Fundraising tips for early and midstage startups in 2022

Welcome to TechCrunch+ Friday

I won’t use this space to dissuade anyone from launching a startup, but founders should embrace the fact that investors are looking for reasons not to give you money these days.

Perhaps you don’t have much revenue. Or maybe, too much of your cash flow depends on a single customer. Oh, and when are you on track to join the $100M ARR club?

Given current conditions, best practices for fundraising and finding investor alignment are less relevant than they were a year ago. Back then, the promise of early growth was enough to help many teams close seed and Series A rounds.

Today, startups with long sales cycles that aren’t cash-flow positive may not even be considered for follow-on investments.

If you’re curious about which kinds of startups investors are (and aren’t) willing to look at, Kami Vision CEO Yamin Durrani has written a comprehensive post about the changes he’s observed between fundraising in Q4 2021 and Q3 2022.

“Don’t panic, VCs are interested in investing right now — just in a few areas,” he writes. In his article, he shares the seven tactics he used to fundraise successfully, such as planning to pitch 30-60 investors.

Right now, it will take longer to raise less money that will value your company lower than you hoped. But if you’re launching a startup with the intention of getting rich, you’re already on the wrong track.

Thanks for reading,

Walter Thompson
Editorial Manager, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist

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Likewise, early stage startups are under pressure to reduce burn while preserving forward momentum, but “fractional hiring is a growth cheat code” when used strategically, says Teja Yenamandra, co-founder and CEO of Gun.io.

“There is now way less competition for the talent you’re hiring, and you may be able to lock in a hire who was unaffordable a few months ago.”

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Dear Sophie: What are the student and work visa processes for grads?

Dear Sophie,

I’m in India. I’m interested in applying to American universities next year to study computer science and artificial intelligence, and eventually work in the U.S.

Can you please explain both the visa process for students and for professionals who want to work in the U.S. after graduating? Is there anything I can do to plan ahead?

— Spirited Student

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• Kelly Chen, partner, DCVC
• Bruce Leak, founder, Playground Global
• Helen H. Liang, founder, FoundersX Ventures

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This week, he reviewed 12 slides from Arkive’s winning pitch deck:

• Cover slide
• Mission slide
• Problem slide
• Solution slide
• Business model slide
• Value proposition slide
• Roadmap slide
• Market context slide
• Market size slide
• Milestones and What’s Next slide
• Team slide
• Closing slide

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“As the pandemic accelerated the long-term shifts to more digital, distributed and data-driven work, innovation in HR tech has exploded,” said Allison Baum Gates, a general partner at SemperVirens Venture Capital.

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