Fundraising is a big part of every founder's startup journey. It often includes multiple rounds and can range from pre-seed all the way to Series A and beyond. Often the closing of one round is the trigger to begin the next one. 

Before each fundraising round it is important for you to step back and determine if and when you should raise. If it is the right time to raise, it’s important to get the basics in the place before starting to raise. When you begin to start raising you want to rather be focused on what the best funding option for your current needs is, how much you need, where to get it and how to get to yes with funders. After a successful pitch you need to be ready to close the deal. It’s important to remember that this is a very important stage and it shouldn’t be rushed as the agreements you make at this stage will have big implications for your business. Once you’ve closed the deal it’s not over. It’s important to manage your investor expectations and keep good relations with them as they will be your starting point when you kick off the next fundraising round which you will already need to start planning for.

Why would you raise? So you’ve determined that your startup is at a stage where you can consider fundraising. The next step in the process is to determine why you want to raise. It’s important to remember that it’s not a requirement for startups to raise external funding. You may have enough funding from your existing revenues to fund your growth, or may deliberately choose to avoid sharing equity with external parties or taking on debt. Similar to determining where you are on your startup journey, why you want to fundraise is often associated with specific milestones you want to achieve for your startup. These milestones differ depending on where you are at in your startup journey and drive the purpose for your fundraising.