Playbook 10 of 10, Grow
Prepare for investor talks
Decide whether outside funding fits, order your evidence, know your numbers and bring the right questions to your counsel before you speak with any investor.
What you will have at the end
- An evidence pack ordered against a standard index
- Metrics with written definitions
- A runway and burn calculation with its assumptions
- A list of questions for your counsel with the answers
- A short list of investors with the reason for each
- A conversation log and update record
The steps
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Decide whether outside funding fits your company
Compare the routes open to you, including customer revenue, grants and outside investment, and write down what each asks of you. Outside funding is one route, and it is not a milestone every company needs to reach.
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Order your evidence before you write a pitch
Gather customer records, metrics with written definitions, company records and a cap table into an evidence pack, ordered so a reader can find each item. Investors test claims against records, so records come first.
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Know your numbers and be able to explain them
Be ready to explain your runway, your burn, your metrics and the assumptions behind each, using the definitions you wrote. A number you cannot explain does more harm than one you leave out.
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Bring your questions to your own counsel before you speak with anyone
Ask your counsel about the instruments, the rules that apply when a company looks for investment and what you may say and to whom. Write the answers down and follow your counsel's advice.
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Choose investors by fit and plan your time
Write a short list of investors whose stage, sector and way of working match your company, with the reason for each. Budget the founder time that conversations take, because it comes out of the time you spend on customers.
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Keep a conversation log and a regular update
Record each conversation, what was asked and what you promised to send. Send short updates on a regular schedule so that the people who have heard from you can see progress in your own records.
The playbook at a glance
A cover, one public figure that frames the question this playbook answers, and the steps drawn as one path.
These figures describe the wider market, not WE's results. WE makes no promise of funding.
The steps, in order
- Decide whether outside funding fits your company
- Order your evidence before you write a pitch
- Know your numbers and be able to explain them
- Bring your questions to your own counsel before you speak with anyone
- Choose investors by fit and plan your time
- Keep a conversation log and a regular update
Open these next
- Seed data room checklist A folder-by-folder checklist of the records a seed data room usually holds.
- Weekly investor update template A fixed structure for a short progress update, usable weekly or monthly.
- Evidence room builder Work through a checklist built from the data room and investor readiness guides. Filter by stage, tick items off, then print the list or copy it as Markdown.
- Runway calculator Type cash, net burn and, if you want it, burn growth, and see runway in months, rounded down, with every step of the working shown.
- Cap table explainer Type the shares you hold, the shares others hold and the shares to issue. See your ownership before and after, with every division shown.
- Brief: Pre-seed evidence pack
- Brief: Funding paths
This playbook does not give legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not tell you how to raise money. It helps you prepare your evidence and your questions, so your own counsel can advise you before you speak with an investor. WE makes no promise of funding.
What good looks like
Good preparation means an investor can check what you say. Each claim in your pitch points to a record, and your counsel has told you what you can say and to whom.
- Each claim about customers or growth has a source record that you can produce.
- Your metrics use the written definitions from your own sheet, and they are the same in every document.
- Your cap table matches your counsel’s records, and you can explain every line.
- You can explain your runway and burn, and the assumptions behind them, without a spreadsheet in hand.
- Your list of investors has a reason for each name, and your update record shows regular progress.
Decision aid: are you ready to start conversations
Go through the rows with the records in front of you. A row you cannot meet is the next piece of work, not a reason to hide the gap.
| Check | Ready when | If not yet |
|---|---|---|
| The route | You compared the funding routes in writing and outside investment fits your plan. | Write the comparison first. Customer revenue or grants may fit better. |
| Evidence | Customer records, metrics and company records are ordered in one pack with an index. | Work through the data room checklist and mark each folder complete or not applicable. |
| Metrics | Each metric has one written definition, used the same way in every document. | Return to the metrics sheet and restate each period under one definition. |
| Runway and burn | You can explain the arithmetic and each assumption. | Work through the runway calculation and write each assumption down. |
| Cap table | It matches your counsel's records and has a check date. | Reconcile it with your counsel before you share it with anyone. |
| Counsel | You have answers in writing to your questions about instruments, rules and what you may say. | Book the conversation and send the questions in advance. |
| Time | You have a written budget of founder time, and customers will not be neglected. | Cut the list of investors until the time budget holds. |
Questions to ask your counsel
These are questions to bring, not answers. The answers depend on your company, your investors and where each of you is based.
- Which instruments are open to a company like ours, and what does each one change for the founders?
- Which rules apply when we look for investment, and what must we do before we speak with an investor?
- What may we say about our company and our plans, and to whom?
- Does each investor we want to approach need to meet any condition before we can talk with them?
- What should we put in writing, and what should we hold back until an agreement is signed?
- What will an investor ask to see about our contracts, our code and our agreements, and are our records ready?
What a public regulator says
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says that every offer and sale of securities must either be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 or rely on an available exemption from registration. Whether and how that applies to your company is a question for your counsel. Ask it before you speak with an investor, not after.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why it costs you | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Writing the pitch before ordering the evidence | Claims without records fall apart at the first question. | Order your records first and write the pitch from them. |
| Treating outside funding as the only route | You may give up more than you need to, or lose time on a route that does not fit. | Compare the routes in writing and choose by fit. |
| Speaking with investors before asking counsel | You may say or share things you cannot take back. | Bring your questions to your counsel and follow the advice before the first conversation. |
| Changing metric definitions between documents | An investor who sees two numbers for one measure stops trusting both. | Use one defined sheet for every document. |
| Contacting every investor you can find | Poor fit wastes your time and your name. | Choose a short list by stage and sector, with a reason for each. |
| Underestimating the founder time it takes | The company stalls while you are in meetings. | Write a time budget and protect time for customers. |
| Treating silence as a decision | You wait on someone who has moved on. | Record each contact in the log and decide what you will do next. |
Evidence to check before you move on
This is the last playbook in the chain. You are ready to begin conversations when you can show each of these. The investor readiness section holds the guides on data rooms and updates.
- The route comparison is written and shows why outside investment fits.
- The evidence pack is ordered against an index, and each folder is complete or marked not applicable.
- Metrics, runway and burn have written definitions and assumptions.
- Your counsel has answered your questions in writing.
- The investor list has a reason for each name, and the time budget is written.
Where WE can help
WE’s Fundability and Investor Readiness line assembles the evidence an investor asks for, including an assessment, organized records, a financial model, a data room and an update habit. It does not offer, sell or place securities, advise on investments or promise that any investor will meet or reply to you. The service line page lists what it covers and what it does not.
Sources
The steps and the decision aid draw on the articles and templates below. The paragraph on registration draws on the SEC page named in the last item. None of them replaces advice from your counsel.
- Funding a software startup: the routes and what each asks of you
- Matching a funding route to a stage: a decision guide
- Ordering a pre-seed evidence pack
- Evidence over narrative: what diligence actually tests
- Runway and burn: the arithmetic
- Questions to ask your counsel before you sign
- The founder time budget of a raise
- Seed data room checklist
- Weekly investor update template
- SEC, Exempt Offerings, read October 10, 2026
Start a readiness review
Tell WE where the company stands. WE replies to arrange a conversation and a written read of your company's timeline.
A short PDF of the charts and sources, sent by email to the address you give.
Talk to WE : A question that does not fit a form.