𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴

You need to start preparing for fundraising long before you need capital.

Sound counterintuitive? Maybe. But here's what I've learned in more than a decade working with early-stage investments:

𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹.
Hot categories like AI infrastructure, vertical SaaS and pick-and-shovel plays are getting funded. Everyone else needs to work twice as hard to prove why they're the exception.

And even in hot categories, investors are asking tougher questions than they did three years ago.

They're not funding potential anymore. They're funding proof.

Before a founder approaches investors, I help them answer key questions that define investment readiness in 2025. For example:

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆?
You should be able to show customer acquisition cost, payback period and expansion revenue. If you're burning $200K monthly with unclear unit economics, you're not fundraising – you're hoping.

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻?
"Hire engineers and scale sales" doesn't cut it. Investors want to see exactly how their capital accelerates what's already working.

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲-𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱?
This doesn't just mean compliance for regulated plays, but also things like documented repeatability in customer acquisition or a clear path to profitability.

What have you proven that makes writing a check feel smart, not speculative?

The market didn't close. It got selective.

Which means preparation isn't optional anymore. It's the price of admission.

Here's the part most advisors won't tell you: sometimes the answer is "don't raise yet." Build more traction and track your key metrics carefully.

Better to delay six months and raise from strength than to pitch prematurely and burn your network.

Build investor-grade operations before you need investor capital. You might even find that bootstrapping's the better long-term strategy.

Everything else is just burning runway hoping things work out.