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🚀10-Day Start-up Series 🔥 25th June 🧵 Post 1️⃣1️⃣ : Let's talk about debt funding, crowdfunding and stages of funding and what happens at what stages and who invests at what stage. 4️⃣ Debt Funding : Borrowing money ( usually from banks, NBFC, Goverment debts ) You will have to repay this over time with interest. In this case equity will be safe but you take on time responsibility of repaying the money, if you are in profit or loss doesn't matter ✅ Retain full ownership ✅ Fixed repayment terms ✅ Great if you have revenue ❌ Risky if you can’t repay ❌ May require collateral or personal guarantee 5️⃣ Crowdfunding : Involves large number of people who gonna find your startup, typically through platforms which raise crowdfunding. Usually this funding is based on rewards like giving products for free, or letting them use your service for free or equity a small stake in your company typically less than 0.1% per person 🤣 ✅ Build a loyal community ✅ No big investors required ✅ Market test before full launch ❌ Public delivery pressure ❌ Lower ticket size per backer Let's now talk about stages of funding. 1️⃣ Idea Stage : You will Just have the concept or prototype, Mostly you fund yourself at this stage and there wouldn't involve much money at this stage. 0 - 1K USD 2️⃣ Validation Stage ( Pre-seed ) : You will have your MVP ready ( if possible ) and have validated it from customers or users by surveys or you might even have waitlist users, from this stage you can start raising funds. Mostly Angel Investors sometimes even VC's involve in pre-seed. 50K - 500K USD 3️⃣ Seed Stage : Product-maeket fit in progress and you are ready to launch, usually seed fund and Micro VC's invest at this stage. 50K - 3M USD 4️⃣ Pre-Series A : When you have launched your product and start to generate few $$ that is known as Early revenue, usually traction building and as revenue is generating / gonna generate soon. Institutional Angels, Micro VC's invest at this stage. 3M - 10M USD. 5️⃣ Series A : Clear revenue, you are going to scale your operationsm raise fund as Series A, Usually VC's fund at this stage. 1M - 50M USD. 6️⃣ Series B/C/D/E : Scaling, Expanding your markets, Expanding Teams, Going national or global usually raise at this series, VC's fund at this stage too. 50M - 500M USD. 7️⃣ IPO / EXIT : Public listing which can issue share to public or aquisition. Usually Public or Accquirer is involved at this stage. Funds unlimited ( As per value of your company ) Most startups stay between Seed → Series funding → Acquisition ( Only few go IPO ) Where to find Angels / VC's ? 🧭 Online Platforms like : AngelList India, Pitchbook, Let's venture : Angel's. 100X.VC, 2amVc, Sequoia, First cheque, Antler : VC's 📍 Offline platforms are incubators / accelerators : T-Hub, NSRCEL, CIE IIIT-H, IISC, iCreate, IIIT-B, Many more... : Incubators Y Combinators, GSF, Surge by PeakXV ( former sequoia ), Axilor, Venture Catalysts etc... : Accelerators. Few of your Universities or College will have incubators. 🔐 Common deal type : Type Meaning : Equity deal most of the time, You give % of ownership for funding. SAFE Note ( introduced by YC ) : Future equity, simple terms, No long due diligence. Convertible note : Debt that converts into equity later. ✅ SAFE is great for early-stage ( Nowadays even VC's choose it, before you do ) ✅ Equity deals need valuation ( Don't boast your valuation ) ✅ Convertible notes suit idea-stage in US ( US incorporated companies are liable for this ) ⚠️ Mistakes to Avoid ❌ Pitching too early with no validation or traction ❌ Not knowing your valuation or dilution ❌ Ignoring ESOP pool setup, vesting ❌ Taking “dumb money” without strategic value ❌ Not reading the term sheet carefully ❌ Choose your VC's properly ( you can know by the term sheet ) 🧠 Pro Tip : While raising money you don't only raise money you also choose your long term partner. Raise money from people who can add value beyond money in your company, don't choose money over values until and unless you think you can manage it . Requesting y'all to engage and learn more ! In the comments 💡 *This Post adhers to all community guidelines* *The image used below is sourced by Google images and property of Jordensky* *The content is based on personal knowledge and personal research*