5. Building Your Fundable Company¶

5.1 Executive Summary¶

Product-market fit remains the single most important fundability criterion—investors back traction over ideas at a 95:5 ratio, with seed-stage requiring demonstration of customer demand through 10-50 paying customers or 1,000-5,000 engaged users
Unit economics must show clear path to profitability even if company is currently unpre-profitable—acceptable CAC:LTV ratio is minimum 1:3 (customer generates 3x their acquisition cost in lifetime value), with payback period under 12 months for efficient capital deployment
Team quality and founder-market fit drive 50-70% of early-stage investment decisions per VC surveys—second-time founders with relevant domain expertise raise at 2-3x higher valuations than first-timers, and teams with complementary technical + business co-founders outperform single-founder startups by 2.6x
Financial projections for seed/Series A should be realistic and defensible rather than hockey-stick fantasies—investors model 50-70% probability-weighted downside scenarios and penalize obviously inflated projections by discounting credibility, leading to 20-40% valuation reductions
The fundraising preparation process takes 60-90 days minimum including financial model building, pitch deck creation, data room assembly, and investor targeting—starting fundraising with less than 12 months runway creates desperation dynamics that reduce valuations by 15-30%

5.2 The Fundability Framework¶

Fundability is not binary (fundable vs non-fundable) but rather a spectrum from "no institutional investor will touch this" to "oversubscribed round with competing term sheets." Understanding where your company falls on this spectrum, and what levers move you toward the right side, is critical for both timing fundraising and knowing what to build.

The framework consists of six pillars:

Product-Market Fit: Evidence customers want what you're building
Unit Economics: Path to profitable customer acquisition and retention
Team: Capability to execute the vision
Market Opportunity: TAM large enough to justify venture returns
Traction: Quantitative evidence of progress
Narrative: Compelling story that ties everything together

Companies strong across all six pillars raise easily at premium valuations. Companies weak in multiple pillars struggle or can't raise at all. Companies strong in 3-4 pillars can raise but may face valuation pressure or dilution.

This chapter breaks down each pillar with specific metrics, benchmarks, and actions founders can take to improve fundability.

5.3 Product-Market Fit: The Foundation¶

Marc Andreessen defined product-market fit as "being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market." Operationally, PMF means customers pull your product from you rather than you pushing it onto them. Key indicators:

Qualitative Signals:

Users tell other users without prompting (organic growth)
Users would be "very disappointed" if product disappeared (>40% responding "very disappointed" in Sean Ellis PMF survey)
Usage increases week-over-week without marketing spend
Customer support volume focused on "how do I do more with this" rather than "this doesn't work"

Quantitative Metrics by Business Model:

SaaS B2B:

10-50 paying customers (seed stage)
$500K-$2M ARR (Series A)
Net revenue retention >100% (customers spending more over time)
<5% monthly churn
NPS score >50

SaaS B2C:

10,000-50,000 monthly active users (seed stage)
1,000-5,000 paying users (seed stage)
<5% monthly churn
30-day retention >20%
DAU/MAU ratio >20% (engagement)

Marketplace/Platform:

Balanced supply and demand (supply-demand ratio 1:3 to 3:1)
1,000+ monthly transactions (seed stage)
20%+ monthly transaction growth
Positive contribution margin after take rate and variable costs

Consumer Products/D2C:

$50K-$200K monthly GMV (seed stage)
40%+ repeat purchase rate within 90 days
30%+ gross margin after COGS
<$50 CAC with >$150 LTV

Pre-PMF Fundraising: Can you raise pre-PMF? Yes, but only with exceptional team, massive market, or strong early signal. Most pre-PMF raises are:

Pre-seed/seed from angels and micro-VCs betting on team
Smaller rounds ($500K-$1M) at lower valuations ($3-6M)
Convertible notes/SAFEs deferring valuation until PMF proven

Building Toward PMF:

Solve Real Pain Point: Talk to 50-100 potential customers, identify top 3 painful problems, choose most painful with highest willingness-to-pay
Build Minimum Viable Product: Ship simplest version addressing core pain in 4-8 weeks, avoid feature bloat
Measure Everything: Instrument product to track activation, engagement, retention, referral from day 1
Iterate Rapidly: Run 2-week build-measure-learn cycles, kill features with low engagement, double down on high engagement
Obsess Over Retention: Acquire 100 users/customers, measure 30-day retention, if <20% retention, pivot product or positioning
Identify Your "Aha Moment": Find the activation event correlating with retention (e.g., Dropbox: upload 1 file, Facebook: 7 friends in 10 days)
Optimize Onboarding: Get users to "aha moment" as fast as possible, remove friction

5.4 Unit Economics: Sustainable Growth¶

Investors fund growth, but only sustainable growth where each additional customer increases company value. Unit economics determine sustainability.

Key Metrics:

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC):

CAC = (Sales + Marketing Expenses) / New Customers Acquired

Example:
Sales + Marketing = $100,000/month
New Customers = 50
CAC = $100,000 / 50 = $2,000 per customer

Lifetime Value (LTV):

LTV = (Average Revenue Per Customer / Month) × (Gross Margin %) × (Average Customer Lifetime in Months)

Or simplified:
LTV = (Average Revenue Per Customer) / (Monthly Churn Rate) × (Gross Margin %)

Example (SaaS):
ARPU = $200/month
Gross Margin = 80%
Monthly Churn = 3% → Lifetime = 1/0.03 = 33 months
LTV = $200 × 33 × 0.80 = $5,280

LTV:CAC Ratio:

LTV:CAC = $5,280 / $2,000 = 2.64:1

Benchmarks:
<1:1 → Unsustainable (losing money on every customer)
1:1 to 2:1 → Marginal, may work at scale but risky
3:1 to 5:1 → Healthy, venture-backable
>5:1 → Excellent, but may indicate under-investment in growth

CAC Payback Period:

CAC Payback = CAC / (Monthly Revenue Per Customer × Gross Margin %)

Example:
CAC = $2,000
Monthly Revenue = $200
Gross Margin = 80%
CAC Payback = $2,000 / ($200 × 0.80) = 12.5 months

Benchmarks:
<6 months → Excellent
6-12 months → Good
12-18 months → Acceptable
>18 months → Concerning (too much capital tied up)

Improving Unit Economics:

Reduce CAC:

Optimize marketing channels (cut channels with CAC >$3,000, double down on channels with CAC <$1,000)
Build content/SEO for organic acquisition (CAC = $0)
Implement referral programs (referred customers have 50-70% lower CAC)
Improve sales conversion rates (10% to 20% conversion doubles sales efficiency)

Increase LTV:

Reduce churn through better onboarding, customer success, product improvements
Upsell/cross-sell additional products or features (expand revenue per customer)
Annual contracts vs monthly (reduces churn, improves cash flow)
Value-based pricing vs cost-plus (capture more of value created)

Investor Expectations by Stage:

Seed: Unit economics don't need to be perfect, but must show plausible path

LTV:CAC ratio 1.5:1 to 2:1 acceptable
CAC payback 18-24 months acceptable
Plan to reach 3:1 LTV:CAC by Series A

Series A: Unit economics must be demonstrated at small scale

LTV:CAC ratio >3:1 required
CAC payback <12 months strongly preferred
Contribution margin positive (revenue - COGS - CAC > 0)

Series B+: Unit economics proven at scale

LTV:CAC ratio 4:1 to 5:1
CAC payback <6 months
Path to overall profitability within 18-24 months

5.5 Team: Capability and Founder-Market Fit¶

Sequoia Capital partner Doug Leone: "We bet on the team, not the idea. The idea will change, the market will change, but the team's ability to execute persists."

Team Evaluation Criteria:

1. Founder-Market Fit

Do founders have deep domain expertise in the problem they're solving?
Have they personally experienced the pain point?
Do they have unfair distribution advantages (network, relationships, brand)?

Example: Healthcare SaaS founded by doctor who used clunky EMR systems for 10 years has strong founder-market fit. Engineer with no healthcare experience building healthcare SaaS has weak founder-market fit.

2. Technical Capability

Can team build the product without outsourcing core technology?
Do they understand technical moats and defensibility?
Can they attract and hire top engineering talent?

3. Business/GTM Capability

Can team sell to customers?
Do they understand distribution and growth channels?
Have they successfully scaled businesses before?

4. Complementary Skills

Does team have both technical AND business co-founders?
Research shows technical + business co-founder teams outperform single-founder or all-technical teams by 2.6x

5. Execution Track Record

Prior successful exits (second-time founders raise at 2-3x higher valuations)
Prior experience at successful startups (especially in senior roles)
Evidence of execution velocity (shipped products, acquired customers, raised capital quickly)

6. Coachability and Self-Awareness

Do founders listen to feedback and adapt?
Do they know what they don't know?
Are they building board and advisors to fill gaps?

Improving Team Fundability:

If Weak Founder-Market Fit:

Join industry, build relationships for 1-2 years before starting company
Add domain expert co-founder or advisor
Build advisory board with 3-5 domain experts

If Weak Technical Capability:

Add technical co-founder (not CTO hire, equity co-founder)
Build core technology in-house before fundraising
Demonstrate technical prototype, not mockup

If Weak GTM Capability:

Add business co-founder with sales/marketing background
Hire VP Sales before raising Series A
Demonstrate repeatability (closed 10+ customers through replicable process)

If Solo Founder:

Add co-founder (splits power, shows collaboration ability)
Build exceptional advisory board
Over-index on demonstrating execution (traction compensates for solo founder risk)

5.6 Market Opportunity and TAM¶

Investors need 10-100x returns to justify venture risk. This requires large markets.

Market Sizing Approaches:

Top-Down (Less Credible):

Global Cloud Software Market = $500B
Our Target Segment (HR Software) = 5% = $25B
Our Target Customer Base (Mid-Market) = 20% = $5B TAM

Problem: Too generic, not defensible

Bottom-Up (More Credible):

Target Customers: Mid-market companies 500-5,000 employees in India
Number of Companies: 15,000 companies (verified via database)
ARPU: $50,000/year (based on conversations with 50 prospects)
TAM = 15,000 × $50,000 = $750M

Then model expansion:
- Geographic: India → Southeast Asia → US (3x TAM)
- Customer Segment: Mid-market → Enterprise (2x ARPU)
- Product Expansion: HR → Finance → Ops (3x TAM)

Total TAM: $750M × 3 × 2 × 3 = $13.5B

Value Theory (Most Credible):

Customer Problem: Manual HR processes cost $500K/year in employee time + errors
Our Solution: Automates 80% of manual work, saving $400K/year
Price: $50K/year (12.5% of value created, 10x ROI for customer)

Addressable Customers: 15,000 Indian companies + 50,000 global
TAM: 65,000 × $50K = $3.25B

Defensibility: High switching costs once implemented, 3-year avg contract length

Minimum TAM by Stage:

Seed: $500M+ TAM (can be niche)
Series A: $1B+ TAM
Series B+: $5B+ TAM (need room to scale to $100M+ revenue)

Market Growing vs Shrinking:

Growing market (20%+ CAGR): Investors enthusiastic, premium valuations
Flat market (0-10% CAGR): Investors skeptical, need strong differentiation
Shrinking market: Very difficult to fundraise (unless capturing share from declining incumbents)

5.7 Traction: Quantitative Progress¶

"Traction is the best fundraising tool" - Naval Ravikant

Seed Stage Traction Expectations:

Pre-Revenue:

5,000-10,000 engaged users (B2C)
10-30 LOIs or pilot customers (B2B)
100+ customer interviews validating problem
Working beta product with core features
20%+ month-over-month growth in key metric

Revenue Stage:

$20K-$100K ARR (B2B SaaS)
10-50 paying customers (B2B)
1,000-5,000 paying users (B2C)
30%+ month-over-month revenue growth
<5% monthly churn

Series A Traction Expectations:

B2B SaaS:

$1M-$3M ARR
50-200 paying customers
Net revenue retention >100%
Defined ICP (ideal customer profile) with repeatable sales
$500K-$1M in new ARR added last 12 months

B2C SaaS:

50,000-200,000 MAU
5,000-20,000 paying users
<5% monthly churn
30-day retention >30%
Growing 20%+ month-over-month

Marketplace:

$500K-$2M monthly GMV
5,000-20,000 monthly transactions
Take rate 10-25%
Balanced supply-demand
30%+ annual growth

Improving Traction:

Pick One North Star Metric: Choose single metric representing value creation (ARR for SaaS, GMV for marketplace, DAU for consumer). Optimize everything for this metric.
Demonstrate Consistency: 6+ months of linear or exponential growth > 1 month spike. Investors want to see repeatability.
Understand Cohorts: Show early cohorts retain/expand better than later cohorts = improving product-market fit. Show later cohorts have better unit economics = improving GTM efficiency.
Build Growth Engine: Identify 1-2 channels driving 80% of growth, double down on those channels, get CAC below $100 (B2C) or $2,000 (B2B).
Set Milestones: Plan to hit key milestone (e.g., $1M ARR for Series A) 2-3 months before fundraising starts. This gives buffer if growth slows.

5.8 Financial Projections and Data Room¶

Investors expect 3-year financial projections showing:

Revenue by product/segment
COGS and gross margin
Operating expenses (R&D, Sales & Marketing, G&A)
EBITDA and path to profitability
Cash flow and funding requirements

Projection Principles:

Be Realistic:

Investors model 50-70% probability-weighted scenarios
If you project $10M revenue Year 3, they assume $5-7M
Inflated projections destroy credibility

Show Assumptions:

Revenue = Customers × ARPU × Retention
Break down each component with assumption (e.g., "Acquire 50 new customers/month based on current 20/month + 1 salesperson hire adding 30/month capacity")

Build Three Scenarios:

Base Case: 50% probability, realistic growth
Upside Case: 25% probability, if everything goes right
Downside Case: 25% probability, if growth slows

Path to Profitability:

Show contribution margin positive by Series A
Show EBITDA positive by 18-24 months post-raise (Series A)
Show that raise extends runway 18-24 months + path to profitability or next raise

Data Room Contents:

Cap table (fully diluted)
Financial model (3-year projections)
Historical financials (if revenue>$0)
Customer pipeline and cohort analysis
Product roadmap
Team bios
Corporate documents (incorporation, SHA, board minutes)
IP assignments
Material contracts

5.9 Case Studies¶

Case Study 1: Freshworks - Bootstrapped PMF Before Raising¶

Context: Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy built Freshdesk (now Freshworks) customer support software bootstrapped from 2010-2011, reaching $1M ARR before raising first institutional round.

Fundability Factors:

PMF: 1,000+ paying customers, organic word-of-mouth growth, <3% churn
Team: Second-time founders (Girish founded MangoSpring previously), deep domain expertise (both worked at Zoho)
Market: $10B+ customer support software TAM
Unit Economics: CAC <$1,000 (freemium-driven), LTV $10,000+ (3+ year retention), 10:1 LTV:CAC
Traction: $1M ARR, 40% month-over-month growth, global customers (not just India)

Outcome: Raised $1M seed from Accel India at ~$5M post-money (2011), then scaled to IPO ($10B valuation, 2021). Bootstrapping to PMF before raising enabled founders to raise at higher valuation with less dilution.

Lessons:

Patience to bootstrap PMF increases fundability dramatically
Global customer base (not India-only) justified premium valuation
Unit economics demonstration at scale (1,000 customers) reduced investor risk

Case Study 2: CRED - Founder Pedigree Enabled Pre-Traction Raise¶

Context: Kunal Shah founded CRED in 2018 after successful exit from FreeCharge (acquired by Snapdeal for $400M). Raised $120M across seed, Series A, and Series B (2018-2019) before achieving product-market fit or meaningful revenue.

Fundability Factors:

Team: Proven second-time founder with $400M exit, exceptional execution track record
Market: Credit card rewards/payments market in India (50M+ credit card users)
Vision: Compelling thesis about building super-app for India's most creditworthy consumers
Network: Top-tier VC backing (Sequoia, Ribbit Capital, DST Global)

Lacking:

PMF: Unclear value proposition, low engagement initially
Unit Economics: No revenue, unclear monetization path
Traction: User growth but low retention/engagement

Outcome: Valuation grew from $200M (2019) to $6.4B (2022) despite minimal revenue. Company raised $800M+ total.

Lessons:

Exceptional founder pedigree can compensate for lack of traditional traction
Only 1% of founders can raise this way—not replicable for first-timers
Eventually need PMF and unit economics (CRED pivoted multiple times)
India's ecosystem matured to enable founder-market fit bets

5.10 Action Items¶

Conduct PMF Assessment: Survey 20 users with Sean Ellis question: "How would you feel if you could no longer use this product?" If <40% say "very disappointed," you don't have PMF. Focus on product improvement before fundraising.
Calculate Unit Economics: Build spreadsheet tracking CAC, LTV, payback period, and LTV:CAC ratio monthly. If ratio <2:1 or payback >18 months, focus on optimization before raising.
Document Founder-Market Fit: Write 1-page narrative explaining why YOU are uniquely positioned to build THIS company. Include domain expertise, personal connection to problem, unfair advantages. Polish this for investor conversations.
Size Your Market Bottom-Up: Build detailed TAM calculation using ICP count, ARPU, and penetration assumptions. Verify with 10-20 prospect conversations to validate ARPU. Target minimum $1B TAM for Series A.
Set Traction Milestones: Define key milestone to hit before fundraising (e.g., $1M ARR, 10K MAU, 50 customers). Plan to hit milestone 2-3 months before fundraising starts. Build weekly tracking dashboard.
Build Financial Model: Create 3-year projection with monthly detail for Year 1, quarterly for Years 2-3. Include revenue, COGS, opex, EBITDA, cash flow. Model three scenarios (base, upside, downside). Pressure-test assumptions.
Assemble Data Room: Create folder with cap table, financial model, customer pipeline, team bios, corporate docs, product roadmap. Use DocSend or Dropbox with access tracking. Have this ready before first investor meeting.
Add Advisory Board: Recruit 3-5 advisors with domain expertise, GTM experience, or technical depth. Grant 0.1-0.25% equity each with 2-year vesting. Leverage their credibility in fundraising.
Document Customer Interviews: Compile summary of 50-100 customer interviews showing problem validation, willingness-to-pay, and feedback on solution. This demonstrates customer-centric approach.
Run Fundraising Readiness Checklist: Score yourself 1-5 on PMF, unit economics, team, market, traction, and financials. If any area scores <3, delay fundraising to address gap. Only fundraise when all areas >3.

5.11 Key Takeaways¶

Product-market fit demonstrated through quantitative retention and growth metrics (>30% 30-day retention, >20% month-over-month growth) is non-negotiable for Series A and highly preferred for seed—founders should focus on achieving PMF before fundraising rather than raising to "find PMF"
Unit economics (LTV:CAC >3:1, payback <12 months) separate fundable companies from science projects—investors fund growth only when each marginal customer increases enterprise value, not when growth burns cash with no path to profitability
Founder-market fit and execution track record drive 50-70% of early-stage decisions—second-time founders and domain experts raise at 2-3x premiums over first-timers without relevant experience, justifying investment in building domain expertise before fundraising
Financial projections must be defensible and realistic rather than hockey-stick aspirational—investors discount overly optimistic projections by 30-50%, so grounded projections with clear assumptions build more credibility than inflated fantasies
Fundraising preparation is 60-90 day process requiring parallel workstreams (financial model, pitch deck, data room, investor outreach)—starting with <12 months runway creates desperation dynamics that reduce negotiating leverage and valuations by 15-30%

5.12 Red Flags to Watch¶

🔴 CRITICAL: Starting fundraise with <6 months runway - Desperation shows in negotiations. Investors sense urgency and offer lower valuations or harder terms. Always fundraise from position of strength (12+ months runway).

🔴 CRITICAL: No demonstrated product-market fit at Series A - Series A requires proof PMF exists at small scale. Raising Series A with <$500K ARR or <5,000 engaged users will fail unless founder pedigree is exceptional.

🟡 LTV:CAC ratio <2:1 or payback >18 months - Investors won't fund unsustainable growth. Must show path to 3:1 ratio and <12 month payback by Series A, even if current metrics are suboptimal.

🟡 Solo technical founder with no GTM capability - Investors fear product risk less than GTM risk. Technical founder without co-founder/advisor network for sales/distribution will struggle to raise Series A.

🟡 TAM <$500M - Market too small to justify venture returns. Either expand TAM through adjacent markets or bootstrap (venture not appropriate).

⚠️ Financial projections showing profitability in Year 4-5 - Investors want profitability by 18-24 months post-raise or clear path to next fundraise. Projections showing profitability "someday" signal poor capital efficiency.

⚠️ Traction metrics declining month-over-month - Fundraising while traction is declining creates narrative problem. Either fix underlying issue or explain convincingly why decline is temporary.

⚠️ Data room incomplete or disorganized - Signals operational chaos. Investors extrapolate from fundraising execution to business execution. Polish data room before sending to anyone.

5.13 When to Call a Lawyer¶

Situations REQUIRING lawyer:

Cleaning up cap table issues (missing stock purchase agreements, unclear vesting, departed founders with unvested shares)
IP assignment issues (founder or employee built product before formal IP assignment)
Regulatory compliance issues (FEMA violations, late ROC filings)
Preparing for first institutional round (investor will conduct legal diligence)

Situations where CA/financial advisor MORE relevant:

Building financial model and projections
Calculating unit economics and TAM
Auditing financials for due diligence
Tax planning and optimization

Typical Costs:

Cap table cleanup: ₹1-3 lakh
IP assignment documentation: ₹50,000-₹1 lakh
Pre-fundraise legal audit and cleanup: ₹2-5 lakh
Financial model and projections (CA): ₹50,000-₹1.5 lakh

ROI: Spending ₹5 lakh on legal/financial cleanup and preparation can increase valuation by ₹1-2 crore (reduces investor risk, removes diligence blockers). Well worth the investment.

5.14 Indian Context¶

DPIIT Recognition as Fundability Signal¶

DPIIT Startup India recognition (157,000+ startups as of December 2024) provides credibility signal to investors, but is not sufficient for fundability. Recognition requires:

Incorporated <10 years ago
Turnover <₹100 crore
Working toward innovation/scalability

Benefits: Tax exemption (Section 80-IAC), angel tax exemption, simplified compliance. However, investors care more about traction and unit economics than recognition.

Action: Apply for DPIIT recognition early (takes 3-9 months) to unlock benefits, but don't confuse recognition with fundability. Recognition is necessary but not sufficient.

Regulatory Compliance as Fundability Baseline¶

Investors conduct legal diligence on:

MCA compliance (current AOC-4, MGT-7 filings)
Income tax returns filed and current
FEMA compliance if prior foreign investment (FC-GPR filings current)
No pending litigation or regulatory notices

Red Flag: Any compliance issues delay or kill deals. Investors discover issues in diligence, demand cleanup, and often reduce valuations or walk away.

Action: Engage CA and CS to audit compliance 6 months before fundraising. Budget ₹2-5 lakh and 2-3 months to fix any issues discovered.

India vs Global GTM Strategy Impact on Fundability¶

India-focused companies raise at 40-60% lower valuations than companies with global (especially US) GTM. This reflects:

Smaller market TAM (India SaaS TAM ~$5-10B vs US $100-200B)
Lower ARPU ($500-$2,000 India vs $5,000-$50,000 US)
Fewer exit options (limited Indian acquirers, IPO market smaller)

Implications:

If targeting India only, expect lower valuations (seed: $3-6M, Series A: $15-30M)
If targeting global, expect higher valuations (seed: $8-15M, Series A: $30-60M) but must demonstrate customer wins in target market, not just India

Action: Choose India vs global strategy early. If global, acquire 3-5 reference customers in target market (even at discount) to prove market access. Single US reference customer worth 30-50% valuation premium.

5.15 References¶

Y Combinator, "How to Get Startup Ideas," https://www.ycombinator.com/library/8x-how-to-get-startup-ideas
Sean Ellis, "The Startup Pyramid," https://www.startup-marketing.com/the-startup-pyramid/
David Skok, "SaaS Metrics 2.0," https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-metrics-2/
Sequoia Capital, "Writing a Business Plan," https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/writing-a-business-plan/
First Round Review, "How to Build a Strategic Narrative," https://review.firstround.com/how-to-build-a-strategic-narrative
NFX, "The Network Effects Manual," https://www.nfx.com/post/network-effects-manual
Bessemer Venture Partners, "BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index," https://www.bvp.com/bvp-nasdaq-emerging-cloud-index
ProfitWell, "SaaS Benchmarks," https://www.profitwell.com/recur/all/benchmarks
Lenny's Newsletter, "What is Good Retention?" https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-is-good-retention-issue-29
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, "Startup India," https://www.startupindia.gov.in/

Previous: Chapter 4: Co-Founder Equity Splits and Vesting
Next: Chapter 6: Preparing to Fundraise
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Disclaimer¶

This chapter provides educational information about startup funding and is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Every startup situation is unique. Consult qualified professionals (lawyers, accountants, financial advisors) before making any funding decisions.

Last Updated: November 2025