| name | Fundraising Knowledge |
| description | This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a pitch deck", "write investor emails", "analyze a term sheet", "prepare for due diligence", "understand fundraising metrics", "compare term sheets", "draft a cold email to investors", "prepare for VC meetings", or mentions fundraising stages (pre-seed, seed, Series A/B/C), valuation, dilution, SAFEs, convertible notes, or investor relations. |
| version | 0.1.0 |
Fundraising Knowledge for Startup CEOs
Overview
This skill provides comprehensive fundraising guidance for VC-backed startup CEOs across all stages from pre-seed through Series C+. It covers pitch deck creation, investor outreach, term sheet analysis, and due diligence preparation.
Pitch Deck Fundamentals
Core Principles
Every pitch deck must answer three questions:
- Why now? (Market timing and urgency)
- Why you? (Team and unique insight)
- Why this? (Product-market fit evidence)
Deck Length Guidelines
| Stage | Slides | Time |
|---|
| Pre-seed | 8-10 | 5-10 min |
| Seed | 10-12 | 10-15 min |
| Series A | 12-15 | 15-20 min |
| Series B+ | 15-20 | 20-30 min |
Sequoia Format (Recommended for Seed/Series A)
- Company Purpose - One sentence describing what you do
- Problem - The pain point you're solving
- Solution - Your product and how it works
- Why Now - Market timing and trends
- Market Size - TAM, SAM, SOM analysis
- Competition - Landscape and differentiation
- Product - Demo or screenshots
- Business Model - How you make money
- Team - Founders and key hires
- Financials - Metrics and projections
- Ask - Amount raising and use of funds
YC Format (Recommended for Pre-seed/Seed)
- What do you do? - Clear one-liner
- Problem - Customer pain point
- Solution - Your approach
- Traction - Growth metrics
- Market - Size and opportunity
- Team - Why you'll win
- Ask - Raise amount
a16z Format (Recommended for Series A+)
- Title - Company name and one-liner
- Mission/Vision - Long-term ambition
- Problem - Deep problem analysis
- Solution - Product walkthrough
- Market Opportunity - Bottoms-up TAM
- Business Model - Unit economics
- Go-to-Market - Distribution strategy
- Competition - Category dynamics
- Traction - Metrics deep dive
- Team - Unfair advantages
- Financials - P&L and projections
- Ask & Use of Funds - Milestones
Investor Outreach Best Practices
Email Structure
Subject line: Keep under 50 characters, mention referral if warm intro
Opening: One sentence on why reaching out to THIS investor
Body: 3-4 sentences on company, traction, and ask
Close: Clear call to action (meeting request)
Outreach Sequence
| Day | Action | Content |
|---|
| 0 | Initial email | Introduction + ask |
| 3 | Follow-up 1 | New data point or news |
| 7 | Follow-up 2 | Social proof (new investor/customer) |
| 14 | Final follow-up | Direct ask for response |
Warm vs Cold Outreach
- Warm intro (80% response rate): Through portfolio founder or mutual connection
- Cold outreach (5-15% response rate): Direct email with strong hook
Term Sheet Analysis
Key Terms to Evaluate
Economics:
- Pre-money valuation
- Investment amount
- Option pool (and who bears dilution)
- Liquidation preference (1x non-participating preferred is standard)
- Anti-dilution (broad-based weighted average is founder-friendly)
Control:
- Board composition
- Protective provisions
- Voting rights
- Information rights
Other:
- Pro-rata rights
- Drag-along/tag-along
- No-shop period
- Founder vesting
Red Flags
- Participating preferred (double-dip)
- Full ratchet anti-dilution
- Multiple liquidation preferences (>1x)
- Excessive board control
- Broad protective provisions
- Long no-shop periods (>45 days)
Stage-Specific Guidance
Pre-Seed ($250K-$1M)
- Typical terms: SAFE or convertible note
- Valuation caps: $3M-$10M
- Focus: Team + vision + early signal
- Investors: Angels, pre-seed funds, accelerators
Seed ($1M-$4M)
- Typical terms: SAFE, convertible, or priced round
- Valuations: $8M-$20M pre-money
- Focus: Product + early traction
- Investors: Seed funds, angels, some multi-stage
Series A ($8M-$20M)
- Typical terms: Priced equity round
- Valuations: $30M-$80M pre-money
- Focus: Product-market fit + repeatable GTM
- Investors: Multi-stage VCs, Series A specialists
Series B+ ($20M+)
- Typical terms: Priced equity round
- Valuations: $100M+ pre-money
- Focus: Scale + path to profitability
- Investors: Growth funds, multi-stage VCs
Due Diligence Preparation
Document Categories
- Corporate: Incorporation docs, cap table, board minutes
- Financial: Financials, projections, bank statements
- Legal: Contracts, IP assignments, employment agreements
- Product: Technical architecture, security audits
- Commercial: Customer contracts, pipeline, churn data
Common DD Requests
For detailed due diligence checklists by stage, see references/due-diligence-checklist.md.
Fundraising Metrics by Stage
| Metric | Pre-Seed | Seed | Series A | Series B |
|---|
| ARR | $0 | $0-$500K | $1M-$3M | $5M-$15M |
| MoM Growth | N/A | 15-30% | 10-15% | 8-12% |
| Burn Multiple | N/A | <3x | <2x | <1.5x |
| NRR | N/A | >100% | >110% | >120% |
| CAC Payback | N/A | <24mo | <18mo | <12mo |
Additional Resources
Reference Files
For detailed guidance, consult:
references/deck-templates.md - Slide-by-slide templates for each formatreferences/term-sheet-glossary.md - Complete term definitions and analysisreferences/due-diligence-checklist.md - Stage-specific DD preparationreferences/outreach-templates.md - Email templates and sequences
Example Files
Working examples in examples/:
example-cold-email.md - Sample cold outreach emailexample-term-sheet-comparison.md - Term sheet comparison framework
