Raise venture capital like a builder.
A long-form library on raising VC, written for founders who'd rather ship than memorise the slang. Pitch, terms, process, post-raise — the whole arc, in plain language.
the pillars.
start anywherevc fundamentals
What a venture fund is, where the money comes from, why returns are power-law, and how all of that shapes the way investors look at your company.
- — What Is Venture Capital? A Founder's Plain-English Guide
- — How VC Funds Actually Make Money: 2 and 20, Carry, and Why It Matters
- — LPs and GPs: Who's Really on the Other Side of the Table
- — Why VC Returns Are Power-Law (And Why It Shapes Every Decision They Make)
before you raise
Whether to raise at all, when to start, traction benchmarks by stage, building a narrative, and the legal and financial housekeeping that pays off in diligence.
- — When to Raise Venture Capital: A Founder's Decision Framework
the pitch deck
A deconstruction of every slide, with examples of what works, what falls flat, and what to leave out. Plus the appendix slides that quietly close rounds.
- — How to Write a Pitch Deck That Actually Closes a Round (2026 Edition)
- — The Problem Slide: How to Anchor a Pitch Deck in Real Pain
- — The Traction Slide: How to Show Numbers That Close Rounds
- — TAM, SAM, SOM — Done Honestly: How to Size a Market Without Losing Credibility
pitch.md & the markdown-first raise
The case for a single, machine-readable pitch document — what to put in it, how investor agents read it, and how to keep it the source of truth for your raise.
- — Pitch.md: The Markdown-First Pitch Document Investors (and Their Agents) Read First
- — Pitch.md Template: A Markdown Pitch Document You Can Copy and Adapt
- — Pitch.md vs Pitch Deck: When to Use Each, and Why You Probably Need Both
investor research & outreach
Building a target list that isn't a hundred-name spray, finding warm intros, writing cold emails that actually get replies, and managing pipeline without losing your mind.
- — How to Find Investors for Your Startup (Without Spamming a Hundred VCs)
- — How to Build an Investor Target List That Actually Closes (Not 100 Names — 30)
- — How to Write a Cold Email to Investors That Actually Gets a Reply
- — How to Get a Warm Intro to a VC: The Founder's Playbook
meetings & process
How a real fundraise is sequenced, what to do in each meeting, how to read the room, and how to keep momentum without manufacturing fake urgency.
- — How to Get a Meeting With a VC (And What to Do When You're In)
- — The First Call With a VC: How to Run It Well
- — The Partner Meeting: How to Survive (and Win) the Monday Pitch
- — Running a Fundraising Process: How to Sequence, Pace, and Close a Round
term sheets & negotiation
SAFEs vs priced rounds, valuation and dilution math, the clauses that matter (and the ones that don't), and how to negotiate without burning the relationship.
- — What Is a Term Sheet? A Founder's Guide to the Document That Decides Everything
- — SAFE vs Priced Round: Which Should You Raise?
- — Valuation and Dilution Explained: The Math Every Founder Should Be Able to Do in Their Head
- — Pro Rata Rights Explained: When to Grant Them, When to Refuse, and Why They Matter
due diligence
What investors actually check, how to organise a data room, the references that move the deal, and the diligence questions that catch founders flat-footed.
- — What VCs Actually Check in Due Diligence (And How to Be Ready)
- — How to Set Up a Data Room for Investor Diligence (Founder's Checklist)
- — The Diligence Questions That Catch Founders Off-Guard (And How to Be Ready)
closing & legal
Definitive docs, the cap table on closing day, 83(b), KYC, side letters, and the small mistakes that delay closes by weeks.
- — From Signed Term Sheet to Wired Money: The Closing Process Explained
- — The 83(b) Election Explained: Why You Have 30 Days to Save Yourself From a Tax Disaster
- — The Definitive Documents in a Priced Round: A Founder's Plain-English Walkthrough
- — Side Letters Explained: What They Are and Why You Should Read Each One Carefully
after the round
Investor updates, board management, hiring with fresh capital, runway discipline, and setting up the next round from day one.
- — What to Do the Day Your Seed Round Closes (and the 90 Days After)
- — How to Write an Investor Update That Investors Actually Read (and Act On)
- — How to Run Your First Board Meeting (Without Letting It Run You)
- — Setting Up Your Next Round From Day One: The Founder's Pre-Fundraise Plan
stage by stage
Each stage has its own benchmarks, investor types, deck shape, and process. This is the stage-by-stage operator's manual.
- — Pre-Seed vs Seed: What's the Difference, and Which Should You Raise?
- — How to Raise a Seed Round in 2026: A Step-by-Step Founder's Guide
- — How to Raise a Pre-Seed Round: The First Institutional Cheques
- — How to Raise a Series A: The Round Where Repeatability Matters
by geography
How fundraising differs across the US, UK, EU, India, MENA, LatAm, Africa, and Southeast Asia — investor types, cheque sizes, terms, and cultural notes.
- — Raising Venture Capital in the UK: A Founder's Guide for 2026
- — Raising Venture Capital in the US: A Founder's Guide for 2026
- — Raising Venture Capital in Europe (EU): A Founder's Guide for 2026
- — Raising Venture Capital in India: A Founder's Guide for 2026
sector playbooks
B2B SaaS, marketplaces, dev tools, consumer, AI-native, fintech, healthtech, climate, hardware, and biotech — each plays by slightly different rules.
- — How to Raise VC for a B2B SaaS Startup (2026 Playbook)
- — The SaaS Metrics Investors Actually Care About in 2026
- — How to Raise VC for a Marketplace Startup (2026 Playbook)
- — How to Raise VC for an AI-Native Startup in 2026
founder situations
Solo founders, second-time founders, technical and non-technical founders, immigrant founders, husband-and-wife teams, and founders at every stage of life.
- — Solo Founder Fundraising: How to Raise When You're Alone at the Top
- — Second-Time Founder Fundraising: How to Use Your Earned Network
- — Non-Technical Founder Fundraising: How to Raise When You Don't Code
alternatives to vc
Bootstrapping, revenue-based financing, grants, accelerators, angels, syndicates, equity crowdfunding, venture debt — when each is the right call.
- — Alternatives to Venture Capital: How to Fund a Startup Without VC
- — Bootstrapping a Startup in 2026: When It's the Right Path (and How to Do It Well)
- — Revenue-Based Financing Explained: When RBF Is the Right Tool
fundraising in the agent era
How AI is reshaping diligence, scouting, and outreach — and how founders should prepare for the day investors read your pitch through an agent first.
- — Pitching to Investor Agents: How AI Is Reshaping the First Read
- — MCP for Fundraising: How Investors Use the Model Context Protocol to Discover Deals
mistakes & antipatterns
The small wrong turns that turn promising raises into dead ones — sequencing errors, term-sheet traps, misread signals, and the quiet ways founders self-sabotage.
- — The Most Common Fundraising Mistakes — And How to Avoid Them
- — The Fundraise Arc: How a Round Actually Plays Out, Week by Week
drop your pitch.md.
the library is for the slow days. when you're ready, the marketplace is ten seconds away. drop a pitch.md, and investor agents will start reading.