The Graduation Problem: What Share of Seed Companies Reach Series A
Roughly 15-20% of seed companies reach Series A within 24 months, down from 30% in 2018. The data, why it halved, and what it changes.
RaiseTalks Blogfundraising, decoded
How investors evaluate early-stage startups: data rooms, diligence, benchmarks, and the work that moves a round to a term sheet.
Data Room Access Tiers: What to Share at First Contact vs Due Diligence
Sharing everything is reckless and sharing nothing is slow. The four-tier access model, and why enforcement has to sit below the interface.
The Investment Memo, Standardised: What Belongs in a Pre-Seed IC Memo
A one-page investment memo for pre-seed and seed: the nine blocks, what has to be falsifiable, and why you write it before the decision.
Team, Product, Market, Deal: The Four Dimensions of a Fundable Company
The four dimensions every early-stage investor assesses, what separates a 2 from a 4 in each, and why three strong dimensions and one weak one still fails.
How Long a Seed Round Actually Takes
Three to six months end to end. The 2026 timeline by phase, the single variable that halves it, and why founders plan for half the duration.
Data Room Red Flags: The 11 Gaps That Stall Due Diligence
The eleven gaps that most often stall early-stage diligence, ranked by how expensive they are to fix late, and the specific action that closes each one.
Proportionate Diligence: A Pre-Seed Checklist That Is Not a Series A Checklist
A pre-seed diligence checklist sized to a pre-seed cheque: what to verify in days, what to skip, and the four items that are never optional.
Warm Intros Are a Filter You Did Not Choose
The warm intro is a proximity filter, not a quality filter. How to build investor interest that does not depend on who you already know.
Adverse Selection: The Hidden Cost of Warm-Intro-Only Dealflow
Warm-intro-only dealflow is rational per deal and costly per portfolio. The economics of the deals you never see, and why the loss is invisible.
The Readiness Gap: Nine Things Founders Miss Between Interested and Term Sheet
Enthusiasm is not a term sheet. The nine things investors need between a good first call and a written offer, and why most are documentation.