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    A raise in four steps

    A raise has four steps and takes three to six months. First, decide whether to raise at all. Then get the numbers ready for the second meeting, run a proper process, and get through diligence.

    Getting a term sheet feels like the finish line. It isn’t. (read where we wrote it)

    3 to 6Months from the first conversation to money in the bank

    What does the work include?

    Four parts, from getting ready to closing, and what each one gives you.

    1. Investment Readiness

      Prepare your business to meet institutional investor expectations.

      • Investment readiness assessment
      • Business model validation
      • Financial modelling and forecasts
      • Valuation support
      • Investor documentation
      • Data room preparation

    2. Fundraising Strategy

      Design the right capital strategy before approaching investors.

      • Capital planning
      • Fundraising roadmap
      • Investor targeting
      • Round structuring
      • Capital mix advisory
      • Timeline planning

    3. Due Diligence & Transaction Support

      Reduce friction during the investment process.

      • Financial due diligence readiness
      • Commercial documentation
      • Governance review
      • Risk identification
      • Information request management
      • Transaction coordination

    4. Investor Engagement

      Support beyond introductions.

      • Investor outreach strategy
      • Pitch refinement
      • Management preparation
      • Meeting support
      • Negotiation assistance
      • Closing coordination

    Why does the order of a raise matter more than its speed?

    The same four steps, in the same order, on every raise we run.

    1. Decide whether to raise at all

      Equity is the most expensive capital a company will take. The first conversation is whether this round is the right instrument, and sometimes the answer is debt or a grant.

    2. Get the numbers to survive a second meeting

      The model, the cohort data and the unit economics prepared to the standard an investor applies after the pitch has gone well.

    3. Run a process, not a series of conversations

      A defined list, a timeline and parallel conversations, so terms are compared rather than accepted one at a time.

    4. Survive diligence

      The data room, the reconciliations and the answers, prepared before the process starts rather than assembled while an investor waits.

    Which term sheet clauses deserve a second read?

    Most of a term sheet is boilerplate you can skim. These five are not. On the left, what to ask for; in the margin, why, in the words of the lead who reads them for our clients.

    Summary of principal terms

    Series A · Non-binding, except confidentiality, exclusivity, costs and governing law

    1. 1.

      Liquidation preference

      1x, non-participating

      It matters least when things go brilliantly and most when they go sideways, which is exactly when you will not be able to renegotiate it. (read where we wrote it)

    2. 2.

      Anti-dilution

      Broad-based weighted average, never a full ratchet

      A token down round can hand the investor a large extra slice of the company, and that slice comes out of the founders and everyone else without the same protection. (read where we wrote it)

    3. 3.

      Reserved matters

      Protections only, with thresholds set high

      Is this protecting the investor’s investment, or managing the company? (read where we wrote it)

    4. 4.

      Founder vesting

      Removal without cause is never a bad leaver

      So read exactly what makes someone a bad leaver. (read where we wrote it)

    5. 5.

      Exclusivity

      30 to 60 days, ending early if the investor stops progressing

      A long no-shop takes you off the market, and if the investor walks away late you have lost time, momentum and every other conversation you had to pause. (read where we wrote it)

    Margin notes: CS Manavi Arora, in A term sheet is two pages. It decides the next ten years of your company.

    Which work should come before you go out to raise?

    Before you go out to raise, not after a term sheet lands. Once a term sheet exists, every fix is visible to the investor and every delay is attributed to you.

    What do founders ask about running a raise?

    How long does a round take?

    For a well-prepared company, three to six months from first conversation to money in the bank. Preparation adds time at the front and removes more than it adds at the back, because diligence is where unprepared rounds stall.

    Is a term sheet binding?

    Mostly not. Its commercial terms are a statement of intent, and neither side can be forced to go ahead on them. But confidentiality, exclusivity, costs and governing law usually bind the moment you sign, so it is never only a term sheet.

    When should we start preparing?

    Three months before you go out, if you can. Spend a month finding out where you stand and a month fixing what can be fixed. Use the third to build the data room and a list of what you will tell investors before they find it.

    When is a company ready to raise institutional equity?

    When it can evidence a repeatable way of acquiring customers at a cost the business can carry, and when the numbers behind that claim will hold up under examination. A compelling story without that evidence gets meetings, not term sheets.

    What kills most rounds?

    Rarely the pitch. Usually the second meeting, when someone asks for the numbers behind the slide, or diligence, when the books do not support what was claimed. Both are preventable and neither is fixable once the process has started.

    Should we raise from VC or PE?

    It depends on the business, not the stage label. Venture buys a growth story and expects most of its investments to fail. Private equity buys audited historical performance and expects none of them to. A profitable, established business usually gets worse terms from venture than from private equity.