{"id":"f0e3d5f3-4eba-4521-8d9b-82cf3e6ceb94","shortId":"Wr4Msd","kind":"skill","title":"fundraising","tagline":"Plan early-stage fundraising: raise decision memo, round design, pitch narrative, investor pipeline, diligence prep.","description":"# Fundraising\n\n## Scope\n\n**Covers**\n- Deciding **whether** to raise venture funding (vs bootstrapping / delaying / alternatives) and articulating the trade-offs\n- Designing a round (amount, timeline, milestone, target investor profile) without pretending to give legal/tax advice\n- Building an investor-ready **narrative** and a **pitch deck outline** optimized for first impressions\n- Running the fundraising process as a pipeline (target list, outreach, follow-ups, rejection handling, momentum)\n- Preparing for diligence (data-room checklist + FAQs/objections) and reducing “unknown unknowns”\n\n**When to use**\n- “Should I raise venture capital or bootstrap?”\n- “Help me build a pitch deck narrative and a strong first slide.”\n- “I need an investor outreach plan and a pipeline tracker.”\n- “I’m starting a pre-seed/seed raise; help me run the process end-to-end.”\n\n**When NOT to use**\n- You need to build a founder-led sales motion or close your first customers — use `founder-sales` (this pack raises capital; that pack generates revenue)\n- You want to validate a startup idea before raising — use `startup-ideation` (validate the idea first, then raise)\n- You need help with presentation delivery, storytelling mechanics, or slide design — use `giving-presentations` (this pack builds the narrative and deck *outline*; that pack covers delivery and design)\n- You have a job offer to negotiate (not an investment round) — use `negotiating-offers`\n- You need legal, tax, or securities advice (term sheets, SAFE/notes, incorporation, compliance) — involve qualified professionals\n- You’re raising grants/donations or structured debt (use a fundraising/grants/debt-specific workflow instead)\n- You only want visual slide design polish with no strategy/process work\n- You’re in an immediate liquidity crisis where the only viable path is emergency financing within days (this skill can help structure messaging, but you should prioritize urgent financial triage with experts)\n\n## Inputs\n\n**Minimum required**\n- Company snapshot: what you build, who it’s for, and why now\n- Stage + traction (or pre-traction proof), plus 1–3 key metrics (even proxies)\n- Team snapshot (founders, key strengths, gaps you’re hiring for)\n- Runway + constraints (cash, time, geography, intro network, fundraising window)\n- Fundraising intent: why raise, target amount (or range), and what milestone it buys\n\n**Missing-info strategy**\n- Ask **3–5 questions at a time** from [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md).\n- If specifics are missing, proceed with labeled assumptions and ranges (never invent exact numbers).\n- Do not request sensitive credentials or confidential customer/employee data; use anonymized examples.\n\n## Outputs (deliverables)\n\nProduce a **Fundraising Pack** (Markdown in chat; or as files if requested) in this order:\n\n1) **Raise Decision Memo** (VC vs bootstrap/delay; trade-offs; “if we raise” vs “if we don’t” plan)\n2) **Round Design Brief** (amount, timing, milestone, use of funds, target investor profile)\n3) **Pitch Narrative + Deck Outline** (including a high-signal first slide + talk track)\n4) **Investor ICP + Target List + Pipeline Tracker** (with weekly activity targets)\n5) **Outreach + Follow-up Scripts** (warm intro ask, cold email, post-meeting follow-up)\n6) **Diligence Prep** (data-room checklist + FAQ/objection responses)\n7) **Operating Cadence** (weekly dashboard, “100 no’s” resilience plan, next-14-days action plan)\n8) **Risks / Open questions / Next steps** (always)\n\nTemplates: [references/TEMPLATES.md](references/TEMPLATES.md)  \nExpanded guidance: [references/WORKFLOW.md](references/WORKFLOW.md)\n\n## Workflow (8 steps)\n\n### 1) Intake + constraints snapshot\n- **Inputs:** user context; [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md).\n- **Actions:** Capture stage, runway, constraints, timing, and goal. Separate “must be true” vs “nice to have”. Identify what would make fundraising a mistake.\n- **Outputs:** Context snapshot + assumptions/unknowns list.\n- **Checks:** Timeline has dates; runway is stated (or explicitly unknown); constraints are explicit.\n\n### 2) Decide whether to raise (and why)\n- **Inputs:** goals, constraints, risk tolerance, business model.\n- **Actions:** Write a Raise Decision Memo: why raise, why not, and the “venture treadmill” trade-off (growth expectations, dilution, speed). Propose alternatives (delay, revenue-first, angels, strategic, debt) where appropriate.\n- **Outputs:** **Raise Decision Memo** with a clear recommendation + decision criteria.\n- **Checks:** Recommendation is falsifiable (“we raise if X by date Y”); non-VC path is not hand-waved.\n\n### 3) Design the round (make the plan fundable)\n- **Inputs:** runway, burn (or plan), milestone, hiring needs, market timing.\n- **Actions:** Define raise amount range, timing, and the milestone it buys. Specify investor profile (stage, check size, thesis, geography) and a simple “use of funds” narrative.\n- **Outputs:** **Round Design Brief**.\n- **Checks:** Amount ↔ milestone is coherent; plan fits constraints; assumptions are explicit.\n\n### 4) Build the pitch narrative + first impression assets\n- **Inputs:** product, ICP, wedge, traction/proof, insights from Steps 1–3.\n- **Actions:** Draft a crisp one-liner, the “strongest point” for slide 1, and a deck outline that answers: problem, solution, why now, why you, why win, why invest.\n- **Outputs:** **Pitch Narrative + Deck Outline** (+ talk track).\n- **Checks:** First slide passes the 10-second test (what it is, for whom, why it matters); narrative has evidence, not vibes.\n\n### 5) Build the investor pipeline (target list + math)\n- **Inputs:** target investor profile; network; constraints.\n- **Actions:** Create an ICP and a prioritized target list. Set pipeline math (how many intros/meetings/week) and define a tracking table.\n- **Outputs:** **Investor ICP + Target List + Pipeline Tracker**.\n- **Checks:** Targets match round design; outreach plan is schedulable; next 7 days have concrete outreach tasks.\n\n### 6) Execute outreach + meetings (run the “100 no’s” process)\n- **Inputs:** scripts; target list; calendar.\n- **Actions:** Draft outreach messages, run outreach cadence, and standardize meeting flow + follow-ups. Track “nos” as data (rejection reasons) and iterate the pitch.\n- **Outputs:** **Outreach + Follow-up Scripts** + meeting agenda + iteration log.\n- **Checks:** Every meeting has a next step; follow-ups go out within 24 hours; learnings are captured weekly.\n\n### 7) Prep diligence (reduce friction)\n- **Inputs:** likely diligence asks; current docs.\n- **Actions:** Create a lightweight data-room checklist and an FAQ/objection response sheet. Identify the 3–5 biggest diligence gaps and a plan to close them.\n- **Outputs:** **Diligence Prep** checklist + FAQ.\n- **Checks:** No claims without supporting artifacts; sensitive info is handled carefully.\n\n### 8) Quality gate + finalize the pack\n- **Inputs:** full draft pack.\n- **Actions:** Run [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and score with [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md). Tighten weak sections. Add **Risks / Open questions / Next steps** and a next-14-days action plan.\n- **Outputs:** Final **Fundraising Pack**.\n- **Checks:** Pack is decision-ready, narrative-coherent, and process-executable.\n\n## Quality gate (required)\n- Use [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md).\n- Always include: **Risks**, **Open questions**, **Next steps**.\n\n## Examples\n\n**Example 1 (pre-seed):** “We’re 2 founders building a B2B workflow tool. We have 5 design partners and 2 pilots. We have 6 months runway and want to raise $1.5–2.0M. Use `fundraising` to produce the full Fundraising Pack including a deck outline and investor pipeline tracker.”  \nExpected: decision memo + round design + deck outline (strong first slide) + target list + outreach scripts.\n\n**Example 2 (seed with traction):** “We’re at $60k MRR and growing 10% MoM. We’re debating whether to raise now or wait 6 months. Use `fundraising` to help us decide and create an outreach plan if we choose to raise.”  \nExpected: raise-vs-wait decision memo with criteria + round design options + pipeline plan.\n\n**Boundary example:** “Draft a SAFE agreement and tell me what valuation I should take.”\nResponse: out of scope for legal/pricing advice; offer to produce the negotiation inputs (round design assumptions, comps proxy approach, questions for counsel) and a fundraising process plan.\n\n## Anti-patterns\n\n1. **Raising without a thesis** — Jumping into investor outreach without a clear “why raise, why now, why this amount” decision memo. The raise decision memo is not optional — it prevents raising money you don't need or raising too little to hit the next milestone.\n2. **Deck-first, narrative-last** — Designing slides before having a crisp pitch narrative. The narrative (problem, wedge, why now, why you, why win) should drive the deck, not the other way around. Start with a strong one-liner and first-slide story.\n3. **Spray-and-pray outreach** — Sending the same cold email to 200 investors without ICP filtering. Effective fundraising targets 30-50 high-fit investors with warm paths, not a mass blast. Track signal-to-noise and iterate weekly.\n4. **Ignoring the “100 no's” reality** — Expecting a quick close and getting demoralized by rejection. The operating cadence should include resilience planning: rejection tracking, pitch iteration log, weekly learnings, and emotional support.\n5. **Diligence denial** — Waiting for a term sheet to start preparing for diligence. Build the data room checklist and FAQ/objection responses in parallel with outreach, not as an afterthought.","tags":["fundraising","lenny","skills","plus","liqiongyu","agent-skills","ai-agents","automation","claude","codex","prompt-engineering","refoundai"],"capabilities":["skill","source-liqiongyu","skill-fundraising","topic-agent-skills","topic-ai-agents","topic-automation","topic-claude","topic-codex","topic-prompt-engineering","topic-refoundai","topic-skillpack"],"categories":["lenny_skills_plus"],"synonyms":[],"warnings":[],"endpointUrl":"https://skills.sh/liqiongyu/lenny_skills_plus/fundraising","protocol":"skill","transport":"skills-sh","auth":{"type":"none","details":{"cli":"npx skills add liqiongyu/lenny_skills_plus","source_repo":"https://github.com/liqiongyu/lenny_skills_plus","install_from":"skills.sh"}},"qualityScore":"0.474","qualityRationale":"deterministic score 0.47 from registry signals: · indexed on github topic:agent-skills · 49 github stars · SKILL.md body (9,694 chars)","verified":false,"liveness":"unknown","lastLivenessCheck":null,"agentReviews":{"count":0,"score_avg":null,"cost_usd_avg":null,"success_rate":null,"latency_p50_ms":null,"narrative_summary":null,"summary_updated_at":null},"enrichmentModel":"deterministic:skill-github:v1","enrichmentVersion":1,"enrichedAt":"2026-04-22T00:56:22.619Z","embedding":null,"createdAt":"2026-04-18T22:16:36.648Z","updatedAt":"2026-04-22T00:56:22.619Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-04-22T00:56:22.619Z","tsv":"'-14':521,1011 '-50':1324 '/seed':134 '1':332,427,542,743,757,1050,1212 '1.5':1080 '10':786,1125 '100':515,865,1347 '2':446,592,1056,1069,1114,1257 '2.0':1081 '200':1315 '24':921 '3':333,375,459,668,744,953,1303 '30':1323 '4':473,727,1344 '5':376,484,802,954,1065,1377 '6':501,859,1073,1136 '60k':1121 '7':510,853,927 '8':525,540,980 'action':523,551,606,686,745,816,874,938,990,1013 'activ':482 'add':1002 'advic':51,245,1188 'afterthought':1405 'agenda':905 'agreement':1173 'altern':30,628 'alway':531,1041 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