Today, we’re talking about what to do if your bridge round fills up quickly. I usually advise founders to take 5 or so VC meetings that fit your stage, because if you’re seeing strong demand for a bridge round, which is usually hard to fill, well then you might actually be ready for a full raise.
There’s certainly some good reasons to stop fundraising… it’s a huge distraction and more dilution for you and the team. But given we were already fundraising for the bridge, the additional distraction is pretty minimal. Plus, now that we have all the money we absolutely need from the bridge, there’s no pressure to accept bad terms across valuation, board structure, option pools etc. If you’re not happy with any deal you’re offered you can simply walk away.
If you don’t take this opportunity to test the market, you may find yourself having to raise soon but with less momentum and perhaps a tougher VC market.
