Everything you need to know to get funding: a practical “to-do list”, learning resources, pitch deck templates, investors database, and tips from experienced founders. Prepared by Lisa Dziuba from the WeLoveNoCode team.

If you ever tried to raise money, you know that it’s hard. Fundraising is a game and you need to know how to "play" it right. Otherwise, you will be getting rejections or "keep me updated" replies from potential investors.

This comprehensive checklist is based on our experience of raising a $1M round in less than one month! We’ve raised it for WeLoveNoCode (a marketplace to hire no-code developers to build MVPs & validate hypotheses). While our case might be different from yours (we work in the growing no-code space + have a traction of $3M ARR), the principles of fundraising and the tasks will be the same for most industries and startups. Below you’ll find our "to-do" items. Feel free to duplicate this Notion template and copy them 👇

• [ ] Answer to the question: “Is my startup a good fit for investors/angels/funds right now?” (aka “Are you ready to fundraise?”).

<aside> 💡 Your startup is awesome. However, not every startup is ready to fundraise and has all checkboxes to be attractive to investors.

It’s important to understand if you have a validated Product-Market Fit, a scalable business model, a tremendous market, and traction & growth needed for the round. Let’s listen to the wisdom from Eamonn Carey, Techstars London director:

These are some of the things that investors, partners, customers and users will want to see from your product. Growth is obvious - is there a number going up and to the right - users, revenue, DAU, MAU, ARPU - even something as simple as number of customer development interviews you’ve conducted or the expected value of your sales pipeline. - Eamonn Carey from Techstars London

It’s ok if you don’t have it right now and will figure it out on the way. Nevertheless, investors want to be confident that your business can achieve high-profit margins fast and generate significant returns on their investment.

If you are not there yet, better not to spend time on fundraising. P.S.: I know, you will not listen to this advice 🙈

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• [ ] Get familiar with the fundraising process. Don’t skip this step, you do need to learn the basics before fundraising.

  • Read useful materials & listen to cool videos 👇

• [ ] Start talking to other startups from your industry who have raised recently. Ask about their experience.

• [ ] Define investments needed, valuation, how much equity you’re ready to give.

<aside> 💡 How much funding do you need? You can calculate this amount based on how many months it will take to get to the next milestone. Your monthly runway comes from your expenses (hires + marketing + operational costs).

It is important to have a clear understanding of what the investors want in return for their funding. For example, a VC that wants a seat on the board might not be a good fit for a startup that is looking for capital only.

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• [ ] Define the location of your fundraising: Europe vs the US, your country vs other locations. It’s always easy to raise in a country where you already have a reputation & connections.
• [ ] Define from whom you will fundraise.

<aside> 💡 You can raise from a network of your friends, angels, angel syndicates, funds, accelerators, crowdfunding platforms. Your choice should come based on the stage of your startup and your connections.

To learn more, you can check this great guide from Silicon Valley Bank on the types of investors:

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