💰 How Much to Raise?

👉 I wrote a practical pocket guide to answering “how much should we raise?” with clear milestones, honest burn, 18-month runway, realistic ownership. Enjoy.

Author

Egemen Eres
November 19, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

👋 Hey — Egemen here.

Most founders obsess over valuation, but the real trap is the round size.

Ask for too little and you are fundraising again just as things start working.
Ask for too much and you build a cost base that kills you at Series A.

I use a simple way to think about it: raise enough to reach your next fundable moment, with a real buffer, at dilution you can live with. Most serious guides land in the same zone.

I will walk through it the way we do with founders.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s on the menu today:

💡 Spotlight: Save $12,000

🧠 Deep-Dive: How much to raise?

🗺️ Method: Huge AI Survey Findings

⚾️ Catch: Test Advertising Impact

☝️ Scaled This Past Week: Dost

💡 Spotlight

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Intercom’s program is for high-growth, high-potential companies that are:

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🧠 Deep-Dive: How much to raise?

Forget the word “round” for a second.

Think in terms of: what has to be true 18 months from now so that good investors want to write you a bigger check.

That is your fundable moment.

For a typical software startup, this is something like:

  • Product actually used by paying customers

  • Clear repeat use and low churn

  • A predictable way to find and close more of the same customers

  • A core team that looks stable, not just a solo hero

If you are earlier, your next fundable moment may be more basic:

  • V1 shipped

  • 5 to 10 design partners who use it monthly

  • At least one customer genuinely blocked if you disappear

Write that down in plain language. One short paragraph. That paragraph is the real goal of this round.

A guide to seed fundraising: YC Startup Library

Early Stage Advice: The most comprehensive guide on why, when, and how to raise money for your startup.

ycombinator

Now work backwards. To get there, what do you need to actually do.

I like to break it into three buckets:

  • Product: what you need to build and ship

  • Distribution: how you will acquire, close and onboard customers

  • Company: who you need in the building so things do not fall apart

For example, a seed stage B2B SaaS plan could look like:

  • Product: finish core workflows, basic analytics, admin panel, basic permissions

  • Distribution: outbound motion that reliably books 10 to 20 meetings a month, a simple website that converts, basic sales process

  • Company: 2 founders full time, 2 engineers, 1 designer, 1 generalist for sales and ops (or whatever it is that you’re into building).

Keep this part boring and concrete. No buzzwords. Just work.

Then, translate that into a real monthly burn. No heroics. No underpaying by half. Pick 18 months of runway as your default and multiply, also add a 20 to 30 percent buffer.

Check the implied dilution against realistic seed valuations in your region.

  • If dilution is insane, cut scope, not safety.

  • If dilution is very low, double check that your plan is not underpowered.

That is how I think about “how much to raise”.
Not as a status symbol. Not as a vibes-based guess. Just as a clear trade: this much ownership for this much time to hit very specific proof points.

Get that trade mostly right and a lot of other things in your fundraising become easier.

🗺️ Method

Benchmark Your Voice AI

Deepgram surveyed 400 senior leaders on voice AI to map adoption, budgets, and use cases. Compare your voice AI roadmap to $100M+ enterprises and learn where to invest next - human-like agents for customer service, task automation, and order capture - plus benchmarks to guide your 2026 plan.

⚾️ Catch

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☝️ Scaled This Past Week: Dost

Dost just raised 6M GBP – it’s the scale of the week!

AI fintech Dost launches in UK with £6M Series A

Dost, an AI-powered financial automation platform, has launched in the UK following a £6 million Series A funding round led by Octopus Ventures. The

techfundingnews

Here’s what they do:

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