How startup fundraising works

In this YC Startup School talk, Brad Flora explains modern startup fundraising by replacing seven common myths with product-first, founder-owned, SAFE-era fundraising principles and YC company examples.

4 sections ยท 8 lessons

Course outline

Fundraising Reality

  1. Fundraising Is Conversations
  2. Start Before Raising
  3. Plan the First Fundraise Loop

Investor Conviction

  1. Convince Without Performing
  2. Rejection Needs Few Believers
  3. Rewrite the Investor Story

Seed Terms

  1. Seed Rounds Are Smaller
  2. SAFEs Preserve Early Control
  3. Choose the Financing Path

Access and Agency

  1. Traction Beats Network
  2. The Big Myth Is Exclusion
  3. Diagnose the Founder Fear

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