In 2022, a massive correction began in the startup ecosystem. Rising interest rates led to plummeting startup valuations and venture firms struggling to raise new funds. Global venture funding fell 35% between 2021 and 2022, and startup valuations dropped by an average of 34% across all stages. And it has not gotten better – in fact fast forward to the first quarter of 2024 and we have witnessed more startups go out of business than at any time this decade. Where are we now? Startups and venture firms are still learning to survive with less. Startups have restructured, prioritized profitability, lowered burn, and extended runway in hopes of deferring their next fundraise. Venture firms have slowed new investments, increased diligence, raised prices and deferred new funds.

Raising early-stage capital is easy, right? It must be. It seems virtually every other tech-related article to grace my screen tells the tale of young founders armed with little more than a set of slides raising funds from one or more esteemed investors. Is it really that simple?...

I co-founded my first startup in 2008. For those of you around back then, it was not the best time to raise capital. But once we did raise funds, the business was unlocked. We invested in more product/engineering resources, improved our offering, spent on sales and marketing, and grew our profile, customer base, and revenues...