• You used to have a 30% chance of raising a Series A—now it's only 15%. Here's what to do about it:

  • Oct 17 2024
  • Length: 13 mins
  • Podcast

You used to have a 30% chance of raising a Series A—now it's only 15%. Here's what to do about it:

Listen for free

View show details

  • Summary

  • New Carta data shows that 30% of seed-stage startups used to raise a Series A within 2 years of their seed. Now, only 15% do. The bar for Series As is as high as it's ever been. And the number of seed extensions that I see is going up as a result.

    But for founders, this is NOT a bad thing. I remember as a seed-stage founder I was obsessed with raising a Series A. But now I've seen startup after startup that raised $8-12M Series A when they didn't truly have product-market fit. Most of those startups ended up hiring too many people, burning too much money, and not growing any faster. They are now money-losing startups with no growth.

    The VCs aren't happy, but they're okay. But the founders aren't. They are at the bottom of the stack. They can't sell their business and can't grow it either. They're stuck between a rock and a hard place.

    The solution? If you're not performing at top quartile levels, if you don't have clear undeniable product-market fit, then raise a smaller round.

    Seed extensions might not be what you wanted—but in many cases, it's what you need.


    Send me a message to let me know what you think!
    Show More Show Less
Leadership Economics
Show More Show Less
activate_samplebutton_t1

What listeners say about You used to have a 30% chance of raising a Series A—now it's only 15%. Here's what to do about it:

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.