fundraising

Revenue-based financing allows an entrepreneur to repay an investment over time, to retake ownership of their business, and give a capped return to investors. With founders increasingly rejecting the scale-at-all-costs mentality, this article investigates the math of revenue-based investing and whether in VC it is possible to play averages over home runs.

Startup investors are not benevolent creatures, they’re looking for certain signals that help to persuade them to part with their money. This guide, written from an investor’s perspective, intends to help startups understand the key areas to focus on and emphasize when raising money.

Due in part to the unceremonial nature of its title, the value-creation potential of business plan consultants is often misunderstood and underappreciated. Questions such as, "What do they do that I can’t?", "Why do they cost so much?” and, "Don’t you think we can handle this ourselves?", all too often haunt their practice. Having prolifically added value to 25+ clients across a range of industries, sizes, and mandates, Toptal Finance Expert, Josh Chapman, sheds light on the full scope of business plan consulting. What it is to be a great business plan consultant, how they create value, and what skills, attributes and experiences constitute the greats vs. the pretenders.

Fundraising is hard to get right, which is why companies of all sorts often turn to fundraising experts for help and advice regarding the fundraising process. There is a multitude of different professional figures that help companies raise capital, but for startups and growth companies, the two figures most often encountered are fundraising consultants and broker-dealers. Who is right for which endeavor?

Convertible notes have become an increasingly popular and common method for raising capital by startups, but how well do founders truly understand the implications of going down this route? In this article, Toptal Finance Expert Jeffrey Briggs outlines the basics of convertible note structures, and runs through the pros and cons of using them to raise money for new entrepreneurial ventures.

The origins of family office investing date back, colorfully, to at least 15th century Florence, when the Medicis auspiciously gave the likes of Michelangelo and Da Vinci their start. Fast forward to present day, family offices have quietly continued to rival household VC names in the capital structures of the world's largest tech companies (Uber, Facebook, and WeWork, for example). Finance Expert Vidur Gupta presents a captivating introductory piece on the secretive but potent world of family office investing.

Starting a fund is an aspiration harbored by many financiers. While attention tends to focus on investing and deal making, the initial fundraising process is riddled with uncertainty. This guide presents the main considerations to take when raising a fund, covering the legal, accounting, staffing, and strategic roadblocks that will be encountered.

Everyone is familiar with Elon Musk the Entrepreneur, but what about Musk the Investor? In this article, we will look at how Musk has funded his ventures and managed his personal angel investments over his career, clever tactics that he has applied, and lessons learned from his experiences.

Despite the large increase in resources aimed at helping founders navigate the fundraising process, many still struggle when it comes to comprehending certain term sheet clauses. Such clauses can lead to founders losing control of their company or payout structures upon exit down the road. This post breaks down the term sheet's trickiest clauses and the implications thereof.