Hello founders,

I’m Sasha, CEO of Puzzle. My first founder journey started in YC and my second is my most ambitious yet! I get a lot of questions about how I prepare for fundraising, and wanted to share a pre-fundraising checklist I swear by.

Understand your story and vision

• [ ] What problems are you solving?
• [ ] Why does this problem exist?
• [ ] How are users solving it today?
• [ ] Why are you (and your team) uniquely suited to solve this?
• [ ] Why now?

Research your market

• [ ] Who are your competitors, and why are you at an advantage in this market?
• [ ] What's your unique value proposition, and why will it work?
• [ ] How large is the addressable market?
• [ ] Do you understand the expectations for capital growth and return?
• [ ] What is your plan to achieve cash flow break-even or profitability?

Have financial projections to support capital needs

• [ ] You plan to use the funds to achieve key milestones. What are the key milestones?
• [ ] What valuation or multiple do you expect this round, and the next round, and why?
• [ ] Understand and articulate expected dilution at each fundraising stage.