Raising a Seed round is a pivotal milestone. You should be prepared to fundraise from external investors (i.e., not OCV) with at least 9 months of runway left. Companies with high monthly burn rates may need to start the fundraising process within their first year.
Receiving inbound interest from potential investors can be exciting. No matter how “informal” an intro meeting may appear, remember that all meetings with investors are inherently pitches. Don’t meet with investors before you’re ready. Even if you’re not presenting a pitch deck, they are evaluating you.
At this stage, you should typically hold off on meeting investors until you’re ready to actively fundraise and keep your focus on building your product and growing. If you receive an inbound request, capture the interest in your investor CRM and let the potential investor know that you’re still early but would love to chat with them when you start thinking about fundraising.
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Hi [Name],
Thanks for reaching out. We’re not meeting with investors yet, but we’d love to meet you when we start thinking about fundraising. Can we reconnect in a few months?
Regards,
[Email Signature]
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Fundraising is a full-time job that should be executed with intentionality and intensity. Fundraising can take months, with the possibility of 100+ meetings. OCV prepares founders to fundraise successfully, including help on materials and investor introductions. Company growth is the single most important determinant for how successful you will be at fundraising.
Soon after company formation, OCV will work with you to craft your Building Blocks. Your building blocks will eventually be used as the foundation of your fundraising materials. Your fundraising story is essentially a version of the same story you tell yourself, potential hires, and customers—each version is built on the same building blocks.
Typically, companies fundraise when the founding team is in place and there’s exciting growth. At this time, fundraising becomes the CEO's full-time job. For most companies, the fundraising process will start around 9-12 months after incorporation, depending on the company’s burn rate.
In general, we recommend aiming for a 7-week fundraising process.
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Example timeline
Week 1: Review pitch with OCV and iterate
Week 2: Review pitch with Friendly investors and iterate
Week 3: First calls: may not be with a General Partner at a venture firm
Week 4: Second calls: with a General Partner, cut a few firms if too many
Week 5: Third calls: with the General Partner again, cut a few firms if too many
Week 6: Full partner meetings (these are usually scheduled for Monday mornings)
Week 7: Full partner meetings and term sheets due Tuesday noon Pacific
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The process of creating a pitch deck starts with your Building Blocks. Building blocks are introduced before we have a founding team in place. Starting the process early with a CTO allows them to tell their story, recruit a CEO, and provide a foundation for the fundraising deck.
Once your building blocks are done, creating the first draft of the pitch deck can be done very quickly. Use the OCV Pitch Deck Template to create your pitch deck. Start early enough and give yourself a few weeks to polish it.
Pitch deck tips: