Two years, our team at First Round, led by partners Bill Trenchard and Brett Berson, began to quietly build out a program to help our founders navigate the choppy waters of follow-on fundraising.

Long had we observed founders caught off guard by what was needed to raise their Series A after having a relatively easy time at the seed stage (only further exacerbated by an influx of seed funding in the market).

All together, we have immense knowledge in fundraising that we’ve accrued witnessing our companies raise over 1,000 rounds and $18 billion in follow-on funding. It’s possible for startup founders to know more about almost every facet of company-building, but fundraising is one area where we’ll always be able to offer more experience.

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Realizing how well positioned we were to help, we built a program called Pitch Assist — a four to six week bootcamp for our startups that are getting ready to raise follow-on capital. At the end of the program, they emerge with a well-designed deck, a strong narrative, and a clear strategy for how to approach the fundraising process.

Unlike normal fundraising advice, Pitch Assist is an immersive program where we advise, build presentations and rehearse side-by-side with First Round founders. Trenchard, in particular, has experience on both sides of the table, having started and fundraised for 5 companies before joining the firm.

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What follows is an inside look at how we run the Pitch Assist program, and what startups everywhere can apply from what we’ve learned helping create fundraising pitches and processes for over 10 years.

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FIRST, FIX YOUR TIMELINE

Given the cyclical nature of tech and venture, there are distinctly good and bad times to raise capital. “Avoid August, the second half of November and December, when many venture firms slow down.

The year-end holidays and summer dog days are dead zones for fundraising, so why set yourself for an uphill process? July can be slow, too. You can finish your fundraising process in late July — just don’t start it then,” says Trenchard.

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The Fundraising Wisdom That Helped Our Founders Raise $18B in Follow-On Capital

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First Round Review

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