Raising venture capital starts before the pitch: decide whether VC suits your company, identify what the next capital is meant to accomplish, and target investors whose focus fits your business. TechCrunch’s “Startups, here’s everything you need to know to raise VC funding,” curated by Haje Jan Kamps, is a resource hub first published September 1, 2022, and last updated May 19, 2023—not a guide to 2026 market conditions. It offers a useful preparation framework, while leaving market-specific terms and universal fundraising formulas unstated.
Should you—and can you—raise venture capital?
VC is one financing option, not the default measure of a startup’s promise. Before contacting investors, ask whether your company’s goals and growth model make outside equity a sensible fit. TechCrunch’s guide frames this decision around whether the business is venture-investable, whether it makes sense to self-fund first, how much capital is needed, and whether a round can reduce company risk. It also points founders toward venture debt as an alternative to examine. The guide does not prescribe one route for every company.
| Financing route | Questions to consider | What the cited guide establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Self-funding | Can the company make meaningful progress without outside capital, and would doing so help clarify what funding is needed? | TechCrunch raises self-funding first as a possibility; it gives no universal rule for when to choose it. |
| Equity VC | Does the company’s growth ambition fit an investor-backed business, and can the capital reduce a risk or help reach a meaningful milestone? | The guide discusses VC investability and risk reduction, but supplies no standard valuation or dilution comparison. |
| Venture debt | Can the company support the financing structure, and does debt fit the need and risk the funds are meant to address? | The guide flags venture debt for consideration but does not specify terms, rates, covenants, or a decision rule. |
Use these as questions to investigate, not as a scoring formula. The right choice depends on the company’s goals, capital needs, and ability to support the chosen financing.
How much should you raise?
Set the amount in relation to what the company needs to accomplish next. Be specific about which risks the funding is intended to reduce and what progress it should enable. That gives an investor a reason for the ask beyond a round label or an arbitrary target.
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TechCrunch’s collection asks founders to consider how much they need, but it does not establish a universal raise size or runway formula. Avoid treating any generic number of months or round size as a rule; the amount should follow from the company’s plan and the milestones it can credibly pursue.
Which investors should you approach?
Research investors before sending a deck. Learn their investment thesis and look for fit with your company’s stage, sector, and opportunity. Be prepared to explain why your business belongs in that investor’s portfolio—not merely why you want funding.
As you assess fit, consider whether you can make a credible case for the market and traction, whether the ask and use of funds are clear, and whether the capital could help the company reach its next meaningful milestones. These are useful questions, not a quantitative investor-ranking system.
How do you build a convincing fundraising story?
A strong pitch is a connected explanation of the business, not a checklist of slides. TechCrunch’s 2023 pitch-deck checklist gives higher priority to venture-scale potential, team, market, traction, ask, use of funds, and the problem. It treats the operating plan, competition, business model, go-to-market, solution, and product as medium-priority story elements. It also prompts founders to address pricing, unit economics, timing, target customer, moat, and how the story flows.
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Use those elements to answer the investor’s central questions: What problem matters, who has it, why is this a meaningful market, and why is this team positioned to build the solution? Then show what evidence exists, how the company expects to operate and make money, what alternatives or competitors exist, and what the requested funds will enable. The checklist’s priorities do not mean every item needs its own slide; choose a format that makes the argument easy to follow.
Do you always need a deck?
No single deck format is an absolute requirement. TechCrunch’s collection discusses the possibility of raising without a deck, alongside advice on finding a first investor meeting, warm and cold introductions, pitch meetings, and who should lead the pitch. A deck can help organize the story, but founders should be ready to explain the business clearly in conversation as well.
The collection also says TechCrunch looked at 320 startup decks in a linked article. That is a sample count, not evidence that a particular deck format improves fundraising outcomes.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How should pre-product founders make the case?
Raising before a product or traction exists is possible, but difficult. In an August 17, 2020 TechCrunch interview, Precursor Ventures founder and managing partner Charles Hudson said investors at that stage consider the founder’s understanding of the market and how much the investor knows the founder. His perspective emphasizes a distinctive, durable insight, the market’s structure, relevant founder experience, and the key assumption that funding would help test.
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Hudson put the point this way: “You need to have a unique and durable insight that will still be true in 12 to 18 months.” Treat that as one investor’s perspective, not a guarantee of what every investor will require. A pre-product pitch should make clear what the founder knows, why the opportunity could be substantial, and what uncertainty the proposed capital is meant to address.
What happens in investor meetings and due diligence?
Prepare for more than the initial pitch. TechCrunch’s collection covers introductions, investor meetings, who should pitch, and due diligence. Be ready to explain the same business story consistently, answer questions about the market and operating plan, and support the claims you make about the company. The collection does not set a universal timetable for closing a round, so do not assume every process follows the same sequence or duration.
When should you bring in a fundraising lawyer?
Involve a lawyer experienced in startup fundraising in the company’s jurisdiction when reviewing legal compliance and investment terms. The 2020 Startup Manual Israel supports using experienced counsel for those tasks, but its legal framing is specific to Israel; it does not establish legal requirements for companies elsewhere. For optional background on investment terms, the manual recommends Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson. A book is no substitute for advice from counsel familiar with the relevant jurisdiction and transaction.
What TechCrunch’s guide can—and cannot—tell you
The collection is useful for structuring the decisions and preparation behind a raise, but it is not a current-market playbook. Its page was last updated May 19, 2023, and some linked pieces are part of TechCrunch+, so access may require a subscription. Its framework can help founders decide what to investigate and explain; it does not provide current fundraising statistics, universal round sizes, standard terms, or a promise that following its advice will secure investment.
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