PRE-RAISE CHECKLIST

30 THINGS FUNDS CHECK

Tick what you already have: every unchecked box is a question a fund will ask before it commits. Most teams close the gaps in 4–6 weeks. Your score shows where you stand.

1. STORY AND POSITIONING

1. One-sentence pitch. A stranger gets what you do, for whom and why it matters.
2. Problem and why now. Evidence the pain is real today: data, customer quotes, a market or regulatory shift.
3. Bottom-up market size. Customers × price, with sources, instead of “1% of a $100B market”.
4. Competitor map. Who else solves this, how you differ, and why that is hard to copy.

2. TRACTION AND METRICS

5. One metrics dashboard. Users, revenue or volume/TVL and growth, with the same definitions every month.
6. Growth history. Month-over-month numbers for the last 6–12 months (or since launch), with the drivers explained.
7. Retention. Cohort data that shows people come back, not just sign up.
8. Unit economics. CAC, LTV, margins or cost per active user, or a clear path to them.
9. Demand before product. No product yet? A waitlist, LOIs, pilots or design partners instead.

3. TEAM

10. Why this team. Founder backgrounds that explain why you win this market.
11. Full-time clarity. Who is full-time today, and when anyone part-time switches.
12. Founder vesting. In place and documented; 4 years with a 1-year cliff is a common standard.
13. Hiring plan and advisors. Key hires for the next 12–18 months and 2–3 advisors who add credibility or access.

4. ROUND SETUP

14. Amount and runway. How much you raise and why, typically 18–24 months to the next milestones.
15. Use of funds. Spend by category, tied to those milestones.
16. Instrument. Equity, SAFE, SAFT or token warrant, and why it fits your model.
17. Valuation logic. Price or cap expectations backed by comparable recent rounds.
18. Lead and timeline. Who you want to lead, and target dates for first and final close.

5. TOKENOMICS (SKIP IF YOU HAVE NO TOKEN)

19. Allocation table. Team, investors, community, treasury and liquidity, in clear percentages.
20. Vesting and unlocks. A schedule without large unlocks near TGE.
21. Utility and legal view. What the token does, in one paragraph, and how it is classified where you operate.

6. LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE

22. Clean company setup. An investor-friendly jurisdiction and an up-to-date cap table.
23. IP in the company. Code, brand and domains owned by the entity, not by individuals.
24. Past deals on record. Every earlier SAFE, note, token deal and equity promise documented in one place.
25. Compliance basics. Licences your fintech product needs; KYC/AML for anything that touches user funds.

7. MATERIALS AND DATA ROOM

26. Deck and one-pager. 10–15 slides that work without you in the room, plus a one-page summary.
27. Financial model. Monthly for 18–24 months, assumptions on one tab, base and downside cases.
28. Data room. Clear folders (deck, model, legal, metrics, team) with view tracking in DocSend or a structured Google Drive.

8. PIPELINE AND PRESENCE

29. Investor pipeline. 100–200 target investors by stage, check size and thesis, warm-intro paths mapped, every conversation in a CRM.
30. Public presence and answers. An up-to-date website, active founder profiles on X and LinkedIn, and ready answers to the questions every fund asks.

YOUR SCORE

25–30

Ready to raise

Plan the round and start warm intros.

15–24

Close, with gaps

4–6 weeks of prep usually closes them.

UNDER 15

Too early to pitch

Fix story, metrics and team first.

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