silicon Valley: a product manager turned founder
EO
November 2, 2022
Fundraising & VC
10
Growth hacking
10
Productivity & habits
10
- Why being the wrong CEO is the most honest thing you can admit
- COVID forced ruthless focus — killing every non-essential product launch
- Red Bull, not Facebook, is the right model for an impulse-driven product
What Y Combinator actually is and how it protects founders
Y Combinator
October 28, 2022
Fundraising & VC
9
Equity & cap tables
7
Business models
5
- YC flips fundraising: founders name the price, investors cold-email them.
- 40% of a recent batch entered with just an idea — early is better.
- Friendly early-stage investors are often the most exploitative.
Seed funding for startups: what founders need to know
Rob Walling
August 29, 2022
Fundraising & VC
9
Business models
6
- 90% of startups should bootstrap — not raise any funding
- Investor type determines the exit you're allowed to want
- Giving up 40% early can permanently destroy your cap table
How to raise capital for your SaaS using customers and onboarding data
Dan Martell
August 8, 2022
Fundraising & VC
8
Customer discovery
6
- Get customers to pay half-cost to co-fund features on your roadmap
- Combine customer commitments with seed investors to close rounds faster
- Use clickstream data from best users to redesign onboarding from day one
Venture capital explained: when to raise it and when to avoid it
Rob Walling
June 6, 2022
Fundraising & VC
9
Business models
6
Bootstrapping
5
- 99% of startups shouldn't raise VC — the model demands billion-dollar outcomes
- VCs earn via 2% fees plus 20% carry; most funds don't beat index funds
- Indie funding serves the founders VC ignores with smaller, profitable exits
Bootstrapping vs venture capital: choosing the right funding path
Rob Walling
June 1, 2022
Fundraising & VC
9
Bootstrapping
8
Business models
6
- VCs can block a sale even when founders have a great offer
- Indie funding offers capital without unicorn expectations or board control
- Debt financing is non-dilutive and viable from $15K MRR
Raising investment for a SaaS while running a services business
Dan Martell
March 28, 2022
Fundraising & VC
9
Business models
7
Pitching investors
6
- Your consulting history is your strongest investor signal, not a liability.
- Use theme days to split focus; migrate the ratio gradually.
- Pivot-or-persevere on a fixed cadence removes emotion from hard decisions.
Why investors cannot fix your company
Y Combinator
February 23, 2022
Fundraising & VC
8
Product-market fit
6
Identity & self-belief
5
- Every investor type gives advice shaped by their own background, not yours.
- Pre-PMF failure is usually zero customers, not inability to raise a Series A.
- Investors with no financial stake give the most honest, useful feedback.