Round size, stage, target investors, milestones to next round, weekly process, and a backup plan if the round slips.
Layout
Fundraising Plan
6 blocks · 2-row grid
"Run the round like a pipeline. The number you close at is a function of the parallel meetings you had."
What it is
Six blocks. Round Size & Stage commits a target. Use of Funds Summary maps dollars to milestones. Target Investors names funds and warm paths. Milestones to Next Round is the markup story. Process Timeline is the weekly plan. Risks & Backup Plan pre-commits a response to slippage.
Origin
Founders learned the hard way that fundraising treated as serendipity ("we'll just take meetings") leads to bad outcomes — closed at the wrong number, with the wrong lead, on the wrong terms, often after running out of cash. The pipeline-style fundraising plan came out of operators porting sales-cycle discipline into the round process.
When to reach for it
You're 9–12 months from end-of-runway and starting to plan the next round.
You're briefing your board on the fundraising plan and need to defend it.
You're running a CFO-light operation and need everyone aligned on the round.
The blocks
Worked example uses A Series A SaaS startup.
What good looks like
Round size, stage, instrument, pre-money range, minimum viable check size.
Example — A Series A SaaS startup
$15M Series A, priced equity. Pre-money $50–65M expected. Min viable check: $250k.
What good looks like
Allocation across hiring/GTM/product/buffer. How long it lasts. Tied to milestones.
Example — A Series A SaaS startup
45% hires (12 across eng, GTM, CSM). 30% paid acquisition (CAC scaling). 15% infra & tools. 10% buffer. 18-month plan.
What good looks like
Named funds + lead partners + warm-intro paths. Lead vs. participation labelled.
Example — A Series A SaaS startup
25 funds, 38 named partners. Lead targets: 8 funds (Accel, Sequoia, Index, Lightspeed, Bessemer, GGV, M13, Battery). Warm paths via 14 portfolio founders + 6 angels.
What good looks like
3–5 quantified milestones that justify the markup at the next round.
Example — A Series A SaaS startup
$8M ARR (from $3M), NRR 130%+, 4 enterprise logos (50k+ ACV), CAC payback <14 mo, international launch (UK + Germany).
What good looks like
Weekly plan — kickoff, first meetings, partner meetings, term-sheet target, close.
Example — A Series A SaaS startup
Wk 1: kickoff with 5 closest funds for feedback. Wk 2–3: partner-meeting outreach. Wk 4–6: partner meetings. Wk 7: first term sheets target. Wk 9: close target.
What good looks like
Top fundraising risks, trigger to switch to backup, the 50%-of-target plan.
Example — A Series A SaaS startup
Risk: macro market reset. Trigger: <2 term sheets by Wk 7 → switch to backup. Backup: cut to $9M raise at lower valuation, pause 4 of 12 hires, extend runway to 14 mo.
How to use it
Build the milestone story before the dollar target. Numbers without milestones get cut.
List 25–40 named partners across 15–25 funds. Smaller lists run out of meetings; bigger lists dilute time.
Run parallel processes. Sequential is how you end up with one term sheet and no leverage.
Pre-commit the backup plan at 50% raised. The decision is easier today than under pressure.
Common mistakes
A "we'll see what we get" target instead of a defended dollar number.
Investor lists with no warm-intro paths. Cold inbound is a Hail Mary, not a strategy.
Sequential processes that hand the lead 100% pricing power.
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