Fundraising Fundamentals By Geoff Ralston

YC Partner Geoff Ralston gives an introduction to the key concepts to keep in mind once you enter a fundraising process.

[christopherarmstrong]

30:15 Fundraising is not the goal, it's the starting line. You're building a business and a product that people want, and you're trying to build something that's sustainable over the long term. Fundraising is just one small step on the way to that.
30:45 Fundraising is not winning. The company that raises the most at the highest valuation will not necessarily (or even usually) be the biggest & most successful company at the end of the day.

[sineadward]

Thank you Geoff and YC for the leadership and the insights.

[chrisutopian]

Sory, I am late. But, better late than never. I had it in my past experience I could only have felt, now I hear from you: The best time to raise money is when you don't need it! Thanks for the great lecture!

[davidgrant]

One of the top presentations on YouTube on the subject.

[selenale]

this is so real and helpful, thank Geoff, Selena Le from WSAFE IMPACT VENTURE BUILDER

[manangarg]

Figure out the story of my start up
Find the right investors
Get organised, do your homework
Make and pitch again and again until we getting a yes
Agree on a reasonable price
Get money in the bank
Back to work

[zofe]

If your start-up collects information for Big-Brother, e.g. IoT, Big-Data, Autonomous-driving (a moving cluster of sensors), Wireless Water-Meters, Payment Software, AI/ML,
then you'ld see the big money quite from the start. AR is a way to carry cameras and to 'tag' (classify) contents from the real world in to the big-data search machines.

[adamlofquist]

Not trying to pick out a flaw but around 15:36 did Geoff mean to say pre-valuation? I believe he says if $1 million is invested into $4 million post-evaluation, then the total would be $5 million and therefore the investor would have 20% but if it is post-valuations, it means the total is valuation is $4 million and therefore would actually be 25%? I of course may be missing something.

[mrdibujante]

Got it, I will talk to others investors so I can practice, before reaching out... Seriously, thanks for sharing your experience.

[villanuevaphoto-ebmi]

Invaluable information here. Thank you!

[fernfawfaw]

Thank you. Geoff Ralston for valuable lecture.

[thearclight]

Thanks for sharing this, can’t wait to apply these lessons 🙌🏾

[amirnaeinee]

آنچه پس از آماده‌سازی مستندات لازم برای جذب سرمایه، باید مورد توجه بنیان‌گذاران کسب‌وکارها قرار بگیرد؛ انتخاب مدل تأمین مالی و طراحی سناریوهای مختلف جذب سرمایه است. دراین‌ارتباط گزینه‌های مناسب برای مذاکره به صورت بهینه لیست شده و مستندات لازم بر مبنای ملاحظات‌شان تهیه می‌شوند. در‌نهایت باز هم فرآیند مذاکره برای جذب سرمایه آسان‌تر می‌شود.

[homeever]

Geoff, thank you for the great information.
My name is Eliyahu. We are based in Israel.
We developed one of the most advanced building systems on the market today!
Over the last 7 years we have invested millions to creat and perfect a buiding system that can produce a high volume pruduct using Israel High Tech in combinations with fully automated robots and machines and almost no human labor.
We filed a provisional patent in 150 countries.
I am an American so I know the U.S construction and housing industry fairly well, I believe we can do extremely well in the states and worldwide. We need your help and get your advice on how to move forward and raise the V.C needed. Can we talk?

[Inquire]

"Thank GOD 🙏🏾", and thank you very much for your sharing support and time 😉 Should my fund-raising website be separate from the business website 🙄

[mhb]

For people looking to find out the average valuation caps prevalent in YC around the time of this video: $8M (at the 50:05 mark)

[mhb]

Raising $1M on $4M post-money valuation is 25% of the company, not 20%. Geoff misspeaks at 15:38, but ultimately comes around to the right number at 17:12

[fernandoaldridge]

What are the 8 things to put in a pitch deck?

[filobrosgolf]

This was great, thank you for sharing. One important question I have, recently I was diluted out of a startup I funded. I ended up getting 3x but felt somewhat ripped off. How can investors guard against the cap table dilution that sometimes happens when VC's start investing?

[MillionMajesty]

Thanks very much for this video but I have a question
Am from Nigeria and want a fund raising for my planning company and my question is that how will I connect with investors overseas to pitch my company for them and how will I have communication with them and how will I connect with YCs.
Thank you