
Ask HN: Advice for someone seeking to raise his first round? - max_
Hi every one!<p>I am working on a fintech startup. And looking forward to raising money for my first time.<p>I am looking to raise not more than $300k (seed round?) it may also matter that I am based <i>outside</i> the US.<p>My basic inquiries are;<p>1. How do I access VC funding if I don&#x27;t know any VCs personally? Do I just email them?<p>2. What should I prepare?<p>3. What should I watch-out for?<p>4. What mistakes did u make when raising your first seed round &amp; how would one mitigate them?<p>5. How do I increase my chances  for making a VC invest in my project?
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glennon
A quick answer. I will expand later if I have time.

(1) Finding VCs: Research online. Nowadays most VCs want to be known, and they
have websites and blogs and Twitter accounts. Find the appropriate VCs and
send them a short email with a link to your deck. Join founder communities
such as YC's [https://startupschool.org](https://startupschool.org) or
[https://openland.com](https://openland.com).

(2) What to prepare: A pitch deck. [https://blog.ycombinator.com/intro-to-the-
yc-seed-deck/](https://blog.ycombinator.com/intro-to-the-yc-seed-deck/)

(3) What to avoid: Inexperienced startup investors. Also, in the United
States, unaccredited investors. Before taking money from an investor, you
might talk to a founder of one of their other portfolio companies. Also avoid
complex financial agreements: learn about SAFEs and convertible notes
beforehand. Overall, you should just review all of YC's latest Startup School
materials.
[https://www.startupschool.org/latest](https://www.startupschool.org/latest)
If that's not the way you like to learn, get a copy of Feld and Mendelson's
Venture Deals book -- they also run a free online course twice a year.

(4) Common mistakes: Contacting VCs who were not appropriate for the business,
location, and stage.

(5) The number one way to increase your chances for getting a VC investment is
to not need the VC's money in the first place. A business that is growing
exponentially creates its own gravity. Barring that, each investor will have
their own priorities. For me, it is the speed of the founder's iterations and
progress. That often means I meet the founders long before any serious
consideration of investing (e.g., [https://bothsidesofthetable.com/invest-in-
lines-not-dots-611...](https://bothsidesofthetable.com/invest-in-lines-not-
dots-611f36491d73) )

~~~
max_
Thank you very much Glen! This is very comprehensive.

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cvaidya1986
Warm intros are the best. Cold email is fine but it needs to state everything
in the first part of the phone screen. Imagine the VC is scrolling through the
email on their phone. So try to grab their attention by getting to the point
immediately. Why this is a great opportunity and why only you can do it and
also try to show the revenue bottom up rather than a top down market size
analysis.

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pyc0d333
following this

