Fundraising basics
Core concepts every founder should know before raising.
Cornerstone15 min
The H1 2026 State of Seed Fundraising Report
Synthesized Q1 + early-Q2 2026 seed data from PitchBook-NVCA, Carta, and Crunchb…
Cornerstone17 min
The H1 2026 Seed Deal Terms Report
What's in seed deals in mid-2026: cap and discount distributions, post vs pre-mo…
Cornerstone14 min
The H1 2026 Pre-Seed Funding Report
Carta, AngelList, and Kruze data on pre-seed in H1 2026: round sizes, caps, the …
Cornerstone15 min
The H1 2026 Non-Dilutive Funding Report
The mid-2026 menu of non-dilutive funding: venture debt pricing, revenue-based f…
Cornerstone16 min
The H1 2026 Down Rounds and Recaps Report
The mid-2026 reality on down rounds: how frequent, which structures investors pu…
Cornerstone16 min
The H1 2026 Bridge Rounds and Extensions Report
The H1 2026 data on bridge rounds: how common they got, what terms they carry, a…
Cornerstone13 min
The H1 2026 AI startup funding report
What AI startup funding actually looked like in the first half of 2026, by stage…
Cornerstone17 min
Seed round valuation 2026: the benchmark report
What a seed round actually looks like in 2026: medians, ranges, AI premiums, dil…
Fundraising basics6 min
Seed-to-Series-A graduation rate benchmarks in 2026
The honest 2026 graduation odds, the 2.1-year timeline, and the metric bar separ…
Cornerstone15 min
Raising a seed round for a vertical SaaS startup in 2026
How to raise a seed for vertical SaaS in 2026: kill the TAM objection with wedge…
Fundraising basics9 min
Raising a seed round for a robotics startup in 2026
The 2026 playbook for raising a robotics seed: paid pilots, RaaS unit economics,…
Fundraising basics7 min
Raising a seed round for a proptech startup in 2026
The 2026 proptech seed playbook splits in two: software-margin vs balance-sheet.…
Cornerstone14 min
Raising a seed round for a marketplace startup in 2026
Marketplace seed rounds in 2026 are won on liquidity, not GMV. The diligence met…
Fundraising basics7 min
Raising a seed round for a hardware startup in 2026
Hardware seed is milestone-financed, not runway-financed. The BOM story, the pro…
Fundraising basics9 min
Raising a seed round for a fintech infrastructure startup in 2026
What infra VCs actually fund at seed in 2026, the metrics they expect, and the c…
Fundraising basics9 min
Raising a seed round for an edtech startup in 2026
The 2026 edtech seed playbook: skip school budgets, lead with AI-native engageme…
Cornerstone17 min
Raising a seed round for a devtools startup in 2026
The seed playbook for devtools founders in 2026: real check sizes, the metrics V…
Fundraising basics9 min
Raising a seed round for a cybersecurity startup in 2026
What actually closes a cyber seed round in 2026: a paid CISO design partner, an …
Fundraising basics8 min
Raising a seed round for a climate startup in 2026
The 2026 climate seed playbook: unit-economics-first pitches, blended grant and …
Fundraising basics6 min
Revenue-based financing vs VC at seed in 2026: which capital fits
RBF gets sold as 'VC without dilution.' Here's the honest comparison at seed in …
Cornerstone17 min
Raising a seed round for an AI agent startup in 2026
What's actually changed in AI agent seed fundraising in 2026: the three diligenc…
Fundraising basics8 min
Convertible note maturity in 2026: what happens if you don't raise
What actually happens when a convertible note matures in 2026 without a priced r…
Cornerstone12 min
The seed financial model 2026: a drivers-based template
The seed financial model 2026 VCs accept is 5-7 sheets, drivers-based, 36 months…
Fundraising basics7 min
Venture debt at seed 2026: when it helps and when it bites
Venture debt at seed in 2026 is rarely the right tool. It works as a runway exte…
Fundraising basics6 min
Therapeutics vs diagnostics seed VCs: ticket size and fit 2026
Therapeutics seed rounds run larger and longer, diagnostics run smaller and fast…
Fundraising basics7 min
Second time founder seed 2026: what changes, what doesn't
Repeat founders raise on thesis, not metrics. The premium is real, the diligence…
Fundraising basics7 min
Crypto seed token equity: 2026 deal structures that work
The three dominant ways to split tokens and equity in a 2026 crypto seed round, …
Fundraising basics8 min
Medtech vs digital health fundraising in 2026
Digital health seeds run on ARR and CAC in 12 weeks. Medtech seeds run on 510(k)…
Fundraising basics6 min
Consumer seed playbook 2026: what it takes now after 3 years
The consumer seed bar moved. 2021 meme decks get passed now. Here's what 2026 in…
Cornerstone13 min
Biotech seed fundraise 2026: platform vs asset, tranches, milestones
Platform biotechs raise bigger seeds tranched on lead nomination. Asset biotechs…
Fundraising basics6 min
Angels vs micro VCs seed: four configurations in 2026
The angels vs micro VCs seed decision is really about who leads. Four configurat…
Cornerstone15 min
AI founder seed 2026: what changed and the playbook that works
What changed for AI seed rounds since 2023, the current valuation bands, the thr…
Fundraising basics8 min
Solo founder fundraising in 2026: the data and the workarounds
Solo founders make up 30% of new startups but raise only 14.7% of priced-round c…
Fundraising basics7 min
Pre-seed vs seed in 2026: when to raise which
Pre-seed vs seed in 2026, with Carta and PitchBook benchmarks and the criteria t…
Fundraising basics5 min
The investor update template that lands follow-on checks in 2026
A four-section investor update template where the lowlights block is the part th…
Fundraising basics7 min
How much to raise at seed: the 18-month runway math
Work backward from the Series A bar to size your seed. The 18-month math, the tw…
Fundraising basics5 min
The founder elevator pitch for people who hate selling
The Mad Libs formula for a founder elevator pitch, plus why concrete mechanisms …
Cornerstone13 min
How to raise a seed round 2026: the end-to-end playbook
The six-week timeline, conversion gates, round-size math, and SAFE-cap benchmark…