What your cap table tells an investor in the first 30 seconds
Before anyone reads your deck closely, the ownership spreadsheet has already answered the questions that matter. Here is what they are and how to fix the wrong answers.
Fundraising
Raising money for a startup: rounds, terms, timing and what investors ask for.
The real cost of incorporating your startup in the wrong place
Where and how you form your company decides who can invest, what you owe each year and what it costs to undo later.
What interest rate moves actually change inside a startup
A change in the Federal Reserve's policy rate reaches a young company through five channels, and only one of them is the cost of a loan.
SAFE or convertible note: what you are actually agreeing to
Both instruments postpone the valuation argument, but they treat time, debt and dilution very differently. How each one works and the clauses to read twice.
What actually happens at your first priced round, step by step
From the term sheet to the wire, a priced round converts old instruments, resizes the option pool and rewrites your charter. Here is the sequence and the traps.
How a venture capital fund works, and why it changes who it backs
Fees, carry, fund life and the math of returning a fund explain most investor behavior that founders find puzzling. A plain guide to the machine behind the check.
The term sheet clauses that matter more than your valuation
Liquidation preferences, anti-dilution, board seats and protective provisions decide who gets paid and who decides. What each clause does, and what diligence follows.
How to price an accelerator offer before you give up equity
An accelerator deal is a financing with a valuation hidden inside it. How to calculate what you are really paying and the questions to ask before you sign.
Accelerator, incubator, studio or corporate program: who wants what
Early-stage programs look alike from the outside but want very different things from founders. How each model makes money and the terms that reveal it.
The monthly investor update that gets read, and gets answered
A plain, consistent update is one of the cheapest tools a founder has. Here is a structure that builds trust and turns passive investors into useful ones.
The SaaS metrics investors check first, and how they spot inflated numbers
Recurring revenue, retention and payback periods drive how SaaS companies are valued. Here is how each is defined, where founders bend them and how diligence catches it.
C corp, S corp or LLC: how your entity shapes what you personally pay
Entity choice decides whether profit is taxed once or twice, whether you owe self-employment tax, and which investors and exits remain open to you.
Why interest rates quietly set the price of your startup
Central bank decisions reach private company valuations through discount rates, public comparables and fund flows. How the chain works, and what to watch.
What to wear to an investor meeting, and why it matters less than you fear
Clothes will not win the round but they can distract from the pitch, so here is how to dress to keep attention on the company, in person and on video.