Let’s talk about when to stop seed fundraising. It’s easy to stop raising when the round is successfully closed, but what about when things aren’t going as well as you’d hoped? I recommend sticking with it for 90 days.
Here’s the 4 reasons why you need to stay the course:
1. Yeses Often Come at The End
For most founders, you’ll have to go through dozens of meetings before you start hearing “yes,” and then they all come at once. So endurance is a requirement in the fundraising process.
2. 90 Days Is a Fair Exchange
Getting the opportunity to work on your business for 2 years is a privilege. It’s totally reasonable to invest 3 months of your time upfront to get that opportunity.
3. You Probably Need The Money
Many startups need to raise additional capital before their Series A to give themselves enough time to hit the necessary milestones. It’s usually a lot easier to raise a seed round than to raise a bridge round.
4. Optimize Your Time
Fundraising for 90 days doesn’t mean keep taking meetings with people that aren’t interested. Focus your time on the investors who seem most engaged and where you’ve already had success.
Best of luck out there.
Sterling Road invests in idea stage and pre-seed B2B startups based in the US, Canada and UK.
