STOP Raising Wrong. The $20M Insider Guide to Startup Fundraising (a16z & OpenAI)

Описание: How do you actually get a "Yes" from the world's top VCs?

In this video, I break down the exact fundraising strategy I used to raise $18.5M across 3 startups—from cold emails to signed term sheets. I'm Xiaoyin Qu, a 3x founder (PlanetZ.ai, Run The World, Heeyo), Stanford MBA, and ex-Facebook PM. I've pitched hundreds of investors and closed rounds from some of the biggest names in venture capital. This is the crash course I wish I had before my first raise.

🔑 In this video, you'll learn:

00:00 - Introduction: Raising from a16z, OpenAI, and Founders Fund
00:21 - The Stages of Fundraising: From Angel to Series A
01:52 - Why you can (and should) skip fundraising stages
02:36 - Angel Investors vs. Institutional VCs
03:31 - Lead VCs vs. Follow VCs: Who to prioritize
04:46 - The power of "Signaling" and multi-stage funds
06:48 - Solo Founders: The rising trend in the AI era
07:32 - How much traction do you actually need to raise?
08:15 - Raising for different business models (SaaS vs. Enterprise vs. AI)
08:54 - Valuation Secrets: Why it’s not about your revenue
11:17 - How to create demand and FOMO among investors
12:27 - Selling the "Trillion Dollar" vision (The Expected Return)
14:00 - Dilution: How much equity to give away per round
14:40 - Pitching Strategy: Playing "hard to get" vs. the Pitch Deck
17:01 - Pitch Deck Templates: Sequoia, YC, and using AI for feedback
17:44 - The "Killer Shortcut": Getting intros via portfolio founders
18:38 - How many investors should you talk to?
20:46 - Decoding "VC Speak": Why they ghost you and how to read a "No"
23:06 - Closing thoughts and next steps

💡 Whether you're raising pre-seed, seed, or Series A—these lessons apply to every stage.

📌 Connect with me:
→ LinkedIn:   / xiaoyinqu  
→ Twitter/X: https://x.com/quxiaoyin


📚 Resources mentioned in this video:
→ Sequoia Pitch Deck Template
→ YC Startup Library

#startup #fundraising #venturecapital #pitchdeck #a16z #openai #founderstories #seedfunding #entrepreneur