Term Sheets! Are! Confusing! Common Terms Decoded for New Founders
A plain-English glossary thread decoding term sheet vocabulary (liquidation preferences, pro rata, anti-dilution and more) for first-time founders and new VCs, written before Doherty founded Behind Genius Ventures.
Term SheetsValuation & DilutionPre-SeedWhat I Learned Raising My First Seed Round (and Turning Down 30% Dilution)
A first-time founder of virtual-workspace startup Branch narrates his first seed raise: struggling with traditional VC, generating ~$4M in commitments largely through online friends, and learning that 'money is expensive', taking every offer would have cost over 30% of the company at seed.
Valuation & DilutionClosing the RoundSeedVenture Is Binary: Why VC Math Breaks Good Businesses
Wilkinson, who built Tiny to hundreds of millions in revenue without VC, explains the structural problem with venture money: in the VC's portfolio math you're either a zero or a billion-dollar company, which forces risky bets on companies that could have been excellent linear businesses.
Alternative CapitalFundraising StrategyAny StageThe Accidental Mistake of Asking for Too Much Money
Lemkin dissects a real cold email he received: an interesting startup near $2M ARR with no funding that killed its own chances by asking for an oversized round. He explains how ask size instantly reprices the deal in an investor's head.
Fundraising StrategyValuation & DilutionSeries AOpen a SAFE on a Higher Cap: Post-Round Momentum Tactics
Iskold advises founders who recently closed sub-$2M rounds with momentum to open a SAFE at a higher cap and keep taking money, explaining the runway-as-leverage logic in a down market.
Term SheetsValuation & DilutionPre-SeedDefault Alive in the Downturn: Surviving the 2022 Reset
Written at the start of the 2022 correction, the Skillshare founder predicts an unprecedented wave of shutdowns, layoffs, and down rounds over the following 18 months and lays out how founders should get to default alive before the fundraising window closes.
Failed RaisesFundraising StrategyAny StageArchived