fundraising

What this skill does

# Fundraising

## Scope

**Covers**
- Deciding **whether** to raise venture funding (vs bootstrapping / delaying / alternatives) and articulating the trade-offs
- Designing a round (amount, timeline, milestone, target investor profile) without pretending to give legal/tax advice
- Building an investor-ready **narrative** and a **pitch deck outline** optimized for first impressions
- Running the fundraising process as a pipeline (target list, outreach, follow-ups, rejection handling, momentum)
- Preparing for diligence (data-room checklist + FAQs/objections) and reducing “unknown unknowns”

**When to use**
- “Should I raise venture capital or bootstrap?”
- “Help me build a pitch deck narrative and a strong first slide.”
- “I need an investor outreach plan and a pipeline tracker.”
- “I’m starting a pre-seed/seed raise; help me run the process end-to-end.”

**When NOT to use**
- You need legal, tax, or securities advice (term sheets, SAFE/notes, incorporation, compliance) — involve qualified professionals.
- You’re raising grants/donations or structured debt (use a fundraising/grants/debt-specific workflow instead).
- You only want visual slide design polish with no strategy/process work.
- You’re in an immediate liquidity crisis where the only viable path is emergency financing within days (this skill can help structure messaging, but you should prioritize urgent financial triage with experts).

## Inputs

**Minimum required**
- Company snapshot: what you build, who it’s for, and why now
- Stage + traction (or pre-traction proof), plus 1–3 key metrics (even proxies)
- Team snapshot (founders, key strengths, gaps you’re hiring for)
- Runway + constraints (cash, time, geography, intro network, fundraising window)
- Fundraising intent: why raise, target amount (or range), and what milestone it buys

**Missing-info strategy**
- Ask **3–5 questions at a time** from [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md).
- If specifics are missing, proceed with labeled assumptions and ranges (never invent exact numbers).
- Do not request sensitive credentials or confidential customer/employee data; use anonymized examples.

## Outputs (deliverables)

Produce a **Fundraising Pack** (Markdown in chat; or as files if requested) in this order:

1) **Raise Decision Memo** (VC vs bootstrap/delay; trade-offs; “if we raise” vs “if we don’t” plan)
2) **Round Design Brief** (amount, timing, milestone, use of funds, target investor profile)
3) **Pitch Narrative + Deck Outline** (including a high-signal first slide + talk track)
4) **Investor ICP + Target List + Pipeline Tracker** (with weekly activity targets)
5) **Outreach + Follow-up Scripts** (warm intro ask, cold email, post-meeting follow-up)
6) **Diligence Prep** (data-room checklist + FAQ/objection responses)
7) **Operating Cadence** (weekly dashboard, “100 no’s” resilience plan, next-14-days action plan)
8) **Risks / Open questions / Next steps** (always)

Templates: [references/TEMPLATES.md](references/TEMPLATES.md)  
Expanded guidance: [references/WORKFLOW.md](references/WORKFLOW.md)

## Workflow (8 steps)

### 1) Intake + constraints snapshot
- **Inputs:** user context; [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md).
- **Actions:** Capture stage, runway, constraints, timing, and goal. Separate “must be true” vs “nice to have”. Identify what would make fundraising a mistake.
- **Outputs:** Context snapshot + assumptions/unknowns list.
- **Checks:** Timeline has dates; runway is stated (or explicitly unknown); constraints are explicit.

### 2) Decide whether to raise (and why)
- **Inputs:** goals, constraints, risk tolerance, business model.
- **Actions:** Write a Raise Decision Memo: why raise, why not, and the “venture treadmill” trade-off (growth expectations, dilution, speed). Propose alternatives (delay, revenue-first, angels, strategic, debt) where appropriate.
- **Outputs:** **Raise Decision Memo** with a clear recommendation + decision criteria.
- **Checks:** Recommendation is falsifiable (“we raise if X by date Y”); non-VC path is not hand-waved.

### 3) Design the round (make the plan fundable)
- **Inputs:** runway, burn (or plan), milestone, hiring needs, market timing.
- **Actions:** Define raise amount range, timing, and the milestone it buys. Specify investor profile (stage, check size, thesis, geography) and a simple “use of funds” narrative.
- **Outputs:** **Round Design Brief**.
- **Checks:** Amount ↔ milestone is coherent; plan fits constraints; assumptions are explicit.

### 4) Build the pitch narrative + first impression assets
- **Inputs:** product, ICP, wedge, traction/proof, insights from Steps 1–3.
- **Actions:** Draft a crisp one-liner, the “strongest point” for slide 1, and a deck outline that answers: problem, solution, why now, why you, why win, why invest.
- **Outputs:** **Pitch Narrative + Deck Outline** (+ talk track).
- **Checks:** First slide passes the 10-second test (what it is, for whom, why it matters); narrative has evidence, not vibes.

### 5) Build the investor pipeline (target list + math)
- **Inputs:** target investor profile; network; constraints.
- **Actions:** Create an ICP and a prioritized target list. Set pipeline math (how many intros/meetings/week) and define a tracking table.
- **Outputs:** **Investor ICP + Target List + Pipeline Tracker**.
- **Checks:** Targets match round design; outreach plan is schedulable; next 7 days have concrete outreach tasks.

### 6) Execute outreach + meetings (run the “100 no’s” process)
- **Inputs:** scripts; target list; calendar.
- **Actions:** Draft outreach messages, run outreach cadence, and standardize meeting flow + follow-ups. Track “nos” as data (rejection reasons) and iterate the pitch.
- **Outputs:** **Outreach + Follow-up Scripts** + meeting agenda + iteration log.
- **Checks:** Every meeting has a next step; follow-ups go out within 24 hours; learnings are captured weekly.

### 7) Prep diligence (reduce friction)
- **Inputs:** likely diligence asks; current docs.
- **Actions:** Create a lightweight data-room checklist and an FAQ/objection response sheet. Identify the 3–5 biggest diligence gaps and a plan to close them.
- **Outputs:** **Diligence Prep** checklist + FAQ.
- **Checks:** No claims without supporting artifacts; sensitive info is handled carefully.

### 8) Quality gate + finalize the pack
- **Inputs:** full draft pack.
- **Actions:** Run [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and score with [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md). Tighten weak sections. Add **Risks / Open questions / Next steps** and a next-14-days action plan.
- **Outputs:** Final **Fundraising Pack**.
- **Checks:** Pack is decision-ready, narrative-coherent, and process-executable.

## Quality gate (required)
- Use [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md).
- Always include: **Risks**, **Open questions**, **Next steps**.

## Examples

**Example 1 (pre-seed):** “We’re 2 founders building a B2B workflow tool. We have 5 design partners and 2 pilots. We have 6 months runway and want to raise $1.5–2.0M. Use `fundraising` to produce the full Fundraising Pack including a deck outline and investor pipeline tracker.”  
Expected: decision memo + round design + deck outline (strong first slide) + target list + outreach scripts.

**Example 2 (seed with traction):** “We’re at $60k MRR and growing 10% MoM. We’re debating whether to raise now or wait 6 months. Use `fundraising` to help us decide and create an outreach plan if we choose to raise.”  
Expected: raise-vs-wait decision memo with criteria + round design options + pipeline plan.

**Boundary example:** “Draft a SAFE agreement and tell me what valuation I should take.”  
Response: out of scope for legal/pricing advice; offer to produce the negotiation inputs (round design assumptions, comps proxy approach, questions for counsel) and a fundraising process plan.