What founders should think about if looking to raise a Series C

Safire Ventures Partner Kathy Gao said that in 2025, the founder of startup faced a confusing and even contradictory capital market. “Capital is not rare. But access to that capital is stronger than ever,” he said.

The GAO, who spoke at the TechCrunch All Stage Conference in July, said that the startup founders, especially at the next series C level, who could be navigated in this special economic environment. And they need to start with a reality check.

To get started, he said, it is important to note that the five startups that make up a series A series C to increase the series C and have just increased the bar to increase the late-laden capital last year; Investors are no longer just chasing speed, as many have been in the last few years – they are chasing ConfirmedGao

“Investors are now asking: ‘Is this company really winning the market that they are serving?’ “The question is not really, ‘is this company growing up?’ The question is shifted, ‘Is this company in a tragician where the opposite side is truly unacceptable?’ “

Series C Round -raising companies should meet some criteria. For one, they are the leaders of all departments, according to the GAO.

“They are defining their categories they have their clean-market and unacceptable tension,” he said. “In short, they are growing efficiently, but the places they work are also traced to the market leaders to show it.”

Companies who want to raise Series C should also be remembered that metrics are not always equal to money. Of course, the metrics are important, as the annual return, growth and holding, he said, but if investors do not sell the idea that any company can truly be the leader in their respective places, they are going to move forward.

“Investors have to explain why a company will win in the future,” he said. For example, there are some companies that do not have amazing metric but somehow a suitable series C Round increases. In one case, a startup has evaluated more than $ 2 billion, he mentioned. “They were effectively able to contact the investors why this company would be a leading company over time,” said Gao Company’s successful raising.

Another GAO Rules: Continuity is better than short -term virality.

In the AI era, companies have seen investors growing faster than they have ever seen before. Gao said, “But often this is the case, what goes on, it also comes down very quickly,” Gao said. “So the question is, ‘is this growth?'”

In a series C, investors are looking for “compound loops” or watching that the company has become more powerful as the company has become stronger.

“What is your product better for each new customer you signed? What does your CAC do? [customer acquisition cost] Decrease or increase for every new user you brought to the board? “He asked.

If the answer is yes, then investors will “risk,” Gao says; If the answer is “no”, the metrics of an organization look very strong even investors are probably “risk”.

Finally, he said that the founders should treat funds such as promoting the market and try to build a relationship with the VCs before pitching for capital. Gao mentions his view as a first example. Nilkantmani prefers to invest in a company at Series B level, but they usually know the agency for a year or more.

“This means in the series A -in, although we are not actively trying to raise and raise, we are trying to build a relationship with a company and the founder,” he said. “We are getting information and we are developing a longitudinal image of how this company has advanced.”

He said the founders should start creating a “Lightweight Investor CRM” or a database to manage relationships with investors.

Investors take notes while meeting the founders and the founders should do this too, he said. The names of the partners of the founders, what they like to invest, and what companies they have recently supported will write. Create a distribution list and send the investors to periodic updates on it, he said. “It’s an easy way to keep innovators in the loop” “”

Perhaps most importantly, however, the GAO mentions that a series C is trying to raise a series C until they get a signal from multiple companies they will not enter any funds until they are interested in supporting this round.

“The last thing you want to do is the market wrongly incorrectly,” he said. Above all, everything is set at Series C level. “It’s not about luck, 50 pitching and hope someone says yes,” he said continued. “It’s really about time and plan.”