Run your raise in 8 weeks

1Plan the 8 weeks

2Prepare for every partner meeting

Before each meeting, spend 15 minutes on the partner:

• Their last 3 deals, and what they've said publicly recently.
• Any portfolio company that competes with you.
• The three questions they're most likely to ask, and your answer with a number.
• The strongest reason they might pass, and your honest response.

Then practice out loud. The six questions nearly every investor asks:

1. In two sentences, what do you do and who pays for it?
2. What have you shipped, and what has it produced? Numbers and dates.
3. How big is this, and who else is going after it?
4. Why is this team the one that wins?
5. How does the money work: what does a customer cost and return?
6. What does this round buy, and what does it prove?

Act as a seed-stage VC partner. My facts: [paste profile]. Ask me these one at a time,
waiting for my answer each time: the pitch, traction, market, team, economics, the ask.
After each answer: tell me the gap, the objection you'd raise in your own words, and
what evidence would close it. Be direct. Don't invent facts about my company.
At the end, list my three weakest answers with a stronger version of each.

3Run the Friday review

Every Friday, update your sheet: each investor's status, next step and date. Then look at the funnel.

review → approved → intro-requested → contacted → meeting → second-meeting → diligence → committed (or passed / not-now)

How to read it:

• Every active conversation needs a next step and a date. Deals die in silence, not in a no.
• Few first meetings from 50+ emails: the targeting or the first line is off. Fewer than 50 with no replies is normal; send more first.
• Meetings but few second meetings: the pitch or traction isn't landing. Practice, and fix the deck.
• Second meetings but no term sheet: usually the round size, the valuation or no lead.

4Handle every outcome well

After a meeting: send a recap the same day. Open with something specific from the call, send what you promised, and restate the next step and date.

After a pass: reply within two days. Thank them, and ask one question: "What would you need to see to take another look?" Their answer is free diligence on your pitch.

After silence: follow your cadence, then stop. Add them to your monthly update list. "Not now" often becomes "yes" a few months later, when they've watched you hit what you said you'd hit.

Thanks for the time today, [name]. You asked about [specific question]: [short answer
or link]. As promised, here's [the model / reference / metric]. Next step as discussed:
[step] by [date]. Anything else useful before then?

What's next

When an offer arrives, read it before you celebrate: understand your SAFE or term sheet.