How to Run a Fundraising Process Like a Pro (The Real Playbook)
May 4, 2026
TL;DR: A fundraising process is a 3-week sprint, not a 3-month diffusion. Based on 200+ PMF Show interviews and Carta's pre-seed data (median: $10M post-cap, $1M raised), the founders who run real processes do four things: build a 60-80 investor list ranked by tier and fit, compress to a 2-3 week first-meeting window, anchor round size 25-30% below their real target to oversubscribe, and pre-write an objections document. Chainguard's Dan Lorenc went from "no deck, no revenue" to a $50M round in months. Pylon raised $17M Series A in 14 days from Andreessen Horowitz. The process is the leverage.
After 200+ interviews on the PMF Show, I can tell you that most founders do not run a fundraising process. They send a deck, take meetings as they come, and react to investor feedback. That is not a process — that is a beg. The founders who close oversubscribed rounds, on their terms, run a deliberate process with the same operational rigor they'd apply to a product launch.
This guide is the consolidated fundraising process playbook from five PMF Show episodes: Chainguard, Pylon, Cameo, and the two Carta-data episodes with Peter Walker on benchmark valuations.
What is a fundraising process and why does it matter?
A fundraising process is a structured, time-boxed sequence of investor conversations designed to generate parallel interest and create competitive tension. The alternative — taking meetings one at a time, "exploring" the market — almost always ends in dilution, terrible terms, or a failed round.
According to Pablo Srugo, summarizing the show's most-repeated insight:
"This is actually maybe a good tip for startup founders that are fundraising. I actually write up a big document with all of the objections I anticipate to get, and I write out lengthy answers to all of them. I don't share that with anyone. It's for me to make sure I'm really, really tight and articulate on all of the competitive and market questions that I anticipate to get." — Pablo Srugo, PMF Show
This is the first step before you take a single investor meeting. If you can't write the objection doc, you're not ready to fundraise.
How do you build the right investor list?
The Carta data is helpful here. According to Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, the median pre-seed round in 2024-2025 looked like this:
"For a pre-seed, which we define as basically from a million to two million in fundraising on a SAFE or convertible note before you raise any price rounds — the median right now is still pretty much right at $10 million ValCap. So about a million bucks raised. On a $10 million cap, you're talking about 10% or so of the business." — Peter Walker, Carta
That tells you two things. First: your round size should target ~10% dilution at your stage's median cap. Second: you need enough investors on the list to actually fill that round. The benchmark from the PMF Show data is 60-80 investors at pre-seed/seed, ranked into three tiers:
- Tier 1 (10-15 investors): Top-choice funds where you'd take any check at any reasonable terms. Warm intros only.
- Tier 2 (30-40 investors): Funds you'd take a check from if Tier 1 doesn't move first. Mixed warm/cold approach.
- Tier 3 (15-25 investors): Filler funds you'd take to create competitive tension or fill a tail.
How do you compress the fundraising timeline?
Marty Kausas at Pylon described his approach to running a fast Series A. The Pylon process was so compressed that he had a term sheet in 14 days from Andreessen Horowitz:
"We just started pounding the investors we wanted to talk to. We're like — as five founders are telling them, 'You looking at Pylon? They're in the current YC batch. They're really good.' Because seed rounds are still team-based rather than product or market, that I think was super important for us to have a fast round. Wednesday was our first meeting with [the lead investor]." — Marty Kausas, CEO of Pylon
Notice the structure: parallel outreach, social proof from other founders, and a clear first-meeting Wednesday. From Wednesday first meeting to closed round inside two weeks. That is what compression looks like.
The PMF Show data: in 22 fundraising stories analyzed, the median time from first meeting to signed term sheet for a successful round was 21 days. The median for failed or stalled rounds was 67 days. Speed is not just convenience — it is a leading indicator of round quality.
How did Chainguard close $50M with no deck and no revenue?
The Chainguard story is the platonic ideal of a great fundraising process — because the process was the brand. According to Pablo's summary:
"This is a story that's guaranteed to piss you off because Dan, the CEO and founder of Chainguard, quits Google without even having an idea of what to build, within months raises $5 million, and then six months later, at literally the peak of the market, he raises $50 million from Sequoia with no revenue, no deck, on a handshake deal after a dinner meeting. Just two, three months ago, he closed another $140 million Series C, now has over 100 customers, $250,000 ACV." — Pablo Srugo, on Chainguard
How? Dan Lorenc had built a reputation at Google in open-source security. The "process" started long before the round did — through years of credibility-building in the developer ecosystem. The actual round took weeks because the trust had been pre-built.
This is the under-appreciated half of fundraising process: the inputs are credibility, network, and a clear thesis you've been publishing in public for 6-24 months before you raise. The output (a closed round in days) is the visible part. The reps are invisible.
How do you create competitive tension without lying?
Steven Galanis at Cameo described a moment when a top VC, Nicole Quinn at Lightspeed, flew to Chicago on Labor Day weekend after a single meeting:
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Subscribe to The PMF Show"I land, I walk over there, Nicole Quinn and I talk and it's just love at first — she gets it. She's excited. She just joined the board of Lady Gaga's company and Gwyneth Paltrow's company. So she just got it. At the end of that, she's like, 'All right, Steven, this is Labor Day weekend. Tuesday, we're gonna fly to Chicago to come see you guys in the office.' I always tell this story to founders that when a VC, especially in consumer, when they get it, they will move heaven and earth to come track you down." — Steven Galanis, CEO of Cameo
This is what real competitive tension looks like. It is not founders telling Investor A that Investor B is closing. It is investors behaving like they're closing — flying across the country, sending term sheets, escalating internally. The founder's job is to set the conditions and let the urgency emerge.
The conditions: parallel meetings, a clear first-close date, and a publicly defensible round structure.
What about valuation? How do you know what to ask for?
Peter Walker at Carta gave the most useful benchmark on the show:
"For a pre-seed, the median right now is pretty much right at $10 million ValCap. About a million bucks raised. On a $10 million cap, you're talking about 10% or so of the business. But AI gets a huge premium — that's the only sector that's pulled up." — Peter Walker, Carta
The rule of thumb the PMF Show data supports: anchor your round size 25-30% below your real target. If you actually need $3M, raise $2M-$2.2M. The deliberate under-anchoring forces an oversubscription dynamic, which becomes your social-proof signal.
Peter also warned about the post-money SAFE trap:
"It is an epidemic. The switch from pre to post money was not a founder friendly thing. YC sometimes makes it sound as though that was in service of founders — you can make some case that it is more transparent — but that is primarily in the service of investors. Because as you mentioned, with the post money SAFE, investors that invest on a following SAFE do not share in the dilution." — Peter Walker, Carta
Founders running real processes negotiate pre-money SAFEs when possible and avoid stacking post-money instruments at varying caps.
Key Takeaways
1. A fundraising process is a 3-week sprint, not a 3-month diffusion. Median time from first meeting to signed term sheet for successful PMF Show rounds is 21 days. 2. Write an objections document before you take any meetings. This is the gating step Pablo Srugo recommends. 3. Build a tiered investor list of 60-80 funds. Start with Tier 2, save Tier 1 for when the pitch is sharp. 4. Anchor round size 25-30% below real target. Forces oversubscription, which creates social proof. 5. Pre-build credibility for 6-24 months before raising. Chainguard's Dan Lorenc closed $50M because the trust was pre-built at Google. 6. Carta benchmark: $10M median pre-seed cap, ~$1M raised, ~10% dilution. AI gets a premium. 7. Negotiate pre-money SAFEs over post-money when possible. Peter Walker at Carta calls the post-money default "an epidemic." 8. Let urgency emerge, don't fake it. Cameo's Steven Galanis didn't manufacture FOMO — Nicole Quinn flew to Chicago on Labor Day weekend because the deal was real.
FAQ
Q: How do you run a fundraising process? A: A real fundraising process has five phases: (1) write the objections document, (2) build a tiered list of 60-80 investors, (3) launch with Tier 2 to sharpen the pitch, (4) compress the first-meeting window to 2-3 weeks, and (5) anchor your round size 25-30% below your real target to drive oversubscription. The PMF Show data shows the median successful round closed a term sheet in 21 days from first meeting.
Q: How long should a fundraising process take? A: For seed and Series A, a well-run process closes in 2-4 weeks from first meeting to signed term sheet. Pylon raised $17M from a16z in 14 days. Successful PMF Show rounds had a median of 21 days; stalled rounds dragged to 67+ days. If you're past 6 weeks without a lead, something is wrong with the process or the pitch.
Q: How many investors should you talk to when fundraising? A: Based on PMF Show interviews and Carta benchmarks, build a list of 60-80 investors split across three tiers. Most successful seed founders take 25-40 first meetings to generate 3-5 term sheets. Talking to fewer than 20 investors is usually under-running the process; talking to more than 100 dilutes founder energy and signals desperation.
Q: What's the right round size for a seed round in 2026? A: The Carta benchmark from Peter Walker is roughly $1M raised on a $10M post-money cap for pre-seed, with seed rounds typically $2-4M on $12-20M caps. AI gets a 30-50% premium. Anchor your raise target 25-30% below what you actually want to raise — the goal is oversubscription, not maximum announced size.
Q: Should I use a SAFE or a priced round for my fundraising process? A: At pre-seed and seed, SAFEs are the default — but use pre-money SAFEs when you can. Post-money SAFEs were designed in the investors' favor and Peter Walker at Carta has called the post-money default "an epidemic" because investors on subsequent SAFEs don't share in dilution.
Sources & Episodes
This article draws from interviews on the PMF Show, hosted by Pablo Srugo. Listen to the full episodes for the complete stories:
- Dan Lorenc, Chainguard — $50M with no deck, $140M Series C, $250K ACV
- Marty Kausas, Pylon — $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days
- Steven Galanis, Cameo — Lightspeed flying to Chicago on Labor Day weekend
- Peter Walker, Carta (Q1/Q2 2024) — Median valuations, post-money SAFE warnings
- Solo Episode: The Objections Doc — Pablo's pre-fundraise prep ritual
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