Fundraising Notes for Entreprenuers

Suman is writing the "Notes for Fundraising for Entrepreneurs" to share practical insights gained from working on early stage start-ups in the areas of digital health, consumer products and biotech for over 10 years. This book is meant to cover the following topics: Should you raise capital? What are the implications of fundraising on your personal ROI? What needs to be in place before raising? What are the different types of investors (angels, VCs, foundations, family offices)? How does the math work in Venture Capital? Is there a fit between you and the investor type that you are seeking? What does it mean to be "investment ready'? How does one conduct due diligence on investors? How best to estimate the "use of proceeds"? What is a Data Room? What are the best practices for sharing confidential information with investors? What are the elements of a good pitch deck? How do you structure a"Capitalization Table", and what are the common forms of company structuring and ownership? What is meant by a fully diluted cap table, option pool and preferred vs common shares? What are pay-off diagrams? How do you develop a financial model? What are the best practices to identify and engage advisors, consultants and board members? What is the fundraising "process" like? What are the common terms of financing? What are the best practices on investor updates and maintaining relationships after closing the financing round? How should one best leverage your investor network? And when should you start raising capital again? And finally, how best to deploy (or not) the money that you raised?